For me it's been about portion control and accountability. I thought I knew everything about losing weight, after all I've yo-yoed for years, but I just couldn't lose weight no matter what I did, so of course I blamed menopause, HRT, metabolism, age - anything so I didn't have to blame myself.
However, just before Christmas I joined weight watchers and I've lost about 20 pounds. For me having another person weighing me every week meant I had to be accountable, and I couldn't get away with excuses and shoving that piece of cake in my gob and then promptly forgetting about it.
I also walk a lot, anywhere from 45-90 minutes everyday, but I've always done that because I've always enjoyed walking. If I do 90 minutes that's usually done as two separate walks. However activity isn't the most important thing when losing weight. It's more about what you eat - 80/20 diet and exercise. I've gone a week at a time without any exercise and I've still lost weight.
Losing weight doesn't have to be hard work, or about deprivation, weird diets, cutting out whole food groups or sweating it out in gyms. You just need to know the correct portions and do a little bit of activity that you enjoy everyday. Everyone can go for a 30-45 minute walk.