The point is, why starve yourself at all? If your sole purpose is to lose weight, nothing else, just lose weight, you will likely not succeed in the long run.
People who succeed in losing weight and KEEPING IT OFF are the ones who make not just changes in their diets, but changes in their entire lives. The weight loss becomes a "side effect" of that.
As hard as going on a diet sounds, it's relatively easy in comparison to changing your life in order to be healthy. VERY few people, especially in overstuffed America, are able to do that.