"looking better" also includes being able to walk without a segway, fitting on the airplane seat, not breaking the plastic chairs at the barbecue party, not dying with clogged arteries when you're 30, not dying with a liver full of fat when you're 20...
I'm curious: what things that "look healthy" don't make us live longer?
While I do agree that most attempts to "look better" will lead to better overall health, there's some ugly sides to that, as well: bulimia, anorexia, stimulant appetite suppressants, etc.
I have practiced calorie restriction for several years, and neither myself nor any other CRONies I know, personally or impersonally, are subjected to any of the dreadful symptoms you prescribe to - supposedly - us. I am also physically active and exercise regularly at the gym. Yes, I am slim and lean but nowhere near to being anorexic.
Human mind is quite amazing at painting dreadful pictures of starvation and all sorts of miseries and suffering when it comes to depriving one of their favourite food(s). Food as reward (or addiction), a subconscious concept, is what drives many people into the misconceptions of calorie restriction.
> neither myself nor any other CRONies I know, personally or impersonally, are subjected to any of the dreadful symptoms you prescribe to - supposedly - us
Well, there's your problem. I didn't prescribe them to you or your friends. In fact, you seem to be confused as to what it means to be anorexic. Anorexia is not a state of low body fat; it is "an eating disorder characterized by immoderate food restriction and irrational fear of gaining weight, as well as a distorted body self-perception" [1] and a serious mental health issue.
I'm curious: what things that "look healthy" don't make us live longer?