[thaanpaa]

If you deliberately misinterpret what I'm saying, I suppose I'm mistaken.

The majority of these studies consider a weight loss of 10 pounds over two years to be successful. If you start with 100 pounds or more, that is almost nothing.

Many of them consider anyone who starts at 300, loses 100, and gains 80 back in five years to be a huge success. Is it really?

In healthcare, an obese person is typically considered successful if they lose more than 30% of their body weight permanently. This is extremely unlikely to happen without surgery or medication.

[epups]

Mate these studies are very clearly talking about percentages here, so they are directly comparable. You said 0.1% could lose 10 pounds over five years, the studies you cited mention 25-35% are able to do at least that after five years - the average man in the US is 200 pounds, and these are obese people, so the loss was actually higher than 10 pounds. Now you are changing the goal posts to 30%!

A good diet and exercise routine can have wonderful results, even in the long-term. The percentage of success in losing significant weight with those methods is far, far above 0.1%, and I think people should be aware of that.