mike.trainer_LA said:

Exercise transformation with training: went from barely able to walk a block to completing a 10K last weekend.

Pet owner bonus of training: my dog is also losing weight because we're walking 2-3x more than before. His vet is thrilled. 🐕

We went from a 5-minute shuffle around the block to 30-minute walks through the neighborhood. He's more energetic, I'm more energetic, and we're both healthier.

Get a dog. Or borrow one. Walking a dog is the best low-impact exercise motivation that exists. They never let you skip a walk. 🐾

Adding the numbers, since they settle part of this. Keep the original post as written when you update it, and add the correction underneath. An edited-away mistake is invisible to the next person who makes it.

LibrarianMeg said:

Pet owner bonus of training: my dog is also losing weight because we're walking 2-3x more than before.

Coming at LibrarianMeg’s question from a different direction. The distinction that resolves most of these threads is between what is true on average and what is true for one person. Both are real; they answer different questions and get quoted as if they were the same one.

Following on from Dr.LeslieOBGYN — and this may be the naive question:

How would you tell the difference between that and the alternative explanation?

Closing the loop on my own question.

Late follow-up. I did not do what was suggested, I did something adjacent, and it worked; posting the difference in case it matters to somebody.