There is a non-zero number of people who, if they eat less than they consume, would starve to death before reaching a normal weight.

Evidence, please?

The link above didn't show people starving to death (in the causal sense). The only relevant mention that I see is for Michael Edelman about whom the text says "At about 600 lbs, he literally starved to death. (Link - 1)", but the link is dead and I'm not quite willing to take the word of this webpage for that.