Set Point
patriciadonia
Posts: 19 Member
Hi My name is Pat, wishing everyone a good day... has anyone heard of the set point. I seem to be weighing the same for the last week. I have been staying at my goal points but can't seem to get lower ... any help!
1
Replies
-
Set point is a myth. People go up and down in weight based on CICO. If you aren't losing, then you're likely eating more calories than you need to. How long have you been dieting?
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
12 -
set points are mental - they don't exist physiologically. Basically, that is where you are comfortable with your habits and actions.
A week is not very long to be concerned about not losing weight. You could just have water retention (or other things) that is masking the true loss. Basically, stick with your plan. You can go ahead and recalc your numbers and goals just to make sure, it won't hurt, but until you don't lose for a month or so, there is no need to worry.7 -
1 week is nothing. Perhaps double check your entries, there's a lot of crap entries in the database. Other than that, weight loss won't be linear.6
-
A one week period with no weight loss is nothing to be concerned about. Weight loss is not linear. You will have weeks with losses, weeks with no change in weight, and sometimes weeks where your weight goes up. I suggest logging your weight but looking at the overall downward trend and not focusing on individual data points.
As for set point, I think that we often find points where we are eating a comfortable level of food and performing a comfortable level of activity and that is where we find our weight level off. You can maintain that way for months and years. It doesn't mean that you can't break away from that set point, but it does mean that you'll have to make a conscious effort to eat less or move more in order to do that.
However, I will point out that like I said above, one week with no loss is completely normal. It's not indicative of reaching a set point. In fact, I usually suggest that women wait until 4-6 weeks have gone by without a weight change before dropping calories or upping activity in order to broaden your calorie deficit.
Best of luck to you.5 -
You only have a "set point" based on your daily habits and eating patterns. There is no physiological set point.
If you aren't losing weight i'd say that you are having some issues with accuracy somewhere.3 -
I started January 14th this year In that time have lost 7 pounds so far, Good New's;
Yes today I dropped a pound... I am so glad that I joined M.F.P.. glad that there are others I can share with and not all alone.. 26 pounds to go...3 -
This content has been removed.
-
While the concept of 'set point' is mostly mental, I disagree that there's no physiological component. As we get leaner, our bodies shift hormone levels to defend us against getting underweight. At a certain leanness (the exact value varying from person to person), the hormones will trigger enough hunger to make it very difficult to maintain a deficit in the presence of available food. Now, this isn't going to happen to somebody who is still obese - but for those in the "already healthy" range looking to lose vanity weight (which the body may well want to hang onto for insurance purposes), it's a relevant issue.
Other things the hormones can lead to that interfere with weight loss: increased forgetfulness of what you've eaten, decreased caring about logging each and every "taste" and "bite", etc.
For this reason, people close to goal need to be very vigilant. And, with all that said, everyone who has commented about 1 week meaning nothing are completely right. For women, especially, TOM water weight fluctuations are relevant enough that you can't say you've hit any sort of plateau/maintenance/set point until after at least a month or two.3 -
Weighing the same for a week is not a "set point". It is part of "weight loss is not linear." "Not linear" means you do not experience an steady weight loss every day or every week. It means you go up, down, and stay the same at different times, including fluctuations affected by your monthly cycle, exercise, sodium consumption, alcohol, and many other factors.2
-
I can give several reasons why some people think there is such a thing as a "set point" but it mostly has to do with our normal activities and our normal eating balancing each other out. If you are eating at a deficit then "set point" has no meaning. Staying at the same weight for a week is nothing to worry about. Three weeks and then you might need to change something, but not at only a week.1
-
My weight has remained the same for the past six months. That is a set point.
I am eight pounds from my goal....a lofty one...to get back to where I used to be.2 -
patriciadonia wrote: »I started January 14th this year In that time have lost 7 pounds so far, Good New's;
Yes today I dropped a pound... I am so glad that I joined M.F.P.. glad that there are others I can share with and not all alone.. 26 pounds to go...
@patriciadonia That's good, but perhaps a bit too rapid. You can probably eat more calories and still lose weight.
Make sure you don't aim for too great a weekly loss.
