I lost 40 pounds in the last seven months. I did this by giving up fast food and most processed foods, and I quit drinking 4-6 Cokes a day (now I only drink carbonated water). The wake-up call was when I was carded for alcohol and almost turned downed because the clerk thought I was using someone else’s ID. My face was a lot skinnier in my driver’s license photo. Now I’m happy with my weight of 200 at 6’1”. The BMI charts claim that is overweight, but it seems to be the natural weight for me, as I’ve weighed around 200 since I was 16 and have never been obese (except for that brief period mentioned above).
Yeah, I've learned to ignore the BMI charts. They seem off. Even in the Army, they did it on bodyfat based on their weight guidelines.
In the 4-5 years since, I have kept most of the weight off by exercising 2-3 times a day and eating mostly natural, whole foods (no processed crap). I don't worry about how much I eat so long as it is good food made by Mother Nature like fish, meat, nuts, yogurt, eggs, vegetables, olive oil, wine, beer, raisins etc. \
If you have trouble motivating yourself for exercise, get a dog. An active dog. This will ensure that you get out there and walk 2-3 times a day. I have an Australian Kelpie that is bred to herd sheep. If I don't walk at least 6 miles a day with it, it freaks out and tries to hump my leg. That's the kind of motivation that I need.