CICO looks like dumb advice ONLY if you think it to mean that you should be literally summing the nutritional labels of the foods you consume and whatever calor

CICO looks like dumb advice ONLY if you think it to mean that you should be literally summing the nutritional labels of the foods you consume and whatever calorie estimates your smartwatch shows you and treat it as gospel. Both the CI and CO numbers can have very large error margins, however, the fact that their difference, if leading to a caloric deficit, will cause weight-loss is irrefutable truth. If you do a diet for 14 days and have no change in weight, it just means you need to reduce consumption more. CICO isn't unfair because it's incorrect. It's unfair because for some people following CICO comes trivially, while for others it's literally the hardest thing they will ever do in their lives. And that's why I do sympathize with people who find it hard to lose weight. You are fighting against your most primal instincts (the desire to eat). But that doesn't mean CICO is incorrect.