What Carbonfiberboy just said above seems on the money ^
I've fought the battle of the bulge since a teenager. It's taken me into my 50's to figure it out. Now I'm convinced I've found a solution which works for me. What's great is just how easy it is. Food is a drug to me, it always has been. I'm a foodie, I like to cook and eat out...it's not just sustenance it's a passion and a hobby. For many years I tried to deprive myself of something I love. I cut out this, cut back on that, felt hungry when dieting....hungry and miserable. You can't sustain it, it's impossible. You're fighting a natural urge and it's unhealthy to deprive yourself in this way. You need to manage it not avoid it.
Now I eat like a horse. I eat all the time, but small portions. But what I do eat is mostly quite healthy and varied. I'm not a health-food fanatic and I'm fortunate that I've never been a fast-food junkie. I like potatoes, pasta, rice, chicken, steak, fish, salads, veggies, fruits, cereals, chocolates, cakes, pastries, meat pies and rag puddings
Those are the things I love to eat and I'll never deprive myself of them again.
But I have to implement the counter-balance. Calories in = energy out. If I eat 2500 calories I'll need to exercise. So I found an exercise which isn't an exercise, it's a hobby. I love to do it (biking). It's fun and it's a ticket to eating what I want. (within sensible limits).
Since I stumbled on this new path I've gone from a shade over 280 to 184 in less than a year. I plan to hit the Century before December then stop. I'm already thinking about ways I can eat more calories without stuffing myself, so I can exercise safely without fear of losing weight. This is a dynamic shift from how I've spent the last 40 years of my life, with the process arse about face.
Good supplementation is quite important too - but not with chemicals passed off as vitamin pills. Good natural stuff like honey, bee pollen, green tea.
I started a blog on this a while back and I should try to update it sometime soon
Good luck.