It&#x27;s not my argument that the environment plays no role in obesity. It clearly does. I too think liquid calories are a major culprit.<p>I just think the &quot;thermodynamics&quot; argument oversimplifies immensely. Even the variance in resting metabolic rate is unlikely to capture the whole difference between multiple subjects consuming 3500 calories of oil (or, for that matter, bacon or butter), because resting metabolic rate captures the variance you&#x27;d see between people consuming refined sugar, and there are more variables involved in metabolizing fat.<p><i>Later, because this is bugging me a bit</i><p>And that&#x27;s all before we get into satiety, which is a hormonal response. I had some cheese and rillettes for lunch. I&#x27;m not going to be hungry for the rest of the day. If I&#x27;d had the equivalent calories in carbohydrates, I&#x27;d be hungry in an hour. Upthread, the term &quot;willpower&quot; is being bandied about as if people can simply will themselves to eat a fixed number of calories. That&#x27;s true only if you eat carefully, and if you don&#x27;t have any hormonal dysfunction; it&#x27;s as true as saying I could will myself into coding for 48 hours straight, if I just focussed my &quot;will&quot; on it.