Losing weight is like a Perlin noise function. The &#x27;primary signal&#x27; is food intake. The &#x27;secondary signal&#x27; is caloric expenditure (be it from the base metabolism or exercise). All the rest are tertiary signals. Yes, one can debate about the amplitude of each of the signals, but the message is: want to lose weight? Eat less.<p>The  problem with articles like this is that it sends the signal: &#x27;losing weight is hard, don&#x27;t bother trying&#x27;. Or &#x27;nobody knows how this works! What we&#x27;ve thought for decades is completely wrong!&#x27;. Which is a poisonous message. It doesn&#x27;t matter that we don&#x27;t know the exact details, or that we can&#x27;t measure to the last 25 Cals. The higher-level principle (i.e.: yes, you body obeys the laws of thermodynamics) is still valid.