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

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jezahb
jezahb Posts: 73 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I am asking because my body always seems to go back to the same place if I am not counting calories. If I just let go, relax and don't go crazy but also don't diet, I always ALWAYS go back to around the same weight (within 5 lbs). Even if I diet and lose weight, as soon as I let up I will slowly gain until my body gets back to that weight. Luckily it doesn't seem to want to go over that amount, my natural appetite is pretty small (my issue is more the choices I make for WHAT to eat not how much) so I would have to actively try to go over this "set" weight. Anyone else feel like their bodies just have a weight they want to be at?
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Replies

  • Sharon_C
    Sharon_C Posts: 2,132 Member
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    Yes! I can diet to get under that weight but it's really hard to maintain. I hover around 165 and lately I haven't been able to break that plateau (but I admit I haven't been trying that hard either). Luckily I'm happy with this weight so it's not that big of a deal.
  • tomatoey
    tomatoey Posts: 5,459 Member
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    Yup - but it's changed over the years depending on what I ate and did :)

    Teens - 120-130 lbs
    Early 20s, before the medication that caused the gain - 125-140
    20s after meds - 170-200 (170 with more activity but not watching food)
    Weight loss in 30s - 124, maintained for 4 years, logging for most but not all of it, maintaining activity level*
    Late 30s, kind-of watching food intake (not counting, though), with no activity bc of injury - 140-145.

    *Here, I also tried to be consistent about food quality, though.
  • Allterrain_Lady
    Allterrain_Lady Posts: 421 Member
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    Yes! And I hated it for a very long time. Then, I decided that I didn't care about the number on my scale and focused on how I looked. Changed everything and my body actually let go of that "set weight"!
  • jezahb
    jezahb Posts: 73 Member
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    Mine doesn't seem to matter if I weigh myself or not, I can go 6 months without stepping on a scale and eating what I like and I will always be the same weight. It is just where my body wants to be.

    It did change with age as tomatoey said, as a teen I also had a set weight but it was 40 lbs lighter than now. Darn that metabolism!
  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 48,503 Member
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    A "set" weight would mean you can't gain or lose. I can promise anyone if they eat more than they need, they'll gain weight and vice versa.
    What's actually happening is people are eating to where they don't feel stuffed or hungry and stay at a certain weight for a long time. Basically for most this would be close to maintenance. CICO is still very relevant.

    A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
    IDEA Fitness member
    Kickboxing Certified Instructor
    Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
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  • jezahb
    jezahb Posts: 73 Member
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    I am not saying people can't go beyond their "set" weight or below it, just that without work/attention that is where the body seems to return to.
  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 48,503 Member
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    jezahb wrote: »
    I am not saying people can't go beyond their "set" weight or below it, just that without work/attention that is where the body seems to return to.
    Well no because the reality is that people who go on diets and regain, go well past their previous weight they started from on a regular basis. Lose 10, gain 15. Not an uncommon story.

    A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
    IDEA Fitness member
    Kickboxing Certified Instructor
    Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
    9285851.png

