It's all about halo effects and not doing the math.  Hence the talk about workout gear and salads--they aren't counting calories.  One obese guy lost a lot of weight eating nothing but the McDonald's menu and budgeting calories.  Another guy went from ham to human eating a diet that consisted mostly of Twinkies but eating fewer calories than he burned.  So much for "food deserts make people fat" and "mutton flaps make people fat." It's why /r/loseit is a crap sub.  People get mentally rewarded and applauded for virtue-signaling and announcing good intentions, and when you light up the "task is finished" part of someone's brain before the task is finished, they're a lot less likely to do it.