[JimtheCoder]

"but to say that it's impossible that hormonal imbalance or other biological causes are not possible is just plain stupid."

But, things like hormonal imbalances and biological causes would effect the "calories out" portion of the formula, no?

[gtowey]

While your statement is probably correct, I've not known anyone who talks about CICO as anything other than "diet and exercise". This is why the absolute statement is a problem, it narrows they way most people think about these things. It becomes a substitute for nuanced explanations.

[porkbeer]

Even with huge confounding factors, tracking and controlling ci, correlates almost directly to co after such adjustments. Arguments that cico isnt absolute are technically correct but pedantic and unhelpful. None of this addresses the problems of willpower and differince in stimulus humans experince, nor the psychology of overeating as a coping mechanism, both of which seem to underpin the epidemic rather than math.