You're talking about the mind here, but hunger has a somatic component that those kind of privation cannot emulate. I can go on two week hikes where i do mostly

You're talking about the mind here, but hunger has a somatic component that those kind of privation cannot emulate. I can go on two week hikes where i do mostly what you say, but fasting for 5 days had me feel like dying on the second (once the pain pass and you can sleep, the following days are easy and you can ignore hunger). Or to say it another way, a more impersonnel one: much like nicotine and alcohol, food addiction isn't just psychologic but also somatic (unlike sex, sport, videogames, probably other). The issue with food addiction is that you cannot avoid food like you avoid alcohol and tobacco: you _have_ to eat to survive. Which make discourse like GP's "use your willpower!" as dumb as HAES', or maybe even more.