[Bancakes]

These people are not only unconditioned and unmotivated, they are usually malconditioned and malmotivated. I'm tired of hearing overcomplicated esoterica such as "detox", "keto", and "fasting". Just eat 25% fewer calories than TDEE for 3 months.

[generalenvelope]

This is a gross oversimplification of the numerous biological, psychological, and social factors that contribute to overweight/obesity.

Yes, the common pathway is energy imbalance, but the implication that "fixing" that is in the realm of basic human choice is disrespectful.

Consider that obesity is heavily influenced by your food environment, genes, and lifelong habits. Do any of those things sound easy to change?

[Bancakes]

Your obesity is influenced only by your food intake. Your calorie delta. I don't know how else to put it. The math is clear.

[generalenvelope]

I agree with you - that was the "common pathway" comment.

I am interested in the complicated part, which is why that delta exists, and how to actually do something about it. You implied in another comment that following a diet is a solution. I think you should acknowledge how disingenuous this comes across given that doesn't work for millions of people. I think other commenters have gotten this across: how simple your response sounds compared to what it actually takes to "follow a diet" for the rest of your life. Do you tell people with high blood pressure to "just relax"?

[jltsiren]

Any advice of the form "just do X for Y months" is doomed to fail. The right advice is always "do X for the rest of your life".

Many people are overweight because their sense of hunger is poorly calibrated. To overcome that, they need to change something permanently. They need changes in their lives that help them to stay at a healthy weight without being hungry for the rest of their lives.

[swader999]

Agree, but sometimes a radical temporary change can be a catalyst.

[throwaway98797]

lol just spend less money then you earn

just listen before you talk

just breath before you send that email

Just just just

We are humans just anything is hard and lacking compassion isn’t helping

y u not just have compassion?

[Bancakes]

I see where you're coming from. Following a diet is a psychological challenge, not a physiological one. As such, hundreds of millions of religious people have no trouble following strict diets their whole lives for no more than to appease a deity - something greater than us which gives us purpose. I'm following lent as we speak. Are you less than a middle eastern child, that you cannot follow a basic ritual? Are you less than a neanderthal, that your two bare hands are not enough or sufficient to feed you?

[throwaway98797]

being compared to neanderthal is shame based compliance

so many folks don’t try because they feel bad.

the key isn’t to up the shame, it’s to show how even a little bit can help.

encourage people to walk more today than yesterday, make one healthy food substitution. small baby steps with encouragement makes people generally happier and less likely to shame binge. Or give up.

you can white knuckle this stuff or find love and enjoy the journey.

What’s more sustainable?

[maerF0x0]

The thing you're railing up against (and others on the flip side of the coin) is simplicity of advice vs ease of actualizing

"Just eat 80% of TDEE" is easy advice for someone who only has attention span for "quick tips" or wants it to sound easy.

"spend 6 weeks attempting to eat at maintenance until the scale stops moving, and use this formula to calculate what delta from TDEE is, before then making any changes to diet. Then once you're ready to start making changes to your diet remember two things increase the volume and make it permanently sustainable. Some examples are almond milk replaces full fat milk, or whole unprocessed fruit replaces sugary things, replace excess grains with leafy greens, choose lower fat meats like chicken/turkey breast, white fish or shrimp, over fatty meats like pork ribs or 85% fat ground beef. At most lose 1% of body weight per week, keep tracking everything you eat so you know the calories you ate and keep using the delta formula to recalculate the calories you should eat this week cause the TDEE is going to literally change every day but we'll settle for recalculating each week. "

see how complex that gets? People's eyes glaze over. There's a balance between good advice being short, and good advice being nuanced enough.

[throwaway98797]

how is walk more today than yesterday complex?

buy Apple Watch it tracks it all for you.

switch 2% for whole milk.

Do it for a week. Then do it again the following week. In 12 weeks tell them you should start to see changes and not before.

right expectations is Key.