[CarrotAndStick]

You want to cut your calorie intake just enough so it’s less than your burning but not so much your body freaks out.

Indeed. Increasing the ratio of "quality" caloried foods like proteins and moderate amounts of fats, is better than reducing food intake drastically, overall.

[discostu]

And of course avoid the final mistake of dieters and think it’s a temporary thing. Going back to “normal” only leads to gaining all the weight back. It’s a total redo of your lifestyle, almost as thorough as a religious conversion, even after a person hits their target weight they need to keep control of their intake and burn.