No it doesn't. Or as you would say, WRONG! Hormone function (or dysfunction) can definitely skew the balance of cals in or out, as I mentioned in my previous post. Thyroid hormone is a great example of this. People with low thyroid output def. have their metabolism lowered more than people of similar weight and activity levels, but it just means they have to adjust their cal intake accordingly, and/or take a thyroid supplement.

How does this refute "calories in/calories out"? That's what we're discussing here, not QUALITY of calories. Consider TEF, or the thermic effect of protein. The body will use more energy digesting protein than it does C and F. So for diets equal in calories, the one with more protein will cause one to burn slightly more energy. This doesn't change the fact that if that person is eating MORE calories than their body needs, they will gain.

You can't make something out of nothing. You can't create weight out of thin air. Something is happening in the body so that calories in are greater than calories out. What is that something? This is what we need to figure out.

I'm happy to discuss this further with you, if you'd like to start a new thread, and PM me the link. It's really off-topic for this thread now.