To really loose weight and KEEP it off you need to change your lifestyle, permanantly. I overeat when I think I am "hungry" but really am not, or am tempted by goodies (holidays). You are supposed to be mildly hungry some of the time but if you refocus your mind the hunger subsides. There is a difference between being really hungry and just not full. You need to be comfortable feeling "not always full". Keeping my weight in control is just as much mental as what I eat and exercise.

I really avoid using exercise as my weight control mechanism. I adjust my eating based on my exercise level - not the other way around. When I am out backpacking a lot I eat more. When you eat, eat good food, not junk. Avoid food that create cravings (excess salt, sugar and fat). I keep NO snacks in the house! If I want food I have to actually make something from scratch or reach for fruit and vegetables. I am lucky in that I was raised in a home that was into organic gardening long before it became popular and my mother did not let us snack all the time. I am now in my early 60's and weigh the same as I did when I was in High School. I do not fanatically exercise nor do I diet. I just set an upper limit for weight (about 8 pounds over my ideal), and when I reach that, I make an effort to eat more healty. If I have that glass of wine, I have to "pay" for it by cutting out something equal in calories. I am in this mild diet mode usually from the Holidays until March. I walk or bicycle about 2 hours a couuple times a week. Once I start backpacking regularly I really have more trouble keeping on enough weight.