By doing nothing I meant any other exercises. I did change my diet. Replaced chips, cookies, coke, etc. with things like spinach, broccoli, and milk. I also seek out high protein foods like chicken breast, turkey, and salmon.
I have always been active (bike riding, tennis, etc) but has never focused on strength. I realized a lot of my support muscles were weak so I would get injured easily (back strains, etc).
My theory is cardio exercises mostly burn calories and do not really improve overall strength. When dieting there are not enough calories so the body burns both fat and muscle. So over time your muscles get weaker which leads to injury.
I could have lowered my body fat by getting to a real low overall weight but then I would have very weak muscles.
Instead I focused on strength training for the first time in my life. What happened was all of my core support and other muscles are getting bigger and stronger. At the same time fat is being burned. The net weight change was only about 5 pounds less but the body fat went from 22 to 13 percent.
I am currently 5' 10" 171 pounds. This is in the high BMI range but I feel like I am in the best shape ever and less susceptible to injury.