Try this: when people on hn claim "ah but it's not calorie intake versus calorie expenditure!" you can assume in good faith that what they REALLY mean is "you are correct that it IS calorie intake versus calorie expenditure, AND there are subtle factors which impact both how efficient your body is at extracting energy from food and how efficient it is at performing work"
It's unlikely for the poor grandparent poster that they unlocked some latent ability to extract calories more effectively by reducing their sugar intake, and of course Occam's razor SUGGESTS that they simply started consuming more or exercising less to compensate, but there ARE reasons we study things like this.
Strongly disagree - I've seen and had this argument multiple times on HN. There absolutely are a large cohort of people who do not accept that there are any factors other than 'calorie in, calorie out' that affect weight.
Side note - this is remarkably similar to the 'when we say abolish the police, we mean abolish the police' conversation from a couple of years ago. In other words a classic motte and bailey.
If we're going to have sensible conversations about diet and weight gain. Which socially in the West we are long past the necessity for, we need to start addressing these issues holistically. The pedantry here is the repetition of silly mantras like 'calorie in calorie out' or 'just exercise'. The nuance required is understanding - and indeed researching how the composition of diet, the pricing and availability of nutritious food, our perniciously sedentary workplaces etc all contribute to obesity. And more importantly what can be done about these things on an individual and societal level.
Personally - I've found intermittent fasting to be the only way to control my weight. The research consensus seems to be that it's impact is simply through reduced calorific intake. However - this misses the fact that say one meal a day will actually change your gut microflora enough, and relatively rapidly, to reduce the cognitive load of healthier diet choices. You literally get less hungry and want highly processed, sweetened food less. And yes of course there's a complex interaction of motivation, behaviour patterns and so on at work also. This is why systemic approaches are always necessary to behaviour modification.
And just to add - these aren't subtle effects. Age related weight gain, while keeping diet and exercise consistent is something all of us experience. Similarly, most women will experience menopausal related differences in metabolism, usually leading to weight gain. Eliding the reality of how weight gain and maintenance work isn't useful.
Try this: when people on hn claim "ah but it's not calorie intake versus calorie expenditure!" you can assume in good faith that what they REALLY mean is "you are correct that it IS calorie intake versus calorie expenditure, AND there are subtle factors which impact both how efficient your body is at extracting energy from food and how efficient it is at performing work"
It's unlikely for the poor grandparent poster that they unlocked some latent ability to extract calories more effectively by reducing their sugar intake, and of course Occam's razor SUGGESTS that they simply started consuming more or exercising less to compensate, but there ARE reasons we study things like this.