I was wondering how our metabolism is affected while on LT. I would imagine it slows down, but I am not sure.
Yes, it slows down. It will slow down on any weightloss diet. There will be two types of slowdown.
One is where it slows because you don't need as much energy to keep things going at a small size, and the other is when the metabolism adapts because you aren't putting in sufficient calories....saving it's fat for a famine.
This will happen regardless of what diet. The metabolism will reduce just a little bit more if you are doing a VLCD, but it stops reducing when it gets to a certain level. The calorie restriction of a VLCD is still under the lowest point of the metabolic 'burn', so you lose weight regardless.
If it does slow down, how long does it take to get back to a normal rate once you start re-feeding?
There is no one-size-fits all. The metabolism is very complex and affected by a number of hormones (mainly leptin ). So how quick it bounces back will depend on what your leptin levels are like. Helpful eh
Your leptin levels (which are made mainly by your fat cells) will depend on many factors. Women have higher levels of leptin which means their metabolisms reduce quickly, but take longer to restore on eating maintenance calories (sucks!).
It will also depend on how overweight you are (will restore quicker the more fat you have), how long you've been overweight (because of your weight set point), etc etc.
So...how long for you?
No idea