That said, I do hit for the cardio benefits of improving myself instead of thinking it's a weight loss miracle.
Almost always I've found the key to weight loss is eat less, nothing to do with working out (so long as you do actually work out a bit).
https://www.elevaterope.com/tabata-intervals/
When I originally came across Tabata in mid 2000s, nobody said it worked for BMI adjustment. The research was around whether you had to exercise for hours to build endurance. It was reasonably conclusive you could build endurance using this mechanism. The contemporary research suggested the endurance came from different metabolic processes becoming accessible, and that Tabata style HIIT kicked that in.
That extra donut or candy bar you had? That's an hour or so on a treadmill.
The good news is that almost all diets work, find one you can stick to and stick to it. You should see results. It's not a fast process though. It didn't take a week or a month to put on that weight, it's not going to take a week or a month to get rid of it.
Me personally, the weight watchers tier with the weekly call with a coach was immensely helpful for me, but there's all kinds of other diets you can try.
Cutting out something specific without replacing it can work wonders. For instance, cut out sugar water (soda) and do not replace it with anything. You don't need to count calories, you will take in fewer of them, and you will lose weight.
> "it's really hard to burn more than you eat"
Yes, flip side is "or burn more" which, 100% agree, is incredibly difficult. As I noted, most people don't have the will to make themselves feel sick from anaerobic effort.
* +40% - weight loss from burning more calories
* -20% - weight gain from eating more due to doing more sport
* +40% - less snacking from being away from food sources for more hours
* +20% - being more conscious of fitness and weight and being more disciplined about food
Is there actual evidence that this is generally effective?