If you have 75+ lbs to lose 2 lbs/week is ideal
If you have 40-75 lbs to lose 1.5 lbs/week is ideal
If you have 25-40 lbs to lose 1 lbs/week is ideal
If you have 15 -25 lbs to lose 0.5 to 1.0 lbs/week is ideal
If you have less than 15 lbs to lose 0.5 lbs/week is ideal2 -
I just learned about "Dieter's Edema." The stress of losing weight causes cortisol levels to rise and that in turn signals the body to store water in the fat cells. You are still losing fat, but not seeing a weight loss. Keep at it!0
-
Thanks so much for your views on the set point. This morning I weighed 161.8 ... I guess all you guy's were right... My one year wedding anniversary is May 28th hope to be much lighter... keeping my fingers crossed... LOL2
-
Anyone know if there is a different weight chart for the age of a woman or man?
0 -
Like for how much you should weigh?0
-
yes I mean if you are24, should you weigh as much if you are 74? are there charts or is that also a myth...0
-
Yes, BMI takes account of age and gender as well as height.1
-
Smart BMI factors for age and gender in addition to height and weight like a standard BMI2
-
3
-
patriciadonia wrote: »I started January 14th this year In that time have lost 7 pounds so far, Good New's;
Yes today I dropped a pound... I am so glad that I joined M.F.P.. glad that there are others I can share with and not all alone.. 26 pounds to go...
@patriciadonia That's good, but perhaps a bit too rapid. You can probably eat more calories and still lose weight.
Make sure you don't aim for too great a weekly loss.
If you have 75+ lbs to lose 2 lbs/week is ideal
If you have 40-75 lbs to lose 1.5 lbs/week is ideal
If you have 25-40 lbs to lose 1 lbs/week is ideal
If you have 15 -25 lbs to lose 0.5 to 1.0 lbs/week is ideal
If you have less than 15 lbs to lose 0.5 lbs/week is ideal
Just when I thought we had finally put this thing to bed it pops up again. Personally, I don't find this "ideal" at all. It makes far too many assumptions and doesn't take into account that people are different sizes with different goals. There's a huge difference between someone whose goal weight is 95lbs and someone with a goal weight of 205. For a person with a goal weight of 95lbs and 75+ lbs to lose, 2lbs per week is overly aggressive while it is an easy goal for someone with a goal weight of 205. On the other end, 0.5 lbs per week is a little less than half a percent of body weight for a person with a goal of 95 but it is less than a quarter of a percent of body weight for someone with a goal of 205. Simply put, let's not use this table. It makes no sense.5 -
Thank You for the IBM calculator.... It did give me insight on what I should set my goal at to stay healthy...0
-
TimothyFish wrote: »patriciadonia wrote: »I started January 14th this year In that time have lost 7 pounds so far, Good New's;
Yes today I dropped a pound... I am so glad that I joined M.F.P.. glad that there are others I can share with and not all alone.. 26 pounds to go...
@patriciadonia That's good, but perhaps a bit too rapid. You can probably eat more calories and still lose weight.
Make sure you don't aim for too great a weekly loss.
If you have 75+ lbs to lose 2 lbs/week is ideal
If you have 40-75 lbs to lose 1.5 lbs/week is ideal
If you have 25-40 lbs to lose 1 lbs/week is ideal
If you have 15 -25 lbs to lose 0.5 to 1.0 lbs/week is ideal
If you have less than 15 lbs to lose 0.5 lbs/week is ideal
Just when I thought we had finally put this thing to bed it pops up again. Personally, I don't find this "ideal" at all. It makes far too many assumptions and doesn't take into account that people are different sizes with different goals. There's a huge difference between someone whose goal weight is 95lbs and someone with a goal weight of 205. For a person with a goal weight of 95lbs and 75+ lbs to lose, 2lbs per week is overly aggressive while it is an easy goal for someone with a goal weight of 205. On the other end, 0.5 lbs per week is a little less than half a percent of body weight for a person with a goal of 95 but it is less than a quarter of a percent of body weight for someone with a goal of 205. Simply put, let's not use this table. It makes no sense.
Do you suggest 1% of BW? I ask because I'm finding the above rules don't work so well for what I'm doing and am losing faster than that. But still under the 1% rule.0 -
Tacklewasher wrote: »TimothyFish wrote: »patriciadonia wrote: »I started January 14th this year In that time have lost 7 pounds so far, Good New's;
Yes today I dropped a pound... I am so glad that I joined M.F.P.. glad that there are others I can share with and not all alone.. 26 pounds to go...
@patriciadonia That's good, but perhaps a bit too rapid. You can probably eat more calories and still lose weight.
Make sure you don't aim for too great a weekly loss.
