The other thing that's being talked about in nutrition circles is "obesogenic environment". Essentially this boils down to the fact that people will eat what is available. We all know that if you put an obese person in a cell and feed them 2000 calories a day, they will lose weight, regardless of the composition of those calories (within reason, people still need enough protein/vitamins/minerals etc to exist). Some diets at that calorie level will be reasonably satisfying, others will have the patient/prisoner desperately hungry. Either way they will lose weight, they can't not, because they only get what comes through the door. Anyone who says "calorie counting doesn't work" is talking out of their hat, it certainly does. Where it falls down is that it's difficult to maintain psychological focus and discipline to only eat the 2000 calories allowed, and none of us here have to live in a cell and eat only what comes through the hatch. Thankfully.
We also know that if you live on fast food, with its focus on easy gratification, you will almost invariably eat too much and gain weight. Partly this is because it feels good to eat the stuff, partly because it's easy, partly because you eat faster so you ignore the "you are full" messages, partly because the foods are designed to be appealing and easy to consume. Sweet follows savoury, of course you want that big sugary Coke, it will wash away the salty chips flavour. If these are your choices then the bowl of lentil soup followed by an apple is not going to get a look in.
In between the two is a non obesogenic environment where the food choices are healthy. Many years ago there was an experiment in a children's home where the children were free to eat what they liked in a buffet situation. The buffet was stocked with normal cooked foods, recognisable as to what they were. For the first few days it was chaos, some children were living on potatoes and peas, others on meat and milk and apple pie. However after a while they settled down to a reasonably balanced diet. The experimenters then shifted to a buffet stocked with highly processed food that was not easily recognisable, and the children lost their ability to select a balanced diet and instead sought out food that was gratifying. Pizza, anyone?
We can therefore imagine that if we present people with exclusively "healthy" foods, they will find it difficult to overeat. Big bowls of salad, grilled meat in small portions, all the chickpea soup you want. Off you go.
Anyone here can eat a portion of fish and chips followed by a pint of Coke, or a beer. However take the calories in the drink and replace them with water and those from canned tuna or steamed chicken breast. That's about 3 standard cans of tuna. Off you go. Finish it, after your F&C, fancy it? Not much, no. Another Coke? Go on then. Another 3 cans of tuna? I'll give you a tenner if you can. No chance.
However it doesn't work like this. In the real world you don't get faced with a choice of chickpea soup or lentil surprise, you get milk shakes and ice cream. Oh, just one.
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