Does anyone feel like their body has a "set" weight?

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  • seltzermint555
    seltzermint555 Posts: 10,742 Member
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    I know exactly what you mean, yes!! And I also had the experience of it changing with age. As a teen it was the range of 210-225. Then for soooo many years from around age 24-30 it was 260. I was always between 260-270 and it felt to me like if I binge drank with friends, grabbed Taco Bell a lot, etc, I would weigh that...but then if I ate less and exercised I might get to 255 and never lower. It was frustrating. I actually operated for YEARS with the assumption that my body had decided on 260-ish and didn't ever diet or anything really. Then around 31 I suddenly found myself hitting 300 lb and that is when I got serious about weight loss.

    Now it seems my new "set" is 166-170 and I am ok with that, but wouldn't mind getting it lower either.
  • meghanduprey
    meghanduprey Posts: 158 Member
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    i think so, my "set weight", what my body seems to be comfortable at- is about 155-160. i CAN get below that- in the 140's but it's not sustainable for me. Right now i'm at 174ish because i let things go but i can (and WILL) get back down to my 155 and stay there as long as i don't go all ham again. i got really depressed and started eating everything in sight, my meds got jacked and i stopped exercising, even walking and got completely sedentary. i know exactly how i got here.
    the other end of the spectrum, i only got down to the 140's after my 20's because i was deployed to Iraq, wearing 70lbs of gear going on 5 day missions walking all day. so that's just NOT sustainable for me in the real world. it's just not. i have a large body frame and i like to eat and have a sedentary job so for me 150's is doable and reasonable and a weight my body is happy at. :)
    so back to the short answer, yes i believe there is a set weight for your body. or at least there is for mine.
  • DeguelloTex
    DeguelloTex Posts: 6,658 Member
    edited May 2015
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    Need2Exerc1se wrote: »
    DeguelloTex wrote: »
    Set point theory sounds a lot like an excuse to stay at a certain weight.

    How so? She didn't say she or anyone else stayed at that weight.
    Then it's not really a "set point", is it?

    The "how so" is that it's often used as an excuse, like "too busy," etc. to rationalize the lack of motivation to change.
  • SezxyStef
    SezxyStef Posts: 15,268 Member
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    ephiemarie wrote: »
    Yep. I've been within 5 lbs. of a specific weight for the past decade.

    that is not set point/weight that is maintenance...

    If you increased exercise you would lose...if you increased food you would gain...

    Our bodies do not decide when to gain or lose.
    Lexicpt wrote: »
    I always end up around 145-150. That seems to be my body's "comfort" weight.

    no that is your comfort weight....not your bodies...if you wanted you could be 140...or 165 for a long time too.
  • Need2Exerc1se
    Need2Exerc1se Posts: 13,576 Member
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    SezxyStef wrote: »
    ephiemarie wrote: »
    Yep. I've been within 5 lbs. of a specific weight for the past decade.

    that is not set point/weight that is maintenance...

    If you increased exercise you would lose...if you increased food you would gain...

    Our bodies do not decide when to gain or lose.
    Lexicpt wrote: »
    I always end up around 145-150. That seems to be my body's "comfort" weight.

    no that is your comfort weight....not your bodies...if you wanted you could be 140...or 165 for a long time too.

    It's not your body's, it's yours?? Is our mind not part of our body? What you can do and what is comfortable are different.
  • SezxyStef
    SezxyStef Posts: 15,268 Member
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    Need2Exerc1se wrote: »
    SezxyStef wrote: »
    ephiemarie wrote: »
    Yep. I've been within 5 lbs. of a specific weight for the past decade.

    that is not set point/weight that is maintenance...

    If you increased exercise you would lose...if you increased food you would gain...

    Our bodies do not decide when to gain or lose.
    Lexicpt wrote: »
    I always end up around 145-150. That seems to be my body's "comfort" weight.

    no that is your comfort weight....not your bodies...if you wanted you could be 140...or 165 for a long time too.

    It's not your body's, it's yours?? Is our mind not part of our body? What you can do and what is comfortable are different.

    You know exactly what is meant by that...our body (the mechanism we live in) does not decide without input from us.."k I am done burning these calories cause I want to be this weight"...we make a decision to eat the food to maintain that weight....
  • kamakazeekim
    kamakazeekim Posts: 1,183 Member
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    I'm stuck at a range between 128 and 133...no matter what I do I haven't been able to drop below 128 :( My goal is 115.
  • SezxyStef
    SezxyStef Posts: 15,268 Member
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    kamakazeekim wrote: »
    I'm stuck at a range between 128 and 133...no matter what I do I haven't been able to drop below 128 :( My goal is 115.

    might be due to lack of calorie deficit...I see no log this week how do you know how much you are eating?

    To lose weight it's simple...eat less calories than you burn and bam you lose weight.
  • kamakazeekim
    kamakazeekim Posts: 1,183 Member
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    yeah, not logging because I've been throwing up multiple times every day...seeing a doctor about it today. My food choices for the past month have been watermelon, cantaloupe, bananas, cherries and Greek yogurt. Most everything else has been making me feel sick so I just avoid it for now.
  • Need2Exerc1se
    Need2Exerc1se Posts: 13,576 Member
    edited May 2015
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    SezxyStef wrote: »
    Need2Exerc1se wrote: »
    SezxyStef wrote: »
    ephiemarie wrote: »
    Yep. I've been within 5 lbs. of a specific weight for the past decade.

    that is not set point/weight that is maintenance...

    If you increased exercise you would lose...if you increased food you would gain...

    Our bodies do not decide when to gain or lose.
    Lexicpt wrote: »
    I always end up around 145-150. That seems to be my body's "comfort" weight.

    no that is your comfort weight....not your bodies...if you wanted you could be 140...or 165 for a long time too.

    It's not your body's, it's yours?? Is our mind not part of our body? What you can do and what is comfortable are different.

    You know exactly what is meant by that...our body (the mechanism we live in) does not decide without input from us.."k I am done burning these calories cause I want to be this weight"...we make a decision to eat the food to maintain that weight....

    Has anyone suggested otherwise? Until 2 posts ago? :p
  • MakePeasNotWar
    MakePeasNotWar Posts: 1,329 Member
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    For about 10 years, I seemed to have a "set point" of 141.5. Precisely. Sure, I could diet down to 135, but when i stopped, 141.5. I'd gain a bit over the holidays most years, but by February, 141.5. It was the strangest thing.

    Now, I tend to end up at 150 if I'm eating intuitively. My activity level is lower due to lung disease, so that probably explains the difference. I'm sure I could reach and maintain a lower weight with constant vigilance, but at my height (5'9") those vanity pounds just don't seem worth it.

    For those who have lost or gained a lot of weight and stayed at the new level for a long time, do you find you can stop counting and eat according to appetite while maintaining your new weight, or does it take constant effort?
  • Vailara
    Vailara Posts: 2,452 Member
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    I've definitely had set points. For many years, I maintained my weight within a few pounds, despite the fact that I wasn't dieting or consciously controlling my intake, and changed my activity levels drastically at times. I didn't go past this weight until I was pregnant, in my 30s.

    Then after I gained (loads and loads of) weight, I seemed to hit another set point and spent a few years maintaining within a tiny weight range, without controlling my intake.

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