There seems to be a pervasive unwillingness to understand the nature of positive feedback cycles, and instead we're just continually hearing "fat because of intake" and "intake because of fat" arguments that try to fall on an extreme interpretation of simplified causality.

This article belongs to the very few that actually do a job of describing a feedback cycle, but then it falls short and does the popular simplification thing.

Fat cells emit hormones that cause hunger, and they actually do require energy for upkeep. The body prioritizes not losing any of its substance, so most "healthy" adults will always at least eat the amount they need to not lose weight. On top of that come fatal breakages in the messaging system the body uses to control the flow of energy. Fat people are prone to insulin resistance, physical extension of their digestive system that leads to the urge for more throughput, and other mechanisms - all of which cause an almost insurmountable desire to eat a lot.

It's an addiction that subverts two of our most powerful mental priorities: the reward/pleasure system and the survival instinct. In most people there is not a lot that can be done to overcome what these two systems tell you. That's why diets fail: my body is lying to me. It's like getting two popup alert boxes every minute, one saying "you are DYING! eat something" and the other goes "you're unhappy, eat something, you deserve some happiness".