Now I'm not one to say much about this due to having never needed to lose weight, my issue being the opposite, having always been underweight, usually quite dangerously so. But what I (think I) know is that, while exercise is great for health reasons, it may not be so effective at actually losing weight and keeping it off, for the simple reason that it takes a whole lot of effort to burn even small amounts of actual fat (the initial losses are largely just water going out as sweat), and said effort makes you hungry and feeling weak, which drains your mental resolve as well. So what matters more is reducing the calorie intake, obviously ideally without hurting nutrition. Seem to remember nutritionists who lost weight with junk food and/or gained with health food just to prove that it's just a matter of calories, any other diet "rules" mattering all too little. That said, stuff to munch on with a good volume / weight ratio and which also requires picking up bit by bit can help, and remember popcorn (plain, no butter or sugary stuff or whatever else, and peferably made the old fashioned way, in a pot, not the microwave stuff or ready made) being seen quite well from this point of view, since a little of it goes a long way. Corn puffs can work too, after it, I guess.
And I'm in for the giveaway too :)
