Have you tried actually counting calories? Because most people aren't really aware of the caloric contents of the foods they eat, and when they start counting calories it can be pretty shocking to see the realities. Especially if we're talking carbs like rice, bread, pasta etc., people tend to really underestimate the calories involved there.

A big shocker for many people is that 30g of peanuts is roughly ~100-130kcal, for example, which is maybe a ~handful of nuts.

A large portion of losing weight really does come down to CI/CO. There's a reason the common adage of "the waistline is molded in the kitchen, not the gym" exists. It's good to supplement a diet with exercise for various reasons, big one of them being reduction in muscle mass and bone density that accompanies weight loss, but if your goal is simply to lose a bit of weight, then decreasing your calories is the most reliable way of achieving it.