After quite a few years I have figured out that I only need about 800 calories per day to maintain a level weight, meaning if I stuck to the recommended calorie intake for my size that the government in my country sees fit to stick on all the food packets, I'd be the size of a small planet by now. So I think you should figure out what your particular bodily needs are first, and not go by recommendations or anything that you may read. There's that idea as well that after age 25-30 your metabolism starts to decrease by something like 1% every year, so that's 1% less food per year you should be taking in, or 1% more burning off to maintain your weight.
I also noticed that the body adapts to EVERY diet you try. You get a limited time on any of them to see some kind of decent result fast, before it figures out what you're doing and tries to get back to its original (over)weight. The only way to lower weight permanently is to accept that your current eating habits and caloric intake are too much and to get used to eating less, or burning off more. Otherwise any diet is just a temporary solution, and if you go back to old or current habits and you'll be back to square one.
Because of the nature of the body and its adaptiveness the 2,4,6,8 diet does work for a while. Google it. If you can maintain it, it goes on the principle the body doesn't have time to get used to the varying amounts of calories you are feeding it day to day so it continues to burn more rather than less and is constantly being "tricked" by the variability in intake. It does require some iron willpower. If you use it alongside the Shangri-La technique to control your cravings for food, you might get an even faster result. But even these two are on the timer, eventually you body will likely wise up and you'll find it harder and harder to get results. I tried the Shangri-La and it DOES work, but your brain also seems to adapt to it after a month or two so it's probably best used sporadically.
I guess in the end the only real way to be sure you can lose weight is to treat food like a potentially addictive substance, and just try to avoid the foods that will trigger you into wanting more all the time. It's a tall order I know, I LOVE food and eating and always have ever since I was a child - my grandfather nicknamed me The Gannet because of my habit of clearing out all food in sight. I don't have any other addictions, don't smoke, barely drink ever, don't do drugs, don't gamble... but food I love too much and I've been trying ways to detach myself from it for a long time now. Mental state is a part of it - depression and anxiety are huge eating triggers for some, so try to keep your mood up, it will also keep your weightloss willpower up too, as will seeing good results.
