Calories are virtually irrelevant. Based on the calorie surplus/deficit model, someone who eats 9,000+ "calories" a day should always gain weight at a constant

Calories are virtually irrelevant. Based on the calorie surplus/deficit model, someone who eats 9,000+ "calories" a day should always gain weight at a constant rate. This doesn't happen, not even with most obese people. Where food ultimately ends up is largely determined by hormones. Eat noting but fat and you create a situation where weight may even be lost because fat doesn't elicit a release of insulin in the same way that pure glucose does with the equivalent number of "calories." Feed one person 85% of their TDEE in high fructose corn syrup, feed another equivalent person 400% of their TDEE in meat and butter, and you will likely get a result that entirely contradicts calories as a valid measurement of human health status. Better yet, eat fat and sugar at the same time and see what happens. > Is it common for people to be force-fed as an adult? If not, then am I being obtuse by suggesting these things are absolutely within an adults control? I agree 100% that people have control over their bodies, but only so much as an alcoholic has enough will to take control and change their habit contrary to what their nervous system is screaming at them to do. A person who is overweight, suffering mental trauma, and is experiencing systemic inflammation, and has had a habit of abusing their body most of their lives, is going to have a challenging time convincing themselves to go through some temporary pain. People are responsible for themselves, but the reality is we are imperfect beings who are products of our environment, and the ailments we suffer can't be boiled down to simple arithmetic around a unit of measurement like calories. If the environment didn't support people becoming obese and ill in general, there wouldn't be many obese people if at all. The individual is not the only source of blame. Anyone who has attempted to lose significant weight knows that society, by good generally good intention, effectively gets in the way of bettering one's health. Being able to go out with friends and have the will to say no to the beer and the pizza takes a lot of effort and learning that goes unappreciated by those who haven't tried to change their lives in this way.