Exercise did almost nothing. It helped start my metabolism here and there. The real weight loss came from just eating as close to 0 calories a day as possible. Water, lettuce, whatever gets you full. It's a grueling process. It's not something you do because you love your body and your habits. You have to hate them.
Feel free to recommend running shoes and gym memberships to people. In my experience, your comment isn't grounded in data, experience, or even helpful. It comes across as dismissive and wanting to sound right.
The people doing these operations are suffering through a level of anguish you can't imagine. They are well aware of your trite advice, and unable to get their problem solved. That's why they turn to painful, expensive surgery.
It's a problem, and playing armchair life coach with gotcha one liners isn't going to solve it.