Where has your best weight loss results come from?

Other than the handful of pounds I put on in the winter and lose in the spring, I've only lost a significant amount of weight once...40 Lbs in 2012/2013. I can't rally answer one specific thing in your list...I counted calories, I ate less, I adopted a diet that somewhat resembles a "Mediterranean diet", and started regular exercise.

I haven't physically counted calories in years...I'm currently dropping the 20ish Lbs I put on during pandemic times and I'm just eating a bit less and maintaining my normal regular exercise that I've been doing for almost a decade. My dietary approach hasn't changed much at all over the last 9-10 years. Basically I just cut back on snacks, deserts, and alcohol when I want to cut some weight.

Regardless of method, weight management comes down to calories in vs calories out. Every single diet plan in the world works on that principle.

My "best" is context dependant so I won't vote:

Best for significant weight loss to get to goal weight = calorie counting.
Best for small adjustments to stay in my goal weight range = just eating less.
Best for enjoyment = just exercising more.

In reality there has to be a big element of harmony between all three aspects (although I don't have to count to maintain, I'm calorie aware).

I worked really hard at the gym every day, and counted calories. I did "zig zag" calories, with an average every week, but daily was different. Did that for about 8 months and lost alot of weight. It worked well for me. I got pregnant and gained alot of weight, so I'm back to trying to lose again, so I'm going to do what I did before and hopefully it works again.

I don't want to vote because I would say calorie counting if I had to say just one, but I don't think it's really that simple. Well, it is, but it isn't.

Calorie counting - Yeah, that's how I lost weight, technically. It doesn't mean that's the only important thing. No one loses weight without getting calorie intake lower than calorie output, but it's not essential to count them. Worked well for me, though, since I'm a data geek.

Counting Macros - Nutrition is very important to me. Logging food makes nutrient tracking easy, almost automagic. I have a protein minimum and a fat minimum. I also have other nutritional goals, chiefly 5+ minimum and ideally 1+ daily 80g servings of varied, colorful veggies/fruits.

Vegetarian diet - I've been vegetarian for 47+ years, thin to fat to obese and back to thin again. So, yeah, I lost weight on a vegetarian diet . . . but vegetarianism is no guarantee of weight loss, obviously.

Just eating less - That comes with the territory, doesn't it? If I start out eating to sustain an obese bodyweight, then eat to lose weight, then after that maintain . . . I must be eating less than at the start now, vs. when I was maintaining a bodyweight almost 50% higher?

Just exercising more - I wouldn't be able to eat as much if I weren't active, and I like food, so I want to eat as much of it as I can, but stay at a healthy weight. Fortunately, I was very active for around 15 years while staying obese, so I have a high TDEE for my size even before exercise, and exercise adds more yummy calories to my day. I don't normally exercise on purpose just for calories, and didn't much change my exercise routine to lose weight.

All the variables matter, y'know? (I really don't like this poll feature . . . .)

Oh, and, by the way, these (below) are great for some people, but not relevant to me. I guess there are keto vegetarians, but it would make me miserable, and it wasn't necessary. Carnivore won't work for me for obvious reasons. Mediterranean is fine, and I could do that, already eat a lot of those foods, but I didn't need extra structure, personally.

Ketogenic
Mediterranean diet
Carnivore diet

If you meant to put in all the major trendy methods, you left out intermittent fasting.

Well, I'll be nitpicky and say that I don't really like the options given.

Calorie counting in itself doesn't really lead to weight-loss. Heck, some people use calorie counting to gain weight or maintain it.

I lost weight:
- eating less
- but previous experiences had taught me that I'm not good at eating less intuitively so calorie counting was my way to quantify how much I was eating
- with the aim to be in a calorie deficit, I realised quite early on that working on the calories out part of the CICO equation made it easier - by moving more (not necessarily exercise per se) I could eat more and still lose weight. Calorie counting my food intake was then complemented by 'counting' my calories out by using a fitness tracker watch.

I really need to be able to select 2 options as my BEST weight loss came when I was strictly counting macros PLUS calories (calories before macros).

Generally I do pretty well on calories alone, but I have done BEST with a combination of the two. Unfortunately it ended up being a pretty expensive and time intensive way of eating, so it wasn't very sustainable.