The whole idea that it is choice (or even mostly choice) which accounts for obesity is
in my opinion bunk.
Let me give you an idea of my typical days meals:
For breakfast: two cold brown sugar poptarts and water.
For snack: "Tear N' Share" size M&Ms." and a Pepsi.
For lunch: Turkey sandwich with cheese or PB&J and a Pepsi.
For threeses: A sprite or rootbeer. Maybe with another M&Ms if they are calling my name.
For dinner: Pasta usually. Some veggies on the side. Water.
Late night: Some snack (chips or something). Maybe a soda to go with.
I think I may have been to the gym a year ago. A couple of times.
I'm a computer programmer, so I sit in my cube all day, and typically the exercise I get each week is going up a few flights of stairs to get to my cube.
Now the kicker, I'm 6'4", and 170 pounds, and this is fat for me. I have recently had to increase my pant waist size to account for it. No, I'm not anemic. I can drop a few pounds by missing a meal... pretty much any time I want.
Sure, there are things you can do to reduce your caloric intake. Your body, and especially the bodies of the obese, have ways to compensate for that reduction that are really quite painful. Eat a little less, and your body will simply store more of what it gets. Eat a lot less, and you'll feel like crap and you will not be in the mood for exercise.
I really believe that scientists will discover that morbid obesity is literally a disease. Ulcers were once believed to be caused by stress. It turns out they were mostly caused by bacteria... It's just that having ulcers in your stomach tends to stress people out. My guess is that morbid obesity is also caused by an as yet unidentified organism that does better in some people than others.