While I agree that calorie restriction is the key to weight loss, exercise is even MORE IMPORTANT. Albeit, the correct type of exercise. There is aerobic ( running, biking, etc.) and anaerobic ( weight lifting). In order to achieve weight loss, and even more importantly, keep it off, a person must not just focus on one type of exercise over another.
First, the reason weight loss occurs is that the body is requiring more calories then you are providing ( eg, calorie restriction or caloric deficit). Now, it would be nice if the body would always take stored fat and use it, but that's not always the case. That is why if you just go on a drastically lower caloric diet, you will NOT see that much, if any weight loss. The reason is that you are literally starving your body. In response your body believes that its in "starvation mode" and it will keep fat on you. Its a basic survival mechanism. So if you opt for the drastically reducing your calories, you will have to walk a fine line.
So, there has to be a better way, right?
You can start an anaerobic program. This type of program should be centered around "compound exercises". These include the big 3: Deadlifts, Squats, Bench Press. I would center around those as those are the most productive, yet hardest exercises to do. You can also do isolation exercises such as curl, tricep extenstion. But, for the love of God, DO NOT DO CURLS IN THE SQUAT/POWER RACK!
When you do this type of lifting, you are literally creating micro-tears in your muscles. The body doesn't like that sort of stress so in order to prevent that from happening again, the body repairs the micro-tears and build new muscle on top ( thus creating larger muscles). Now, you might be thinking that you dont want larger muscles, but hear me out.
Think of your body as a furnace. Your body requires a basic amount of calories. ( research BMR to determine how many you require). Now, your body uses these calories for everyday functions. But if you throw in that it has to repair itself, something interesting happens if you are providing enough to the body. You will begin to lose fat, but probably gain weight. Its important to remember that muscle weights more then fat, so be careful of just going by the scale.
Now as you progress, ( getting stronger and bigger muscles) your BMR will increase because your body will require more calories.
So it becomes your choice: Do you want to restrict your body and only eat the bare min, or work a little harder and actually eat more calories but lose weight.
This is just a brief overview. If you have further questions PM me or ask them here.
