My wife has been getting up every morning at 4 and working out and watching what she eats more. She has been doing a great job at losing weight. I don't really even mind, but she is doing it for herself so I think that is awesome. It has been slow going and she has been frustrated at times, but she is doing it the right way so that she can keep it off indefinitely.
The longer it takes to lose the better as it has been proven it stays off then. The ones that crash diet actually get bigger eventually.