Forget extreme starvation diets and extreme weight-loss programs. New research shows the best way to maintain a healthy weight is simply to eat a little less every day. That’s particularly important for older Americans and those at risk for obesity-related Type 2 diabetes.

The new study, by researchers with the U.S. National Institute on Aging, tracked the experiences of more than 200 adults, half of whom were instructed to cut daily calorie consumption by 25 percent – a little at a time every day.

The results, published in the Journal of Gerontology: Medical Sciences, showed the participants on the lower-cal diet lost an average of 10 percent of the body weight in a year’s time — and maintained it for a second year.

Others in the study who continued their regular eating habits lost no weight at all.

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