When we finished college, my husband was 316 lbs. He is 6' and pretty large frame, so it wasn't as bad as some people at that weight but it was definitely unhealthy and he had self-esteem issues. One day we were in a book store looking for tomes that would guide him to weight loss when we stumbled on Good Calories Bad Calories, by Gary Taubes. It's a good read, if dry, but the basic premise is this: stop eating carbohydrates as much as possible. Avoid bread, potatoes, sugars, anything that has a lot of carbs and the simpler the carbohydrate the worse it is for you.

I'm not saying what Taubes writes is something you should heed as gospel, but for one month try to keep your carbohydrates to 20% or less of your daily caloric intake. My husband lost 70 pounds just by doing this, well for 12 months not just 1, but after one it was obvious to us it was working. Now that he weighs less, working out is easier so we do that every day and it is helping build muscle and increase resting metabolic rate.

It is a constant battle, and there have been periods where he has gained some of the weight back and starts eating awful fast food and the like, but as soon as he starts restricting carbs again it melts back off. Clearly this is not a healthy thing to do, with see-sawing body mass, but it does reinforce the success of eating more protein, more fiber, and more carbs from vegetables.