I have been off here for a while ,so sorry for coming in late in the thread ,I too have dieted on the doctors advice( My blood sugar was too high ) that along with previously high cholesterol level and borderline high blood pressure was enough to persuade me to not diet but change my eating habits .Being retired I though the tummy was because I was no longer climbing ladders, jumping up and down scaffolding Etc. When I started this new regime I was really shocked at how much I was eating ,coming from a poor upbringing I hate to waste food so I would always finish crisps ,biscuits and bread -to stop them going stale- and the rest you can probably recognise .I cut out all white bread and reduced my sugar intake by at least half ,I also reduced salt as much as I could for the blood sugar problem . I recommend smaller portions as well but the real secret FOR ME is that you have to be honest with yourself and hard on yourself .My friend is a doctor and when I had gone down 10 kilos he and stayed there for months he told me that now you can eat whatever you want for one day as long as you are good the rest of the week .I eat pasta ,potatoes and I have rice also sometimes white bread but have remained 10 Kgs down for almost two years now .I forgot to mention I hardly ever have chocolate but I do eat a few magnum ices a week and that is my cheat . We all have our own way to cope but the secret is simple calories and exercise ,not one BOTH .