Back in the 60's when I was in high school, we would go on diets by not eating potatoes and bread and desserts. Of course, at that time there was lots of meat and butter in the diet of most Americans. And, it was before pizza and fast food made an appearnace at every corner. And cokes were a fairly rare treat. It worked. Somehow we seemed to have forgotten that later when the "powers that be" started pushing the pasta and grains and no meat, low fat stuff.
A couple of years ago, my husband and I went on a low fat diet - very little meat, lots of cereal and pasta salads. We were both hungry all the time. He lost 20 lbs but I think a lot of it was muscle. He is loving having "real" breakfast every morning. (I'm easing him into this without his knowing it. Don't tell)