The closest thing to a magic pill is the advice "DO NOT DRINK YOUR CALORIES". Diet soda, artificial sweetener in your sugared drinks, light beer, diet soda in your mixers, etc. I've lost weight and kept it off by essentially adopting a policy that I do not drink anything but alcohol which contains more than 50 calories, and I try to stay under 10. If you drink 3 cans of soda a day, that's nearly 3,000 calories a week right there. Eliminating just that could cause you to lose roughly .80 pounds a week. Also, do not go on a plan that is too strict. You'll lose weight fast, but the behavioral change will have near-zero durability. You'll lose weight and the diet will be no fun, so you'll quit because you accomplished what you wanted and don't have a high enough level of motivation to maintain such a diet.