Yay for anecdotal evidence! The people I know eat (for the most part) quite healthy, don't drink any soda, don't eat junk food, etc. As was mentioned by someo

Yay for anecdotal evidence! The people I know eat (for the most part) quite healthy, don't drink any soda, don't eat junk food, etc. As was mentioned by someone else, if the average American ate 3800 calories a day they would continually gain weight until they reached the equilibrium point of maintenance calories. The average height of America males is 5'10". http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_height http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_height The average weight of American males is 191lbs. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Body_weight http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Body_weight Given those numbers, and an age of 35 years, with a base metabolic rate, calorie maintenance is 1809kcal/day and 2488kcal/day for exercise 3 times/week (surely more than the "average" American) http://www.freedieting.com/tools/calorie_calculator.htm http://www.freedieting.com/tools/calorie_calculator.htm The equilibrium point for 3800kcal/day and 3 times/week exercise is 400 pounds! Methinks you're still fudging the numbers.