I only say that exercise will ultimately be the best lifestyle change, because once you do finally reach your target bodyweight... you don't have to continue on a strict diet. It's your choice obviously, but I personally love food (which probably got myself into my position in the first place :|). Since I shed all that weight, I've been a lot flexible and lenient with what I eat. I eat more pizza, occasional fast food, get Slurpees/Slushes every once and a while and I drink alcohol again. Basically I indulge myself a lot more. Much more than I would on my diet because I wouldn't have lost anything. This isn't saying that I'm a complete pig now. I still am very conscience about what I eat and how much I eat. I just eat a bit more now. Instead of a chicken breast, I'll maybe have a steak or instead of vinegarette dressing I'll up it to Caesar. Small changes that allow myself to feel more satisfied. It's been a good 6 months since I've lost all that weight and I haven't put any extra weight back on. I'm still in the gym for the same amount of time 6 days a week, but my main focus is more to bulk up. I've dropped cardio to 3 days a week and I'm more active in my everyday life. Small things like taking the stairs, parking farther away, walking 18 holes of golf instead of a cart, etc allow you to maintain a healthy lifestyle

It's different for everyone, and there's many opinions out there... but for me, getting more active was more beneficial to my happiness so far than keeping with my 5-6 small meals a day for 8 months. However, I think 'E' and Eric have different connotations to the word 'diet' that I do I still consider the word to mean sacrificing everything that is good and pure to achieve a weight loss