How, exactly, are they lucky?

lol, not close for me. I can easily put away a pound of chicken.

That fruit quote was taken out of context

whoops, yes it was.

different strokes I guess. 350 cal. is about half a pound of boneless, skinless chicken breast. I could probably eat a pound but I wouldn't feel too hot after.

There is some luck involved when you consider that people have different tastes. Like, I prefer baked chips to non-baked ones. Some people hate chocolate, ice cream, or candy, etc. Some people are lucky to fade the natural urge for such detrimental foods.

Some are "lucky" to be born into a family that doesn't have extra money for processed foods, or are lucky to be brought up in a family that prepares healthy meals. If you are born into a Mexican-American family you are unlucky in the sense that you are almost destined to be overweight or obese based on their diet. I mean you cannot eat flour tortillas every day.

Sure but if you ate 350 calories of chicken for lunch you probably wouldn't be hungry until dinner.

Also, that's really easy. Two avocados.

That's definitely not true for me, although my breakfasts are usually just a cup or two of dressed up coffee, and I burn 330 or so calories commuting on my bike each way.

technically a fruit... but I catch your meaning. I guess I should have said MOST fruits and vegetables.

"Lucky" could even be something as simple as an above average metabolism. Everyone gains and loses differently. Im not sure if genetics has anything to do with it but different people lose weight in different areas of their body.

source - lost a lot of weight - still have man-terts.

I know, and sure, the basic ideas you're talking about are fine, and yes, a diet heavy in lean meat, fruit, and vegetables is in all likelihood a great way for a relatively well-off (by world standards) person in a temperate climate who only gets moderate exercise to stay lean and feel satisfied. At the same time, any advice along the lines of "you can eat as much X as you want" is always flawed, even if most people won't usually want to eat an unhealthy amount of X. Calories are the number that really matters, and I won't begrudge someone eating processed food if they accurately track calories and fit it into their budget.

I was always a firm believer in calorie counting. I thought it was pretty black and white, calories in/out.

It worked...for about 40ish pounds, but I started realizing I was getting weaker overall and easily tired. Then I did a lot of research and came to the (duh) realization that not all calories are created equal.

Now, I do a mostly paleo diet and I actually do eat as much as I want....as long as its paleo-friendly. I lost about 25ish more pounds and then sort of leveled off to where I am now (I hover in the 190-195 range) ... but my % of body fat is still declining while muscle mass and overall strength is increasing.

as far as the cost goes...yeah groceries are definitely more, cant argue that. Obviously there's ways to mitigate some of that, gardening, discount stores etc... but the way I see it is that even though im paying more for food, its actually going to pay off in the long run for (hopefully) reduced medical costs when im older.

I dunno... Im really enjoying eating clean and would suggest it to anyone, but ymmv and to each their own.

Not sure if you're being subtle or what. Same habits as fat people, different results = lucky. Maybe they're still unhealthy on the inside and not lucky that way, but lucky appearance-wise.
Dark chocolate ftw. I eat it every day. Usually unsweetened baking chocolate, but sometimes 90% or 85%.
Tracking calories is bizarre though. Why are we the only animal on Earth that has to track calories? You only have to if you eat processed foods. Sure, you can do that and stay thin, while probably being hungry all the time and lacking micro and phyto nutrients. Or you can eat a variety of real food, completely ignore how many calories you're eating daily, stay thin, and never be hungry (likely being too full to overload on calories). I prefer the latter.

I don't think it's supposed to be complicated or hard. The obesity epidemic started when processed foods took over the American diet. With the processed-food epidemic spreading to other countries, they're becoming fat too (Australia & Mexico).

Given similar activity, no such thing except in rare medical cases.

Unsweetened? Sounds really unappetizing.

Have you heard of dogs?

The low carb diet was the only one that ever worked for me to lose weight. I dropped down from being obese (255 lbs 6'2) to only slightly overweight (205 lbs) in about a year. Also, I think I may have been addicted to pasta/rice/chips/etc, because when I just eat fruits/veggies/protein/fats I don't have the urge to to binge on those foods.

What are everyone's thoughts on carbs being addicting to some people? I recall reading a few articles on it in the past, but I dunno how scientific they were. I definitely felt like my urge to overeat went away completely when I avoided carbs.

I do think some people have a genetic predisposition to not handle carbs well. Although I'm certainly no scientist.

