Does anyone else have the Oculus Quest? It is really my main workout now next to long walks and I'm having fun doing it.
To get back to the main topic, I think it actually is possible to lose weight by doing exercise alone. Just look at labour workers who do hard work all day. They can eat a mountain of white rice with oil 3 times a day and still be slim and fit. How feasible this is for someone with an office job is another story of course.
Of course it's possible to lose weight with activity alone, that's not what people mean when they say you can't out-exercise a bad diet.
What that statement means is that it's virtually impossible to *add* enough exercise to your life to compensate for a significant caloric excess.
A lean laborer isn't trying to exercise off the excess calories they're eating, they're trying to eat enough calories to meet their daily needs. That's a totally different life experience.
Back in a previous life when I was body building, I struggled to get enough calories into me. Then when I gained a bunch of weight during my doctorate, there was no way I could add enough cardio to offset the pizza and beer I was living on.
Someone who is eating to keep up with their bodies needs is someone who knows how to eat to maintain their body weight. That's a skill, some people have it naturally, some people need to learn it.
If someone is eating in a way that is causing them to gain, they need to learn that skill, otherwise it's very easy to out eat any lifestyle.
The even bigger risk, is what if they stop being able to do their level of calorie-mitigating activity? I've seen A LOT of athletes balloon rapidly to obesity when they get injured.
For a lot of them it's a combo of no longer burning thousands of calories a day, but it's also because they lose their ability to regulate their own intake because they're depressed.
Basically, if someone is not eating in a way that maintains their weight, then there's a reason. That reason needs to be understood and managed if they want long term success.
For me, I've never had difficulty managing my weight. I just eat what my body needs. I eat only what makes me feel good and only how much I need. EXCEPT when I was stressed out of my mind in school and working such long hours that I had to skip meals. Stressed, exhausted, and starving after 12-16 hours with no food, and I overate empty calories, just a little bit every night. Just an extra 100-300 calories, which is so easy, but over years it made me obese.
I was working my ass off and on my feet all the time, but unlike when I was body building, I wasn't paying attention to my body. Fueling myself properly wasn't my priority, so I didn't.