  • CherokeeBabe
    CherokeeBabe Posts: 1,704 Member
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    I always had a seemingly-set-weight of about 125-130, didn't gain a pound over that in my whole life until I got beyond 24 y/o. Trying to get back to there for the long run :)
  • bendyourkneekatie
    bendyourkneekatie Posts: 696 Member
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    I feel like 65kg (143lbs?) is my "set" weight. Getting below it takes a lot of effort, being above it means I'm eating far too much, I start feeling rubbish and unhappy with my size. I would, though, like to teach my body a new "set" weight (maybe 60/132), but I imagine it will take a long time to learn how to maintain that rather than defaulting back to my usual 65/143.
  • BunBun85
    BunBun85 Posts: 246 Member
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    I don't think there is such a thing as a set weight. I maintained at 250lbs for a long period of my life without calorie counting or extra exercise. I also maintained at about 180lbs for approximately 8-9 months after my son was born with minimal food logging. Now I'm just about 155lbs and the days where I just eat when I am hungry, I find myself eating to my current maintenance calories which certainly isn't going to be getting me back up to 250lbs+. Your body will adjust.
  • Allelito
    Allelito Posts: 179 Member
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    Nah, my weight is what I decide it to be. If I let go and just eat all I want, I'll just keep gaining until I personally stop it :tongue:
  • chatnel
    chatnel Posts: 688 Member
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    This is interesting. I think it might be the case for me, I cannot seem to lose very easily as my body wants to be this weight and yes 5 years ago that set weight was about 20lbs lighter and 5 years before than 20lbs lighter again.
  • LKArgh
    LKArgh Posts: 5,179 Member
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    Are you dieting and then going back to how you used to eat? If yes, of course your body will get back to the original weight, what else could possibly happen? It is not your body's set weight, it is the weight that results from how much (in calories) you eat when not thinking about it. Unless you make an effort to see this as a lifestyle change, with no end date, it is inevitable that it will happen again and again.
  • szecsenyi
    szecsenyi Posts: 17 Member
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    I don't think, that "set weight" exists, "only" you have to reconfigure your body. You have to find the right foods, and exercises after the diet to teach your body for the new general body weight. Don't give up!
  • Luthien007
    Luthien007 Posts: 281 Member
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    I found that my weigh loss would plateau at weights that I had been in the past for long periods of time.
    Not sure if it is psychological or what is going on.
    Basically I say to myself that my body cannot defy the law of physics forever and plow on threw.
    It can be tough though when you are doing "the right thing" and not seeing scale drops
  • EvgeniZyntx
    EvgeniZyntx Posts: 24,208 Member
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    ninerbuff wrote: »
    jezahb wrote: »
    I am not saying people can't go beyond their "set" weight or below it, just that without work/attention that is where the body seems to return to.
    Well no because the reality is that people who go on diets and regain, go well past their previous weight they started from on a regular basis. Lose 10, gain 15. Not an uncommon story.

    A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
    IDEA Fitness member
    Kickboxing Certified Instructor
    Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
    9285851.png

    But actually, yes.
    There is a metabolic effect that creates what seems to be a set weight. Consider it a marble in a trough, you can get the marble out, but close to the trough it seems to fall back.

    Homeostasis results from small increases in metabolism and activity when calories are available. Or reduced activity if calories drop a little.

    That set point effect isn't fixed or even a significant barrier to weight loss/gain. But the effect is there.
  • Dofflin
    Dofflin Posts: 127 Member
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    I shudder to think of what my set weight would be if I allowed it.
  • Whitezombiegirl
    Whitezombiegirl Posts: 1,042 Member
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    No. I think it's more to do with eating habits , as you seem to alude to. I think it goes more like this:

    - If I eat xyz cals = X weight (watching my diet and eating at maintaence or below)
    - If I eat xyb cals= Z weight (not watching my diet and eating to prefered pattern/ food choices/ amounts)

    I think anyone (without medical conditions) has the ability to be whatever weight they want - but the main issue is whether they can live with whatever it takes to get to maintain that weight. I have a friend who has decided that as much as she would love to be a size UK10 she would be more miserable if she could'nt have a cake EVERY time she got a coffee. She can maintain a UK size16 living this way though, so she has made the compromise and is happy with it. Good for her.

  • kommodevaran
    kommodevaran Posts: 17,890 Member
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    Yes, the zombie is right - it's about set habits, eating habits and how much you move.
  • Sarasmaintaining
    Sarasmaintaining Posts: 1,027 Member
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    jezahb wrote: »
    I am asking because my body always seems to go back to the same place if I am not counting calories. If I just let go, relax and don't go crazy but also don't diet, I always ALWAYS go back to around the same weight (within 5 lbs). Even if I diet and lose weight, as soon as I let up I will slowly gain until my body gets back to that weight. Luckily it doesn't seem to want to go over that amount, my natural appetite is pretty small (my issue is more the choices I make for WHAT to eat not how much) so I would have to actively try to go over this "set" weight. Anyone else feel like their bodies just have a weight they want to be at?

    No, I'm the one controlling things :)

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