This is something I've been interested in lately. As someone up thread said, a collection of anecdotes is not data, but the notion of set points fits what I've been experiencing. I've been stuck in the 220s for a few months. The month before last, I was just feeling rotten. I was cold, hungry all the time, depressed and anxious. The final straw for me was when I rigidly clamped down on my caloric intake, was definitely eating at a deficit and actually started gaining weight. Not to mention, that I just got colder. Like bone chilling, shivering colder. (FYI, I did get my thyroid tested and all tests came back dead nuts on normal.)
I started googling about being cold all the time, which was my major complaint, and was introduced to the idea of weight set points and diet breaks. There is so much conflicting information; it's been hard to sort through. In addition to the articles already listed in the OP, I found this article:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2990627/
I also found this:
http://www.webmd.com/diet/guide/idea...r-happy-weight
I can't find it now, but I also read something from the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute that dieters should lose 10% of their body weight,
then maintain that for 6 months, then go back to losing more weight after that, if they so choose. I've lost 27% of my starting body weight. Hmmmmm...
Not really as much related to set points, but more to the point of my own experience, I found this:
http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/fat...iet-break.html
Anyway, since I've been on a diet for a year and a half now, I decided to take a month long break and eat at maintenance. My experience has been good. My hunger is back to normal, I'm not shivering and teeth clacking cold, my depression is gone and my anxiety is much, much better. Initially, I gained a couple of pounds but then last week, I actually dropped weight.
I don't really
know how much my experience relates to set points but I tend to think that maybe it does.