BOSTON (CBS) – Obese Americans can still lose weight the old-fashioned way, according to researchers at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center.

According to the study, obese people are more likely to lose weight through basic diet and exercise than other methods.

“We found that people who said they were eating less fat, exercising more, taking prescription weight loss medicine and joining weight loss programs were successful at losing weight,” said lead author Jacinda M. Nicklaus, a clinical research fellow at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Harvard Medical School.

WBZ NewsRadio 1030′s Diane Stern spoke with Nicklaus:

Researchers analyzed self-reported data taken from 4,000 obese people over the age of 20, of which 2,523 attempted to lose weight. More than 40 percent of them reported that they lost at least 5% of their weight.

The numbers also showed that those using more popular weight-loss diets, liquid diets and non-prescription weight-loss pills were not as successful at losing weight.

“Those people who said they were doing a popular diet, or they used a popular diet to lose weight, were not associated with successful weight loss,” said Nicklaus.

The study did not look at an obese person’s ability to keep the weight off.