If you have 75+ lbs to lose 2 lbs/week is ideal
If you have 40-75 lbs to lose 1.5 lbs/week is ideal
If you have 25-40 lbs to lose 1 lbs/week is ideal
If you have 15 -25 lbs to lose 0.5 to 1.0 lbs/week is ideal
If you have less than 15 lbs to lose 0.5 lbs/week is ideal
Just when I thought we had finally put this thing to bed it pops up again. Personally, I don't find this "ideal" at all. It makes far too many assumptions and doesn't take into account that people are different sizes with different goals. There's a huge difference between someone whose goal weight is 95lbs and someone with a goal weight of 205. For a person with a goal weight of 95lbs and 75+ lbs to lose, 2lbs per week is overly aggressive while it is an easy goal for someone with a goal weight of 205. On the other end, 0.5 lbs per week is a little less than half a percent of body weight for a person with a goal of 95 but it is less than a quarter of a percent of body weight for someone with a goal of 205. Simply put, let's not use this table. It makes no sense.
Do you suggest 1% of BW? I ask because I'm finding the above rules don't work so well for what I'm doing and am losing faster than that. But still under the 1% rule.
The problem with 1% of body weight is that a woman who weighs 150 would be told she could reasonably lose 1.5 pounds/week - even if her BMI was already 20 and she had very little body fat left to lose.
I suspect the best approximation would be BMI-dependent (or, better yet, based on pounds of excess body fat - but that would be impractical). I've seen a few posts by one poster who cites research about the maximum deficit per pound of fat that a body can sustain. Those are the best numbers, but how many people know their bodyfat percentage?
Maybe use the table with the caveat that "lbs to lose" is to get to the middle (or top) of the healthy BMI range? Or just accept that it's a rough guideline that applies to most but not all? Because, unless we factor in height, we're never going to find a decent recommendation that is simultaneously conservative enough for small women and generous enough for larger men.1 -
After nursing my second kid, I believe in set points, but a stall or plateau is not the same thing.
(When nursing my second kid, i dropped weight like crazy. And every time my weight dropped below a certain point (which was my lowest ever adult weight, way below my pre-pregnancy weight) I would find myself standing in front of the fridge eating meat and eggs. Once my weight rebounded above that point? Hunger and eating normal. I wasn't counting anything, I wasn't tracking anything.)
That said? A short period of no change isn't a "Set point." I experienced a "set point" as a weight that my body was vigorously defending through the means it has - hunger hormones.2 -
I's all so interesting.... I want to be healthy and thinner.. I want to be able to bend over without getting out of breath because I have a stomach in the way.. To fit in my clothes without them binding, and zip my pants with ease... I wish I could do more exercise to help; but my back prevents me from doing many things.. Hoping that losing weight will help with that too.... All tips are appreciate very much...0
-
SusanMFindlay wrote: »Tacklewasher wrote: »TimothyFish wrote: »patriciadonia wrote: »I started January 14th this year In that time have lost 7 pounds so far, Good New's;
Yes today I dropped a pound... I am so glad that I joined M.F.P.. glad that there are others I can share with and not all alone.. 26 pounds to go...
@patriciadonia That's good, but perhaps a bit too rapid. You can probably eat more calories and still lose weight.
Make sure you don't aim for too great a weekly loss.
If you have 75+ lbs to lose 2 lbs/week is ideal
If you have 40-75 lbs to lose 1.5 lbs/week is ideal
If you have 25-40 lbs to lose 1 lbs/week is ideal
If you have 15 -25 lbs to lose 0.5 to 1.0 lbs/week is ideal
If you have less than 15 lbs to lose 0.5 lbs/week is ideal
Just when I thought we had finally put this thing to bed it pops up again. Personally, I don't find this "ideal" at all. It makes far too many assumptions and doesn't take into account that people are different sizes with different goals. There's a huge difference between someone whose goal weight is 95lbs and someone with a goal weight of 205. For a person with a goal weight of 95lbs and 75+ lbs to lose, 2lbs per week is overly aggressive while it is an easy goal for someone with a goal weight of 205. On the other end, 0.5 lbs per week is a little less than half a percent of body weight for a person with a goal of 95 but it is less than a quarter of a percent of body weight for someone with a goal of 205. Simply put, let's not use this table. It makes no sense.
Do you suggest 1% of BW? I ask because I'm finding the above rules don't work so well for what I'm doing and am losing faster than that. But still under the 1% rule.
The problem with 1% of body weight is that a woman who weighs 150 would be told she could reasonably lose 1.5 pounds/week - even if her BMI was already 20 and she had very little body fat left to lose.
I suspect the best approximation would be BMI-dependent (or, better yet, based on pounds of excess body fat - but that would be impractical). I've seen a few posts by one poster who cites research about the maximum deficit per pound of fat that a body can sustain. Those are the best numbers, but how many people know their bodyfat percentage?
