One thing that is still open after rachel_ABQ’s answer:

How long did you give it before you decided it was working?

tyler_CSCS said:

I changed one thing, left everything else alone, and waited the full interval before looking.

This is where I part company with the consensus forming above. Not convinced. The evidence being cited is consistent with the conclusion and also consistent with two other conclusions nobody has ruled out.

tyler_CSCS said:

I changed one thing, left everything else alone, and waited the full interval before looking.

Agreed, with the usual condition: that holds for the average and this board is a collection of individuals. A population claim and a personal prediction are different things and get quoted interchangeably.

Happy to go further on any of that.

tyler_CSCS said:

I changed one thing, left everything else alone, and waited the full interval before looking.

Genuinely useful, thank you. I had the facts and not the framework. I will report back once I have actually tried it.

From the other side of the consultation, briefly. Most of what circulates confidently in this community traces back to one summary of one study, and the qualifier was dropped somewhere in the third retelling.