Hey, 40 pounds is a huge deal buddy! Congratulations! That's major accomplishment and not easy to do. So, you know you can do it! Step 1 complete! Now on to steps 2 and 3.
Step 2 is getting a more optimal diet in place that will correct some biochemical issues (insulin) you've got going on. The body will lose weight, up to a certain point, just with less food (any kind of food) and tons of exercise. But that only goes so far. And who has 2-3 hours/day to spend playing B-ball and the like? Not me. Cuts into driving time! Hah!
Step 2. Diet. If you eat things that are packaged--in a box, instant, prepared, etc.--you're going to stay stuck. Packaged cereals, bread, white rice, instant oatmeal, potatoes, etc. milk products (yogurt, milk, ice cream) cause the body to secrete large amounts of insulin (fat storage hormone) and high insulin levels not only store fat, but inhibit burning of fat. So, you can "eat less" but if what you eat surges insulin you're going to be in
fat storage not
fat buring mode. Being overweight (current or in the past) makes you insulin resistant (which can improve when you lose weight and with time).
Try substituting the carb sources in your diet with beans, yams, and veggies. Eat protein at every meal along with some good fats (olive oil, fish, walnuts). A good mix would be 40% protein, 30% fat, 30% carbs. (400 calories * 5 meals = 2,000 day. That's 40 grams protein, 30 grams carbs, and 14 grams fat per meal. You can always set up things a bit so that you eat more carbs earlier in the day (higher carb ratio, but less fat with those meals) and eat fewer carbs and a bit more fat later in the day (insulin sensitivity is best early in the day and just sucks later in the day--carbs late really work against you). Try this for a couple weeks. If you're still stuck, try increasing the protein to 45%, fats by 35%, and cut carbs to 20%. If that still doesn't work, cut 200 calories (doubt you'll need to do this). A good rule of thumb is 10-12 calories/pound of bodyweight (which needs to be adjusted as you change) with the same macro nutrient ratios.
Step 3. Can be done in parallel with Step 2....Heavy weight training (e.g. squats, deadlifts, rows, pullups, power cleans, snatches, overhead presses, sled dragging, tire flipping, car pushing, sprinting--not curls and other bs exercises like flyes) improves insulin sensitivity by up to 300% for 24 hours post workout. (That's way better than most drugs on the market). This is another way to increase chances of success (and feel and look better too). Here's a link to my friend
Sally's page if you want to get going on this (Sally is a hardcore trainer with lots of great info and good links). A good training session should be about 1.5 hours in length (including warm up and cool down and stretching--about 1 hour training, 30 min supportive work). If you can train longer than that you're not working hard enough or you're taking too much rest between sets. Think boxers, sprinters, MMA guys. If you want to look like that, train like that!
Oh, the macro-nutrient ratios I've provided are good for someone who is a beginner to intermediate weight trainer....if you're a Crossfit or MMA guy, or other advanced trainee, you
might benefit from more protein, but that's debatable. Most guys that use that much protein use other "super supplements" to process and partition that much protein....
Have fun! If you're not having fun with your training something else or mix things up! Exercise should be fun--if it's not find something that moves you.