Myself, I'm trying to lose weight. I did manage roughly 40lbs, gained almost twenty, but now have dropped ten of that twenty.
What happened? I reached that "plateau" people talk about - and unfortunately it was the winter so that didn't help either - and depression set in, which is a huge enemy to people trying to lose. But now that it's nice, I swim and I've joined a gym to work on things. I am going to try to get out walking, too. Most times it's hard though because I work night shift (which is another weight gain/loss enemy).
But so far the gym and swimming have worked.
It's hard, hard as anything to start and if you fall off the wagon, it only gets harder. Society is still cruel to people who are overweight. People think it's laziness when it may not be; there are tons of factors that could contribute to a person being overweight. Or overweight people are still called "fat and ugly" or ostracized or what have you.
People will even do childish things like rework song lyrics to make fun of an overweight person; faced with that, is it any wonder depression doesn't help?
But if more people were supportive, if more were "good for you" about it, maybe overweight people wouldn't feel like they're a monster for walking, or even attempting to run. Yeah, people may not want to see all that fat jiggle, but trust me, we don't like feeling it, either!
I also agree; a person's bone structure and genetics has a huge thing to do with it all and should be considered. Ideally for my height I should weigh 120lbs or so, but I know if I did weigh that much, I'd look absolutely horrible. My frame is just too big. I've read that for my frame size, 150ish is a better weight for me, and that makes more sense. The problem is a lot of misinformation out there, or "Studies" that contradict themselves. It doesn't help but it instead only adds confusion.
So instead of following some sort of "diet", I try to watch what I eat, don't get upset if I slip and hit the gym and pool and do a little extra for the days I do slip.
To those who have lost weight or trying to lose; keep it up, good work and have fun with it.