Comment by throwawayboise
3 years ago
> there must be a point at which exercise _does_ increase energy expenditure
Of course there is. The problem is that it's much easier to eat than it is to exercise. You can eat a Big Mac in 5 minutes, and you'd have to run or bike for hours to burn those calories off. A 30 minute jog on a treadmill won't do it.
Most people eat more calories than they need, and would have to exercise much more than they realize to burn them off. So losing weight over a reasonably short period of time almost always requires cutting calories. Few people have enough free time to do it with exercise alone.
The efficiency of our bodies (or the amount of calories in food) is astounding. Makes one think whether there is any acceptable use case for serving snacks and other high-calorie-density food.