I had this friend once, who called me up one day to tell me that she had a bunch of protein powder she didn’t want anymore. She wondered if I wanted it. Of course I wanted it I explained, but I wondered why she didn’t.
“I don’t think it’s working for me,” she explained.
“What do you mean?” I asked.
“I’m still the same weight.” she replied. “In fact, I think it has actually made me gain weight.”
“Well, have you been exercising?” I questioned.
“No,” she said.
“Have you been cutting your calories from the rest of your diet?” I asked.
“No,” she said.
“So basically” I surmised, “you’ve just been adding an additional 200-400 calories a day to your diet without any other changes in your exercise, your eating, or your lifestyle, and you’ve been expecting these additional calories to somehow magically make you lose weight?” I got a sort of blank stare in response, before she finally responded.
“Do you want the protein or not?”
“Yes. Yes I do.”