Adaptive Thermogenesis - is it real and how to reverse?

[Daves_Not_Here]

In her post "Help from community re: stagnant weight loss", @Alysan describes how she has stalled at 140 pounds and inquired about Adaptive Thermogenesis.  In searching for it, I came upon Adaptive thermogenesis in humans at NCBI as well as a number of other articles and videos.  It describes how "a formerly obese individual will require ~300–400 fewer calories per day to maintain the same body weight and physical activity level as a never-obese individual of the same body weight and composition."  Meaning, if you've lost weight, your RMR is lower due to your lower body weight, and then lowered further by 300 to 400 more calories.  Yikes, this means I have to eat 800 calories less than before.

To add insult to injury, your appetite is increased over what it otherwise would be for that energy requirement.  Most discouraging is that the maladaption (lower BMR, higher appetite) lasts for years.

The article is great because it describes the various mechanisms by which these conditions are visited upon the person hoping to sustain a weight loss, and substantiates the anecdotes of the Biggest Loser contestants regaining their weight.

I think of all the posts here complaining of a weight loss stall that I have tended to dismiss as loss of focus; however, I'm starting to think there may be something there.  In my case, I seem to be stalled, but I had previously assumed it was because I've not been sufficiently diligent following my holiday gluttony.  So, the obvious questions are:

• Is Adaptive Thermogenesis real?  This could be rhetorical as there seems to be so much supporting anecdotal evidence.
• Are there effective ways for someone in this state to raise their BMR?
• Conversely, are there effective ways to further lower appetite to match the already lowered BMR?  (This would be my preference given that lower BMR may be associated with longevity.)
• Can the whole problem avoided altogether by losing weight in smaller phases and employing periodization as  @Dominique recommends?

[GershonSurge]

@Daves_Not_Here,

You are no fun to kick around. 🙂

Seriously, let's look at what was said:

"The bad news is, bariatric surgery seems to be the only sustainable option for reduced appetite that does not involve AT."

This was above where Dr. YouTao posted the link to the study. I found the study did not reference bariatric surgery at all. He could have easily said he made a mistake. Maybe another study does say that. 

You are right. He did not say the Biggest Loser method is the only way to lose weight. I don't think I implied that he did. However, if you dig through his website, you will find he starts with the same BMR measuring test that they did in the study. (Why doesn't he order a VOmax test at the same time to determine how much air to breathe?) He uses this test to determine "How much" to eat. 

We've discussed this many times in the community. @Dominique is the best at saying that the type of food doesn't matter. The caloric equation holds. 

I've often suggested starting with a 500 or 750 calorie deficit and increasing it each week or two until a person starts losing weight. 

Let's look at it from another point of view if we may. Dr. YouTao does statistical analysis for AstraZeneca, a pharmaceutical company that specializes in molecular research. It would be disastrous if people found out they could prevent and cure heart disease and most cancers through diet. We have had a rash of people coming to Fitbit and their first post is about keto. Why not first posts about other ways of eating?

Now we have a Doctor come in here and on the first post, he advertises Beyond Consulting that has some hefty fees. Do you sense scam? If not, why not? I did, but I gave him the benefit of doubt and researched his site. I don't think it's a scam now. It is funny that his blog post on the subject was only made two days ago. Perhaps, this topic piqued his interest. "Beyond" is used by AstraZeneca for several of their programs.

Here is a compromise: Read "Whole" carefully, and you will see why I disagree with Dr. YouToo so strongly. It's a fair tradeoff. I study virtually every study people post in here. I don't always voice my opinion.