this post was submitted on 24 Jul 2025
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Counting calories is inherently inaccurate, since the margin of error for measurement on food labels is 20%. Calories are a unit of heat energy and aren't all that useful for the management of ones diet.
If calorie counting isn't working, and there is a rebound, then perhaps there is something else in our bodies that underlie the condition of being overweight that isn't just how much you eat, which I think you described well in the paragraph after.
Unfortunately most of us are unable to go live in one of these, but in that scenario you described I do agree that the obese person would get a lot healthier. The removal of all processed foods would have done a lot of good by itself. Better sleep, good circadian rhythms, etc, would all contribute considerably too.
I mean, you arent wrong. But at the same time, you can get a rough estimate and adjust up or down to suit your needs. We don't need six sigma accuracy to figure out that we shouldnt eat 12 donuts.
There are a few ways our bodies might adapt and rebound even with calorie restriction. But I was referring to the most common reason why calorie counting fails - which is that it sucks to do, so you stop doing it, and return to your previous eating habits.
I'm not saying this is a realistic, or even desireable, solution for most people. Just illustrating how we all already intrinsically know that living a wholistically healthy life would lead to a healthy bodyweight (for most people, assuming no significant medical conditions). And so in the lives that we are living, we should aim to live wholistically healthy lives if we want to maintain a healthy bodyweight.