Research
Energy balance
Women may experience a complete resolution of adaptive thermogenesis once weight stability is achieved, whereas men may retain a lower-than-predicted REE even after weight stabilization.
After you stop dieting and maintain your new weight, your metabolism might recover fully, especially for women. Men might continue to burn slightly less energy than predicted for their size even after stabilization, potentially making weight maintenance harder for them long-term.
GoodQualifiesMEDIUM confidence
However, in women changes in predicted and measured REE were no longer different at this time, even if the women were maintaining a reduced body weight... changes in REE remained below predicted changes in men (-2622 kJ/d).
Why this rating
Clear statistical difference observed between genders at the follow-up phase.
Source
Evidence for the existence of adaptive thermogenesis during weight loss
Éric Doucet et al. · British Journal Of Nutrition · 2001
DOI 10.1079/bjn2001348
rct · n=35Cited 157×
Read the paper DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10
More from this paper
- Prolonged energy restriction induces adaptive thermogenesis, causing resting energy expenditure (REE) to fall significantly more than predicted by changes in body composition alone, thereby creating an energetic efficiency that hinders weight loss.Good
- Adaptive thermogenesis is primarily driven by the energy deficit itself rather than the resulting loss of body mass, as evidenced by the early onset of reduced REE before significant body composition changes occur.Good
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