If you break it down into carbs, fats and protein, calorie in calorie out model does wonders. OP is right, weight loss is hard work. Frankly, people want to believe that there is an alternate method because a lot of them are just lazy.

Also, it's easier to maintain weight than to loose/gain weight. So once you have lost that weight, it's much easier to be at that weight. Of course you lost a huge amount of weight in a short span, this won't be true.