for many people, it is not. you have enough free time, energy, and money to fix your weight issue - many people are missing at least one of these factors, oftentimes more.
there are more complicating factors here too - try telling someone taking lithium that gaining weight is a choice. or birth control, or SSRIs... the list goes on.
yeah, it's pretty easy for you - a middle aged wealthy guy - with enough free time to go to the gym 5-6 days a week - to maintain your weight. most people aren't in that situation.
I've spent years at a healthy BMI when the pandemic was ongoing while getting no exercise. Didn't gain a pound. Weight is all diet. You don't need free time, energy, or money to fix it
i have always maintained a slightly underweight body, well into my 30s, despite limited exercise and unrestricted eating.
i personally know many people who struggle immensely, despite eating far less than me.
for me, it takes exactly 0 effort to remain thin. zero. i literally don't even think about it. other people count every single calorie they eat, exercise religiously, take weight loss medication, and still have trouble managing their weight.
but hunger is a primal thing - some people are far hungrier far more often than other people, for many reasons - and yes, it takes energy to resist hunger.
money and free time aren't required, no, but it definitely helps your odds.
> i have always maintained a slightly underweight body, well into my 30s, despite limited exercise and unrestricted eating
I'm the same, but not because my bodies special. I can very easily gain weight and actually have really bad self control around food.. especially snacks
I pretty recently moved to the US and it infuriates me that so many stores only have 200g+ family-size packs of chips/crisps/whatever you call them.. I want them, but not a huge pack, so I just don't buy them. I know if I keep them at home I'll eat the whole bag in a day
I eat mostly nutritionally dense, unprocessed food because even though I hate cooking I found ways to bulk cook tasty meals and keep them in the fridge/freezer for when I'm lazy and would otherwise order shit
I have breakfast at 1-2pm.. which makes it really hard to overeat in such a short time window before bed. Not for any specific reason I just have coffee before then and it blunts my hunger
I don't think about it either.. but so many of my habits I've built up, if I look at it, make it really hard for me to get fat. I'm guessing you have similar things
"choices" are as much lifestyle design (whether you meant to do it or not) as they are pure willpower. They're all things in your control that can make it so you don't rely on just resisting hunger
There are always excuses. Everything is too hard until you actually do it.
Your argument is akin to being told that on average Women are shorter than men and then you say, well I know a tall woman.
There are exceptions but the vast majority of us can accomplish this, we just don't prioritize it. You get what you prioritize.
Choice isn't binary, it's a continuous distribution. There are thousands of factors influencing the power you have over your weight. That's why I'm thin and I don't try at all, and other people are overweight and cry from trying so hard.
Can you just make the choice to solve P versus NP? Or climb K2? There's a lot of factors that affect a persons ability to make any choice. Willpower, knowledge and experiences, time, intelligence, etc.
There's thousands of factors that influence you making that choice, some factors in your blood, some from your childhood, and some from how your day went.
I'm very lucky that the stars aligned, so I don't have to try at all. Really, zero effort.
Others have to try very, very hard every day of their life. They need to think about what they're eating constantly. Do you know when I think about what I'm eating? Never. I just eat whatever I want, whenever I want.
it's a lot easier to prioritize it when you have time, money, and energy. that's my whole point. you are in a position that enables you to manage your weight effectively. many people are not.
for many people, it is not. you have enough free time, energy, and money to fix your weight issue - many people are missing at least one of these factors, oftentimes more.
there are more complicating factors here too - try telling someone taking lithium that gaining weight is a choice. or birth control, or SSRIs... the list goes on.
yeah, it's pretty easy for you - a middle aged wealthy guy - with enough free time to go to the gym 5-6 days a week - to maintain your weight. most people aren't in that situation.