Hate to be that guy because I know what you were trying to say, but not really, not necessarily. You can avoid eating for the first X hours of the day and then gorge yourself on a huge meal and be in a caloric surplus at the end of the day.
I think the OP has a pretty reasonable point, intermediate fasting, restricts calories to certain hours, calories restriction in general restricts calories to a quantity.
Probably worth exploring the citation to know how well this holds.
“Evidence shows that limiting the eating window to 6 to 10 hours within a 24-hour period naturally reduces energy intake by 200 to 500 kcal/d”.
I linked to full txt above if you want to dig
(There are zero studies that show that time restricted eating causes a greater weight loss effect compared to other eating plans when calorie deficit is equated between the groups)
Yeah, you might gorge yourself on occasion and have one our two day surplus, but it’s not something that anyone would regularly do because it’s not only uncomfortable, but it also messes with your gut. So in function while you’re correct, it is possible theoretically to ingest the same calories in a tiny window of eating as somebody who eats throughout a whole day, your body can’t process food that quickly and will give you significant gastrointestinal distress