I'm in the same situation. I gained in a few months 10 kg, so now I have to get rid of them. Running is also my solution, but because outside is really cold, I started running on stairs instead. On the internet people are saying that this is even more productive, but it is a lot harder.
I enjoyed your article and I believe that it encourages a lot of people to start doing some exercising.
Running on stairs is definitely much harder. It's a good training if you plan to do some mountain marathons this summer.