I would pick niether. Its a misconception that you have to be miserable to lose weight or to maintain it. one does not have to 'diet' to lose weight, one has to make better choices in what they eat. better habits of when and how frequently they eat.
lastly, to lose weight, watching what you eat alone is not enough, workign out is, and physica activity has emotional dividends as well and increase your feelings of wellbeing and thus make you less miserable.
the issue with many people's approach is that they want a quick fix, are not mentally or logistically prepared to make a change. have minimal or no support structure in place. to people 'dieting' is a thing they do, and then it ends and they can go back to habits and choices that they had which made it necessary to lose weight to begin with.
Its a lifestyle change, some people can handle major changes like a complete change in what they eat and in some cases people like to do it gradually, make some smart choices, then some other then some other and transition that way.
yup that's the sensible approach, totally agree
but still, the point I was trying to make was that to become healthy and lose weight you **do **need to give up the junk which got you fat in the first place - and that would make me miserable.
for the moment, I'd rather have a cookie now and then, and eat rotis, maybe some popcorn at the cinema, and be a little on the overweight side (my BMI is about 25.5 at the moment). the alternative is to deny myself *anything *remotely unhealthy and maybe get to a BMI of about 23.5.. but then I'd be miserable!!