I've learned that cardio can work, but there's also a lot of truth to that "you can't outrun a bad diet" saying. Like you said, your body can subtly undermine your work by making you more hungry, and it can also cause you to be less active in between exercise without realizing it.

Personally Ive never been able to lose weight except by eating less. Lost 8 pounds backpacking in 5 days once though, was probably atleast a 2k calorie deficit per day.

What is this "going outside" you are talking about? Sounds very interesting

Exercise isn’t a great way to lose weight at all. The best way to lose weight is changing how much you consume. That being said, exercise and movement are very important for being healthy in general.

source: https://youtu.be/vSSkDos2hzo

basically all cardio machines at the gym are going to be boring as all hell, going outside and doing activities is a lot more fun

I have health issues so I can no longer go biking outdoors, but I use the app KinoMap (like Peloton but without brand lock-in) to view POV video of bike trips and the app adjusts resistance over BT according to the road topology.

I pick out a map/video and internet radio or a playlist from the country it is recorded. It makes exercise much easier and more fun for me and is way more engaging than staring at numbers on a display.

They also have videos for running trails and rowing and additional social media stuff that I am not interested in.

even going for a walk is probably as effective

baking in activity into your day-to-day routines is very helpful. Transporting yourself by biking, walking, taking transit, a mix of all of the above makes a large difference

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KPUlgSRn6e0

The boring as hell part can be managed with a smartphone and some movies.

Of course depending on the specific machine. Some are better for it than others.

I prefer elliptical machine as it spreads the load out all across the body and it's the easiest to manage the load with it to aim for some specific heart rate zones. At the same time i have almost 2(1+1) undistributed hours to watch whatever movie or TV show i want. More peaceful than watching those at home.

basically all cardio machines at the gym are going to be boring as all hell, going outside and doing activities is a lot more fun

Or, alternatively, use the stationary nature of indoor machines to make it less boring. I typically read. Or maybe watch a show or movie.

Outside is great too of course, but bad weather can be hard to overcome depending on where you live.

Additionally:

• if you're severely overweight, some cardio routines can be a serious health risk. If you're way too heavy, your joints won't be able to sustain long walks or jogging
• slow and steady wins the race. Don't expect yourself to lose all the excess weight in a matter of months. That's almost impossibly difficult and even if successful likely no healthy. Instead develop healthy habits and let the results come in naturally over time

if your aim is to use a lot of energy, dialing down the intensity significantly and working for a longer time is the way to go basically all cardio machines at the gym are going to be boring as all hell, going outside and doing activities is a lot more fun

If you are having enough fun, even high-intensity can be maintained far longer than you'd think possible when doing something that's engaging. Still, spending 1 hour in zone 4-5 is probably gonna burn less calories than a 1.5 hour workout centered on zone 3.

cardio as a means of losing weight has a downside in that vigorous exercise provokes a lot of hunger. make sure to combine with small sustainable changes in diet for best results

But what if you just work out so intensely, that you're too tired to eat? Its funny to me that the body can have like a 4K calorie deficit for the day and still just be like "No food. That's a problem for tomorrow. Sleep now." Probably a case where ignoring your body is a good idea.

Thing to try: Get a bike trainer, subscribe to Zwift, and play a game an hour or so a day.