Energy balance
Adherent caloric restriction in overweight/obese women induces metabolic adaptation, evidenced by a significant decrease in Resting Energy Expenditure (REE) that exceeds the reduction predicted by changes in Fat-Free Mass (FFM).
If you are losing weight through calorie restriction, expect your resting metabolism to drop significantly (approx 10% in this study) beyond what you would predict just from losing weight. This is a biological defense mechanism, not a failure. To maintain weight loss, you must account for this lower energy expenditure, likely by adjusting your caloric intake or increasing physical activity to offset the metabolic slowdown.
compliant women showed a significant reduction in both absolute and adjusted REE, which together with the loss of correlation between REE and FFM at the end of the intervention suggests a metabolic adaptation.
Why this rating
Small sample size (n=22) and short duration (3 months), though the within-subject design is robust.
Source
Effect of calorie restriction on energy expenditure in overweight and obese adult women.
Teresa Jiménez Jaime et al. · PubMed · 2015
DOI 10.3305/nh.2015.31.6.8782
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