Did this work for anyone?

A calorie deficit is the only thing absolutely "required" for weight loss.

Yes. If you harshly restrict your diet then you'll miss and crave all those good-tasting foods that you should not have on a regular. I am a frozen pizza, pizzeria, DIY pizza addict. However, I limit myself to a slice or two a month and I've steadily continued to lose weight. The vegetables are tough. My only veggies were corn, potatoes and carrots. However, I committed myself to trying at least 2-3 veggies per month. I learned how to prepare them in a way that I could tolerate. So, whether its mashed, grilled, broiled, roasted or steamed I have a few veggies I've come to love. I also found mixing veggies with something else that has a texture I can tolerate works. For example, instead of pizza on dough I make "pizza" on egg plant slices. Brussel sprouts roasted in a bit of vinegar or olive oil -- yum. Peppers grilled. Yum. Good luck!

So your saying: I eat 1000 calories a day it doesn't matter as long as I do not go over?

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Lost 20 of my 30 lbs by eating all the foods that made me fat, just less of it.

Exactly the same but lost 42lbs total so far and I train every morning.

Clean eating is food for overall health, not a vital thing in weight [fat] loss. If you're borderline diabetic, have hypertension, high cholesterol, and a few other ailments exacerbated by certain foods and substances clean eating will help.

What you're experiencing is a weight loss plateau which everyone will experience during extended periods of dieting, your body adapts to the low calorie dieting and expends less energy.

Yep. All 37 pounds I've lost is simply calorie restriction. I eat whatever I want, just in moderation, and I budget the calorie allowance for them. Pizza, desserts, McDonalds, Chick Fil-A, chips & queso.. You name it. I just keep it under 1200 calories per day and if I go over, I exercise a little more to help account for it.

I really think that's the key to my success. I don't feel like I'm being deprived of anything. Would I still like to eat more of whatever I'm eating? Most of the time, yes. But I still get to eat the things I crave, so it's easier to stick with it long-term.

I'm not a total clean eater..and I'm still losing. I do try to eat healthier (thankfully I do like veggies). So while I still might have chocolate chip muffins for breakfast, I have 1/2 of one (usually just the top) rather than the 2 I used to eat, and I will add something healthy to it, like a couple clementines.

I do have high cholesterol, so it's important for me to eat healthier or "clean' but realistically I cannot give up all sugars, carbs, etc.

Ideally, I would be better off giving up all the junk stuff, but for me I just can't do it.

If you want to eat pizza and all the good comfort food (in the right portions, of course) all the time and still manage to lose weight, you'd have to increase the workout by hours.... most people can't afford that much time (2-3 hours) every day, but some can and some do. Otherwise, you just need to play with the numbers; calorie consumed - calorie burned.. I don't think anyone should give up anything completely; have a cheat meal once in a while, just watch your portions when you do have it and enjoy!