I am so sorry for your loss. My thoughts are with you and your family.
I think the article really brings home what I have found to be true. We should not enter the process of weight loss thinking of it as a "diet". It really needs to be a complete lifestyle change if we want it to work. I had many ups and downs before I found success. I'd lose five pounds and think yeah, I can eat a gallon of ice cream. What I had to learn is that I did not want to give up anything. Instead, I needed to learn to eat all my favorites in reasonable amounts and portions. For me, when I finally found success it had nothing to do with "a diet". Literally Nothing. What worked was me deciding on a lifestyle makeover and sticking with it. So I started with the exercise first, and then cleaned up my diet bit by bit. And don't get me wrong, my food choices are not totally clean now, but they are "cleaner" and I am far more aware of what and how much I am eating.
The most unexpected bonus for me was enjoying exercise. I first starting exercising simply as a means to an end, figuring I'd be able to cut back when I lost weight. A friend and I were lamenting our very social young daughters missing their brothers as they started preschool. She encouraged me to join her gym where they could hang out in the child watch for an hour while we exercised (she also knew I wanted to lose weight). That went well (after a few separation anxiety episodes) and I was going to the gym using cardio equipment while my already super fit friend went to boot camp classes. I was not ready for those, but a month or so later she also encouraged me to try spin classes in the early mornings (545 am). She knew that I was self conscious, and that instructor kept the room mostly dark and the music loud, so you didn't hear people struggling. I fell in love with spin classes

They vary greatly by instructor, but this one played a great selection of music and it was a super hard workout that was still so fun I enjoyed it. I eventually felt fit enough to take those boot camp classes and that was a proud day for me

I also learned I absolutely love strength training and it made a huge difference in my body composition. That 545am teacher taught a later class that was part spin part strength, and I credit all my arm definition to those classes
I never thought I would be someone who enjoyed exercise. I have a lifelong history of asthma, and physical activity has been a struggle at times. But as a kid and into my mid 20s, I stayed pretty skinny despite my lack of exercise, thanks to genetics. I am so glad to have found my gym and the people there, it made exercise something I looked forward to when I needed it most. I have been a member for 6.5 years now, and members come and go, but my favorite instructors are still there and I still enjoy it.
I then moved briefly to triathlon and finally settled into running as my main exercise. But I know even if I had to stop running for some reason, I have come to love and depend on exercise and I would find something else I could do.