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"Eating less" as a strategy for losing weight is like "make a lot of money" is a strategy for becoming rich.

It certainly works, it is just an unhelpful strategy.

Nah, the better analogy is "don't spend more than you make".

No, now you're comparing two variables. That would be plainly analogous to "don't eat more than you burn"

...which is significantly more helpful. I can eat less and not lose weight if my reduction of intake still doesn't bring me below my caloric burn rate. Comparing the two is the most helpful, because a person can tailor it to their situation:

Am I spending loads on unused subscriptions or take out each month? Maybe reduce it. Or, I'm pinching pennies and could benefit with polishing my resume'/gaining certificates and applying for better jobs for the next undefined period of time.

As with food. With the caveat that you are tracking calorie intake and burn, not "food" intake and burn, volume and 'fill' aren't 1:1

I'd say that "eat less" and "make a lot of money" are both helpful, winning strategies but lack the tactical details necessary to bring them into effect. Agreed that it's not helpful to toss them out at someone as if implementation is easy.

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