Has anyone had success permanently losing weight through dieting?

I’m the stereotypical overweight IT guy, have been trying to become less overweight, and one of the more popular ways to accomplish that seems to be dieting. I like to do research before diving into this kind of thing though; after reading The End of Craving and listening to podcast episodes like What’s the Most Sustainable Diet?, I’m almost convinced there isn’t a mainstream diet — such as keto or paleo — that’s sustainable enough to facilitate healthy, permanent weight loss.

Has anyone had long-term success with any particular diet or has it just been this same cycle over and over?

1. Diet a few months
2. Decide you’ve lost enough and any more would be unhealthy
3. Quit
4. Gain it all back pretty quickly
5. Decide enough’s enough
6. Go back on diet
7. Repeat from 2