Also still not convinced CICO is even a thing.

So... you don't even agree with the crux of your own argument?

Maybe I'm misinterpreting CICO, as I assumed it could be taken as just it's initialism without having to be associated with any more complex fad diet.

I understand that when people reference something, interpretation is not universal. There's always going to be variance. I just hadn't had that experience.

I also know it's a very hard metric to track. It will vary depending on body type, metabolism, and even psychology. I don't recall that being disputed, though. Just that, at it's core, it's more about reducing caloric intake than increasing caloric use.