&gt; Continually reiterating the thermodynamic dietary hypothesis to me (energy eaten minus energy expended) does not help.<p>There are those who would deny it, unto their dying breath. You do not appear to be one of them, and that&#x27;s the first step. The saying I like is that weight loss is simple (subtext: simple to understand), but not <i>easy</i> (subtext: not easy to execute). Sure, there are tonnes of factors that go into what causes someone to overeat. And fad diets, or even the whole <i>concept</i> of &quot;dieting&quot; need to DIAF (it&#x27;s lifestyle changes or nothing). And shaming people for being fat might actually be counterproductive. But being at a healthy weight is there for the taking, if you want it. If you choose not to be a healthy weight, fair enough. Just don&#x27;t complain when you have to (rightfully) pay for two airplane tickets because you take up that much space.<p>And just for the record, there are many of us for whom weight loss had <i>nothing</i> to do with good fortune. We were fat, we had bad eating habits (snacking unconsciously, bingeing on soda, etc, etc). We&#x27;ve been there, we recognized what caused us to be fat, and we turned it around through hard work and perseverence. Didn&#x27;t even have to get a gut biome implant or exercise like a fiend, just simple reduction of intake.