Don't want to be fat anymore? Stop eating at restaurants, cook all your own food, bring in a lunch to work, count your calories. Also exercise, lots. And get 7+ hours a sleep a night.
That's it, that's all it takes.
I always viewed the idea as the last refuge of a miserable process. That I'd rather just be somewhat overweight than to track everything that closely. But actually it was INCREDIBLY freeing, because it helped me realize that 95% of my habits were REALLY GOOD, but the 5% that I thought was sorta bad was actually extremely terrible. By having the immediate data on what you're consuming or about to consume, it gives you the power of choice, rather than just hand-waving about "it's just one <whatever>" or "it's a friday, what the hell".
Anyone here should appreciate how having data, and seeing "I am on track to lose 2lbs this week" and then it shows up (not every week, but on average) creates a really positive feedback loop in a way that a vague concept of "cutting back on X" never does.
That's all it really is. Everything else just makes it easier to eat few enough calories, including any crazy diets.
Find a lifestyle that lets you eat few enough calories. If that's low-carb, then go for it. If that's counting calories and just eating less, go for it.
When I was losing weight, I realized that certain foods made me feel more full per calorie (vegetables). Then I realized that drinking was using up a huge part of my calorie allotment. Then I realized that if I run then I can eat more. Everything was just to make it easier to eat few enough calories, and it happened to all make me healthier too.
I'm not claiming its easy, but it's true.
But even if you only do it for a few weeks, you'll learn valuable lessons about your good and bad habits. You might not ever have to do it again. Or you might prefer to keep doing it. YMMV.
> That's it, that's all it takes.
That's a simple recipe, but let's not pretend it's an easy one. It's a significant investment of your time and resources.
There was a lot of ignorance on my part. I had to learn how to exercise, learn how to have fun exercising, how to set and meet goals and how to cook, how do a lot. I have all these skills, I have a routine. I've already had setbacks from which I've recovered. I injured myself and couldn't exercise, I kept eating correctly and when I got better I got back to exercising. Over thanksgiving I ate a lot, I took a week break from managing a calorie deficit to enjoying myself and since then I've been back to cooking and counting my calories.