Dr.SportsMedIN said:

Training does two things here and only one of them is on the scale.

Pet owner bonus of training: my dog is also losing weight because we're walking 2-3x more than before. His vet is thrilled. 🐕

We went from a 15-minute shuffle around the block to 60-minute walks through the neighborhood. He's more energetic, I'm more energetic, and we're both healthier.

Get a dog. Or borrow one. Walking a dog is the best low-impact exercise motivation that exists. They never let you skip a walk. 🐾

One thing that is still open after PedsEndoPhilly’s answer:

Did your prescriber agree with that reading, and if not what was their objection?

SleepDoc_PDX said:

Pet owner bonus of training: my dog is also losing weight because we're walking 2-3x more than before.

Coming at SleepDoc_PDX’s question from a different direction. There is a difference between no evidence and evidence of no effect, and this subject is one where the two get swapped freely in both directions.

Closing the loop on my own question.

Closing the loop. The answer turned out to depend on the detail I had left out of the opening post, which is a lesson about how to ask rather than about the subject.

Dr.MetabolicMD said:

There is a difference between no evidence and evidence of no effect, and this subject is one where the two get swapped freely in both directions.

Agreed, with the usual condition: that holds for the average and this board is a collection of individuals. A population claim and a personal prediction are different things and get quoted interchangeably.

That is the short version; the long version is somebody else's post.