I use the same belt as Bill (and like it very much) but lost the first one very quickly swimming over rocks & weed
, so I now have the end held down under a thin (easily breakable) rubber band.
I started off with insufficient weight & increased it in 2 additional steps, to give me time to get used to it. I was concerned about weight distribution too but actually find carry all the weight on the belt is not as bad as I had feared when carrying a half loaded belt. I ended up not wanting to have to deal with an additional piece of equipment (weight vest).
There are some possible benefits to carrying some of your weights in a vest though, depending on model used (e.g. the Omer gilet): better weight distribution, easier weight adjustment (e.g. for shallow/deep diving), camo/shape disruption, a little extra warmth. [There is a thread on weight vests.]
re.floating feet. This was a bit of problem for me at first. So now I only wear neoprene socks in Winter (fin fit seems remarkably unaffected, perhaps due to temperature difference) which works out better all round -- it's probably a lot colder in WI's waters though. [OldManDave posted a design for inexpensive homemade ankle weights.]
