I have pretty severe asthma (compared to most people with asthma, at least), so getting aerobic exercises has been difficult my whole life. But, I was okay on weight for a long time. But the past 5-7 years, I went from about 170 pounds to over 225 pounds. So, I started a diet (exactly 5 months ago today), and as of this last Saturday I was at 164 pounds (I don't weigh myself again until tomorrow). So, pretty happy about that 61 pounds of weight loss, and 164 isn't a bad weight for being 5'11".
Basically, I kept my calories at about 850 a day over four meals and a snack each day. Not too hard for me to do, but I think it'd be too much for most people (they might fair better at 1,300-1,500 / day). I'm looking at burning the rest of my stomach fat, but I don't want to lose too much more weight, so I'm just now picking up trying a lot harder at the gym. My diet is also closer to about 1,600 calories / day, and I've cut carbs a lot, cut sugar out almost completely, and really increased my protein (about 150 grams / day).
I'm hoping that building some muscle will work while burning my stomach fat. Hitting things like weights are easy enough (in that my arms and legs are still sore), but things like jogging or running for a prolonged period of time are out, due to the asthma. I can definitely walk at a brisk pace on the treadmill, and can easily hit the "fat burning" zone without any problems, so I'm trying that for now.
Overall, I'm in much better shape than I was in 5 months ago, and it basically was all due to my diet. (Yes, I know that 850 calories sounds really low, but I did have four meals and a snack every day, and I had much more energy than I did before starting the diet.) I feel a lot better about my health now, and about my body, too. If gaining some muscle works (not bulking up, just getting some more muscle) and I can burn the rest of my visible fat (basically all stomach fat), I'll be a very happy dude.