Member-only story
Thin People Shouldn’t Give Weight Loss Advice
Or, illusory correlation in action!
An illusory correlation is a perception that there is a meaningful relationship between variables when no such relationship exists. Example: Thin Person: Just eat in moderation and you won’t be overweight — that’s what I do, and see, I’m thin! Or, Thin Person: You just need to be more active; I go to the gym 5 days a week and see, I’m thin.
While clearly, getting regular exercise and eating in moderation is generally good advice, the links between that advice and weight loss are essentially nonexistent.
So why do thin people think they know the secret to weight management?
For one thing, their advice often fits with how we’ve been taught weight management works. We’ve likely all heard someone tell us it’s all about “calories in vs. calories out.” This model says that if you take in more calories than you expend, you will gain weight; if you take in fewer calories than you expend, you will lose weight. This is the nutritional equivalent of saying Jeff Bezos is a billionaire because he saves more money than he spends. While technically true, it glosses over some pretty important details between the spending and saving.
