I made it up completely as an example.<p>I used to exercise 3-4 days a week. Lifting weights, cardio, and yoga. I wasn&#x27;t losing weight. I started gradually counting and cutting calories and when it didn&#x27;t help I cut more. The only way I was at a good weight was on 1400 calories&#x2F;day. This made me completely miserable and anti social (I wouldn&#x27;t eat outside my house). This may be sustainable for some, but it wasn&#x27;t for me, eventually I just had to eat more. I kept it up for a couple years though. I didn&#x27;t have a body image problem either, my weight was a couple pounds below &quot;overweight&quot; BMI.<p>On the other hand a decade before that I ate junk food every single day and was very thin. Something seems to have changed in my body, but I don&#x27;t know what. When I was thin my diet was truly horrible!<p>Even when I was a kid - Every single Halloween I would eat an entire pillow case worth of candy over the course of around 3 weeks, but I never gained a pound.<p>There is SO MUCH we don&#x27;t know on this topic!<p>Yes, one can cut back on food, but willpower and the ability to control are limited to some degree.