Lol. Yes, a domesticated animal that we feed processed food (dogfood) is a great counter-example. Just like when giving a counter-example of a vegetable with high calories, you picked avocados, which are a fruit (and one of like 2 fruits on earth with a fat content).

Have you heard of wolves?

It might be an acquired taste. It's a little bitter but I like the flavors. The bitterness is caused by certain flavonoids/antioxidants which aren't as abundant in more refined chocolate. Something like Lindt 85% is a good compromise -- all the deliciousness you expect and only like 3 ingredients: cocoa, vanilla, some sugar. I might be weird but more often than not, I crave the unsweetened over the Lindt. Then again, I often get cravings for raw mustard greens. My tastebuds have a masochistic streak.

A solid majority of humans on the earth get a solid majority of their daily calories from rice. Of course, a lot of them can't overeat too much due to poverty, but event he better off Asians aren't as fat as Americans. I just don't buy that carbs are evil in and of themselves. Now, they're not typically as satiating as lean meat, but bread, pasta, tortillas, rice, etc. have been diet staples for much longer than obesity has been epidemic. Some people are addicted to eating, sure. YTF's log is a great example of someone going of the rails on a 9k calorie binge, but he's clearly dealing with psychological issues as much as physiological ones. I think a lot of our cultural attitudes about food are bad, not merely that our foods are bad.

Not sure if I'm "lucky," but I have a naturally small frame. In simple terms, I have thinner bones and it takes a ton of effort for me to gain weight. I was once at 175lbs, but ironically, after gaining 30lbs, I was often asked if I *lost* weight. At that time, I was eating something like 3000 kcals and exercising like a champion, but it was really too difficult to keep it up.

My meals went something like:
Morning: 4pcs of toast heaped with peanut butter.
Lunch: potatoes and meat
Dinner: same as lunch, though it larger volumes.
Lots of snacking on apples throughout the day.
1/2 gal of milk throughout the day.

The fact is that it was just too hard to keep it up. I quit the diet and got a job that required a lot of exorcise, and I dropped to 140lbs in a few months.

I'm also "lucky" that I can't eat a lot of foods, so I'm pretty much relegated to meats, potatoes, corn, peas, and a few other items, all pretty low calorie.

There is that joke about "I lose weight by opening up a bag of potato chips and watching TV for an hour." Some people are just like that. I simply don't have the bone structure to carry much weight, I don't think.

You are missing out. Low-sugar baker's chocolate is amazing to eat.

Carbs appears to be a double-edged sword. I think that a lot of people are becoming hyperglycemic, and yes, sugar can be stored as energy AKA fat, but at the same time, sugar is vital for brain and nerve function. I suspect there is something critical missing in the average American diet, though I wouldn't know what that is. There needs to be a proper balance of insulin and sugar, though I wouldn't know what triggers insulin production.

As far as being addicting: if you are talking about Wonder bread, sure, but if you are talking about good home-style bread, I don't think it is possible to polish off more than a few pieces. To be honest, I don't think it is the carbs themselves that are addicting so much as all the other additives that are added to mass-produced and processed foods. These companies aren't employing idiot as their chemists.

My old dog could still put away just crazy amounts of chicken. Lots of predators are capable of overeating.

I admit, I neglected the fact that not all animals* can eat whenever they want like we can (the privileged among us). In the wild, a wolf will scarf down as much as it possibly can because that's smart for survival, but it doesn't have the opportunity to overeat like we do. I don't know what would happen if it did. It would put on extra pounds, but I don't picture it getting things like diabetes and clogged arteries from gorging on wild game (I have no idea though).

*Edit: at first I said we're the only animal, but ofc that's false because grass-eating animals can eat whenever they want, when they're not being chased. They don't have to watch calories. Whatever I still think calorie-counting is outlandish. Maybe my opinion will change if I ever put on a pound of fat. I weigh less than I did in high school (stopped lifting weights, lost muscle).

I would never want to avoid all carbs. You need a certain amount to think straight and be healthy. That's just my opinion. Personally, I think carbs are awesome. It just takes some self discipline not to over indulge.

I eat dark chocolate every day. But it has to have a little sugar with it, come on people. Unsweetened baker's chocolate is crazy talk. I haven't tried that since I was a kid and my mom was making all sorts of chocolate desserts. That stuff isn't any fun at all. I love Lindt's dark chocolate with "A Touch of Sea Salt". Try it, it's fantastic. Dove's dark chocolate is pretty good too . you need a little sugar with it is all i'm saying.