I’ve done that move before, but much earlier.

I think about it occasionally: when you’re a baby/kid/teen/youngadult, you’re eating for energy and for growth. But once you’re fully grown, unless you’re building a ton of muscle, you don’t really need to eat nearly as much.

I think there’s a periodical reassessment of neutral caloric gain/loss that should happen, especially once one’s metabolism stabilizes. In other words, expressly figure out how how much you need to eat in order to not gain or lose weight, once your lifestyle and energy use is stable.

This is made more difficult because it’s actually better for you to eat more and burn it off/use it, than it is to just very little.

Edit: And obviously, this is much easier said than done. But, gotta figure out the goal and take iterative steps to figure it out, right?