Maybe use the table with the caveat that "lbs to lose" is to get to the middle (or top) of the healthy BMI range? Or just accept that it's a rough guideline that applies to most but not all? Because, unless we factor in height, we're never going to find a decent recommendation that is simultaneously conservative enough for small women and generous enough for larger men.
That's spot on. The table is a general guide according to getting to your healthy BMI.
It's certainly a better guide for most people than using BFP.
It certainly isn't supposed to be used by someone with unhealthy goals, and if it was, MFP would have banned its use long ago.
0 -
SusanMFindlay wrote: »Tacklewasher wrote: »TimothyFish wrote: »patriciadonia wrote: »I started January 14th this year In that time have lost 7 pounds so far, Good New's;
Yes today I dropped a pound... I am so glad that I joined M.F.P.. glad that there are others I can share with and not all alone.. 26 pounds to go...
@patriciadonia That's good, but perhaps a bit too rapid. You can probably eat more calories and still lose weight.
Make sure you don't aim for too great a weekly loss.
If you have 75+ lbs to lose 2 lbs/week is ideal
If you have 40-75 lbs to lose 1.5 lbs/week is ideal
If you have 25-40 lbs to lose 1 lbs/week is ideal
If you have 15 -25 lbs to lose 0.5 to 1.0 lbs/week is ideal
If you have less than 15 lbs to lose 0.5 lbs/week is ideal
Just when I thought we had finally put this thing to bed it pops up again. Personally, I don't find this "ideal" at all. It makes far too many assumptions and doesn't take into account that people are different sizes with different goals. There's a huge difference between someone whose goal weight is 95lbs and someone with a goal weight of 205. For a person with a goal weight of 95lbs and 75+ lbs to lose, 2lbs per week is overly aggressive while it is an easy goal for someone with a goal weight of 205. On the other end, 0.5 lbs per week is a little less than half a percent of body weight for a person with a goal of 95 but it is less than a quarter of a percent of body weight for someone with a goal of 205. Simply put, let's not use this table. It makes no sense.
Do you suggest 1% of BW? I ask because I'm finding the above rules don't work so well for what I'm doing and am losing faster than that. But still under the 1% rule.
The problem with 1% of body weight is that a woman who weighs 150 would be told she could reasonably lose 1.5 pounds/week - even if her BMI was already 20 and she had very little body fat left to lose.
I suspect the best approximation would be BMI-dependent (or, better yet, based on pounds of excess body fat - but that would be impractical). I've seen a few posts by one poster who cites research about the maximum deficit per pound of fat that a body can sustain. Those are the best numbers, but how many people know their bodyfat percentage?
Maybe use the table with the caveat that "lbs to lose" is to get to the middle (or top) of the healthy BMI range? Or just accept that it's a rough guideline that applies to most but not all? Because, unless we factor in height, we're never going to find a decent recommendation that is simultaneously conservative enough for small women and generous enough for larger men.
That's spot on. The table is a general guide according to getting to your healthy BMI.
It's certainly a better guide for most people than using BFP.
It certainly isn't supposed to be used by someone with unhealthy goals, and if it was, MFP would have banned its use long ago.
I generally say that if you're "overweight or obese" it's safe to lose up to 1% of your total body weight per week. For some individuals this still may be too aggressive. Healthy weight individuals should expect to lose no more than half that number each week.3 -
so far I have not seen very many older people on this site; (by older I mean in their 70 on up or even late 60's) .... Maybe I have not read the right post. I am new so not sure how all this questions & answers works... It is nice when their are others closer to your own age to communicate with... this morning the scale said I gained 0.4 I am not a big water drinker do you think drinking more water will help?.....0
This discussion has been closed.
Categories
- All Categories
- 1.4M Health, Wellness and Goals
- 393.7K Introduce Yourself
- 43.8K Getting Started
- 260.3K Health and Weight Loss
- 176K Food and Nutrition
- 47.5K Recipes
- 232.6K Fitness and Exercise
- 431 Sleep, Mindfulness and Overall Wellness
- 6.5K Goal: Maintaining Weight
- 8.6K Goal: Gaining Weight and Body Building
- 153K Motivation and Support
- 8.1K Challenges
- 1.3K Debate Club
- 96.4K Chit-Chat
- 2.5K Fun and Games
- 3.8K MyFitnessPal Information
- 23 News and Announcements
- 1.2K Feature Suggestions and Ideas
- 2.6K MyFitnessPal Tech Support Questions