while that may be true, for the mast majority of people that over simplification is fine. The high odds are that the fat person running next to me on the tread mill is over weight because they eat too much and do not move enough, not because of the 10 calories per hour I may burn in that work out due to what ever factors.
if it were a small % of overweight people you might have a point, but the high % of overweight people in US in particular is certainly because of calories consumed >> calories burned.
i think the real tragedy is people looking for magical formulas, or giving up because 'its genetics'. further proof of that is that just about any dieting regiment works, the issue is that most people dont stick to them.
No, the GP is correct and "calories consumed >> calories burned" is a gross oversimplification. For example, one extra Oreo cookie a day ends up in several pounds gained over a year. Tiny changes in net calories can have very large effects in equilibrium weight. In addition, it is so easy to say "just eat less", but it is very (very) well documented that some overweight people can eat less and lose weight, but they are looking at being extremely hungry every second for the rest of their lives. Once a weight set point has been established, your body can scream at you forever until you regain that weight setting. So easy for "normal" weight people to say "Just eat less".
Most of the population is carb intolerant. Unable to process sugar, their kidney turns it into fat and makes them feel starved at the same time. When they try to follow a balanced diet with lots of carbs, they get fatter and fatter. They try to consume less calories and they starve while creating new fat stores at the same time. For these people calorie calculation is the wrong thing. They should stop sugar consumption, restrict carbs to a minimum and without a diet they will slowly lose the weight.
if it were a small % of overweight people you might have a point, but the high % of overweight people in US in particular is certainly because of calories consumed >> calories burned.
i think the real tragedy is people looking for magical formulas, or giving up because 'its genetics'. further proof of that is that just about any dieting regiment works, the issue is that most people dont stick to them.