Net calories alone don't tell the whole story. A big factor in weight loss and gain are hormones and calories don't say a thing about those. For instance, to g

Net calories alone don't tell the whole story. A big factor in weight loss and gain are hormones and calories don't say a thing about those. For instance, to gain weight (muscle), bodybuilders will consume large amounts of carbohydrates (for a variety of reasons), but the most important is spiking insulin in the presence of protein to shuttle the protein to the muscles to begin building them after breaking them down. Similarly, obese people should be cutting all carbs out b/c of the same insulin spike. But there are other foods which are highly insuligenic. Whey protein, for instance, can spike insulin. MCT oil at high doses can. Heck, egg whites with no fat (no yolk) to balance it can spike insulin. The point is that calories are, at best, an incomplete picture. At worst they are misleading and a distraction. I'm of the believe that net calories still matter, but only to the point that you actually know what you are doing and are eating the right macronutrients in the right ratios.