Defen is correct, you're using a different referent of "excess". Taubes means excess of maintenance (which may vary), not excess from ideal. No one is disputi

Defen is correct, you're using a different referent of "excess". Taubes means excess of maintenance (which may vary), not excess from ideal. No one is disputing that if a 300 lb person ate what a 180 lb person needs, he would probably loose weight. Taubes refers to this low-cal diet as a starvation diet, but his book has more to say about its problems and limitations. His point is that staying within 20 cals of maintenance by counting is nearly impossible, so counting isn't what is responsible for weight control, otherwise everyone would be wildly far from ideal weight.