I have always thought that diet and exercise are both needed. If you can cut your caloric intake by 250 calories a day, and increase your aerobic exercise to bu

I have always thought that diet and exercise are both needed. If you can cut your caloric intake by 250 calories a day, and increase your aerobic exercise to burn 250 more calories a day, you should be able to lose a pound a week, without going to extremes of diet or exercise. Of course, someone who is obese will take a long time to get to a healthy weight if they are only losing a pound a week, but most people would have a hard time maintaining extremes of diet or exercise for a long period of time.