h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Most people put the weight back on when they come off the diet. The few successful dieters I have know have been smokers. All the experts blame the people who cant stick to the diets but its unnatural to starve yourself. I know plenty of diabetics who are overweight and they all know the dangers caused by the excess weight.

Of course most people gain weight when they back to old eating habits- that's why they got fat in the first place. That's why short term diets "don't work". To stay slim after losing weight, you need to make lifelong changes to your diet and lifestyle- but there's no way you going to succeed if you make yourself suffer. So instead of living of lettuce and coffee, make changes to your diet which won't deprive you of food you like- for example instead of fried chicken and chips, eat stir-fry chicken with vegetables, and make your portions smaller, even few mouthful less will do. Don't make yourself going to a gym if you hate it- instead find something you might like- maybe swimming, some team playing, squash- try new activities until you find something you'll really enjoy doing, don't rule anything off until you actually try it- you may be surprised!

Smaller portions dont work either we all like big portions.

Not all
I can't speak for everyone, but small portions of food give me energy, opposite to big ones, which make me feel sleepy, heavy and tired, so I prefer 4 small meals instead of 3 big ones a day. Plus, it's proven that brain takes 20min to get "fed" signal, so it's good to stop eating when you feel that you still have some room left, after some time you'll feel full anyway. I think that for a woman good portion is fist-sized (it doesn't stretch stomach).