Thank you for sharing your point. I agree with you, calories are only general way of measuring food intake but they do not show how nutrient rich those foods are. If you see from pictures above, all vegetables are very low in calories and that means that you can eat tons of that (unfortunately I should have post more green foods), also they are nutrient rich meaning your body utilize it all in right places . Also you got that feeling of fullness. There is one great book on food I am currently reading , it's called "Eat to Live" by Joel Fuhrman, I am blown out by this book so recommend it.

I can tell you my personal experience on food and gym. I have been going to gym for last 8 months and it has been very enriching experience. I try to watch what I eat, meaning looking at calories + looking at nutrient quality (if has empty nutrient like bread or rich like oatmeal for example) and as I am trying to lose weight I don't eat more than 1700 calories - 2000,2500 is my maintenance depending on day. Also I am doing intermittent fasting (eating only in window 2pm-8pm) except weekends and I am rewarding myself every weekend with cheat day(typically sunday) when I eat whatever I want and as much I want. I go to gym 3-6 times a week, depending on week and in last six month doing this I have lost 12 kg. Also I got a lot of muscle in that period since I never trained any sport . Now I feel really good, in all ways and my current goal is to cut my body fat to 10%.

Well for your friend my best advice is to meditate. Why meditate? Because when you eat and you can eat a lot you are probably not connected with your body, you are not listening to your body telling you that you are full. When you meditate it gets you more to present and it focuses your thought on present. I had and still from time to time have this problem because it became internalized. When I was little I was throught the day eating what I found in fridge and sometimes there wasn't much. I did have only dinner during week because my parents were working all day so as I was growing older and my parents were making more money, there was more food in the house and I would usually eat as much as I can because my memory from past was telling me that who knows if tomorrow will be food. It is always easy to say what to do but taking action and doing it is hard. I recommend eating healthy and Exercising because with exercising you can more food than usual and still lose weight.