New research from the University of Alabama at Birmingham Department of Nutrition Sciences is shedding light on why weight loss may take longer than expected, due to an exaggerated reduction in energy expenditure below predicted values (metabolic adaptation) in women with overweight.
The study, published in Obesity, The Obesity Society’s flagship journal, showed that premenopausal women with overweight experienced metabolic adaptation after a 16 percent weight loss, and those with the greater adaptation had to wait longer to see their weight loss goals come to fruition.
“Health care providers involved in obesity management, obesity researchers, individuals with obesity and the general public should pay close attention to these new findings,” said Catia Martins, Ph.D., associate professor in the UAB Department of Nutrition Sciences and lead author. “Delay in achieving weight-loss goals, or achieving a weight loss lower than expected, is generally seen as the direct and sole result of reduced adherence to the intervention.”