> but everyone here knows this already.

I doubt that. Most people do not have a good enough understanding of what will help them lose weight easily. In fact the statement "increased consumption and decreased physical activity is the direct cause" illustrates my point, in that decreased physical activity has little to do with weight gain.

I suspect the vox populi have the same beliefs when it comes to weight loss that I did until a few years ago. That is, to lose weight one must eat lots of veggies, cut fat, cut junk food, etc. and exercise a lot. While doing that specific thing will certainly lead to the intended result, it is but one of many ways to achieve the goal of weight loss. More importantly it masks the mechanics of weight loss, which are simple to understand and from which a plethora of lifestyle changes can be derived that are nearly effortless and malleable enough to fit into anyone's lives.

The truth is simple. People gain weight when they consume more calories than they expend. Carbs, fat, sugar, veggies, exercise, etc. don't magically bend the equation. It's just calories. From that simple fact everything else can be derived. My advice to anyone is to grab a calorie tracking app, and use it for two weeks. Set a calorie budget for yourself (good apps will ask questions and do this for you), and then stay within that budget. Your life will change forever.

You know how humans intuitively believe that a bowling ball falls faster than a pebble? Well our intuitions about food are just as bad. You'll quickly learn that breads are awful, meat is amazing, and exercise is useless (for losing weight). Most of that is counter intuitive. I bet most people will think a chicken sandwich is healthy, and fat, juicy steak is bad. But the opposite is true (in the context of losing weight). The chicken sandwich comes on bread, which is calorie dense and will quickly blow your calorie budget without filling you up. The steak, on the other hand, can be surprisingly low calorie and will fill you up for a long time (fats are satiating). And yes, again, exercise is useless. People will jump to the exercise part of the app, plug in their 20 minutes of treadmill, and see that through all their sweat and tears ... they've earned half a cookie worth of calories. Not worth it. That doesn't jive with what your average joe off the street believes about weight loss.

After the two weeks? Ditch the app if you want. Those two weeks will change your lifestyle, and you'll be able to guessimate calories without it to maintain weight. Want to keep losing weight? Keep using it; you'll have learned that calorie apps aren't scary, or hard. You'll go to the store, check the nutrition facts, and you'll realize you now have a special new power. The power to understand what those numbers mean and how they'll impact your life. It becomes second nature and doesn't require any extra brain power. Seriously, it's easy.

This stuff is not taught in schools, nor by most parents, nor by most of vocal society. We get the tired, old rhetoric about vegetables and exercise. For goodness' sake, we were taught the food pyramid when I was growing up! What a load of bollocks that was. I get funny looks by almost everyone when I say things like "Bacon is good for you!" and "Fat is healthy for you!" They look at me like what I said was a joke. I think that's telling about what "everyone here knows".

P.S. This comment is all within the context of losing weight. Eating healthy is a different matter, one which is much more complex, far less understood, and far more open to debate. In the grand scheme of things, if you're overweight, that's going to kill you before "Ah, well, looks like you didn't eat enough of this unheardof berry that we just discovered last week in the Caribbean forests". So take care of weight first, then in roughly this order: stop eating sugar. No really, stop eating sugar. Fat is good for you (except trans, that's terrible. Sat/unsat is whatever; probably doesn't matter and we don't know one way or the other). Yes, seriously, fat is good for you. Exercise. No, cardio is not for everyone, so do weight training if that makes you happier. Or do cardio if that makes you happier. Whatever gets you into the gym. No, it doesn't matter how many reps/sets you do; just work hard. Multi vitamins. Fish (or fish oil) ... maybe. Your heart will thank you. Fiber. Seriously, fiber. Mr. colon needs love too. Oh, and get some sun, but not more than 20 minutes without sunblock. Careful balance between vitamin D and skin cancer... But no, really, the sun is scary. Some day we will master the art of genetic manipulation and put racism behind us so we can make everyone some nice shade of brown. Until that day, if you were unfortunate enough to be born without natural melanin in your skin (aka white), stay the hell away from the giant freaking nuclear reactor core in the sky. Future you will thank you for not having to get gapping, cancerous holes cut out of your face and arms because you wanted to be tan for a summer 40 years ago. Did all that? Okay, go chase the latest fad diet if that makes you happy. No, seriously, happiness priceless. Find it wherever you can.