I think you're misreading the article. Especially:

> There is no consistent pattern to how people in the registry lost weight — some did it on Weight Watchers, others with Jenny Craig, some by cutting carbs on the Atkins diet and a very small number lost weight through surgery. But their eating and exercise habits appear to reflect what researchers find in the lab: to lose weight and keep it off, a person must eat fewer calories and exercise far more than a person who maintains the same weight naturally. Registry members exercise about an hour or more each day — the average weight-loser puts in the equivalent of a four-mile daily walk, seven days a week. They get on a scale every day in order to keep their weight within a narrow range. They eat breakfast regularly. Most watch less than half as much television as the overall population. They eat the same foods and in the same patterns consistently each day and don’t “cheat” on weekends or holidays. They also appear to eat less than most people, with estimates ranging from 50 to 300 fewer daily calories.

The tl;dr of that? Eat less, exercise more. Eat breakfast. You're vehemently agreeing with the part where the article talks about what Really Works, and disagreeing with the parts where they basically say that a naïve approach based solely on food intake dowsn't work.

I will certainly agree with your general thrust of weightloss advice. I eat a lot less junk than I used to before, I shifted to a standing desk, I don't live with depressed people who drive me crazy to be around. (And who kept TONS of food around. OH HEY I'M DOWN AND THE FRIDGE IS FULL OF ICE CREAM.) I spend at least a couple hours a week doing a workout. I get enough sleep. My doctor made me cut salt out of my diet, which basically means "no crappy fast food any more, ever".

I think some of the details are what worked for YOU. My workout isn't traditional "exercise", it's not lifting weights, it's not aerobics. It's burlesque dance. Turns out that learning to move your body to emphasize all your jiggly bits and pose sexily is one hell of a full-body workout. Even at just two hours or so most weeks. Plus it does amazing things to your self-confidence - not just because your body looks better, but because one of the things you're trained in is how to appear confident, since that's sexy. I lost like thirty pounds over 4-6 months simply because I liked going downtown twice a week and having an hour of dance class.

I think the real key is not one particular KIND of exercise. It's regular, full-body exercise THAT YOU KEEP COMING BACK TO. For you, it's Pick Up Heavy Shit. For me, it's Swan Around And Jiggle My Titties. It's got the same end result: a body that's in good shape, that moves well and likes to move, so that we keep on doing it instead of sinking in front of the TV for hours on end.

(Oh yeah, and I just turned 40. I'm definitely finding myself starting to change my thinking in how I approach my body - I can't abuse it and have it bounce back any more.)

tl;dr: My experience of losing weight and getting fit generally agrees with you; I differ in the details. Plus I think you skimmed the part where the article talks about What Actually Works.