Set point theory

ashleygroizard
ashleygroizard Posts: 181 Member
edited December 20 in Health and Weight Loss
Has anyone heard of set point theory? It Is a set point weight. When you get enough nutrients for your body and you don’t starve and don’t over eat and drink water and your body goes to a normal healthy weight and maintains that weight for the rest of your life. I’m learning about it with my therapist. I also googled set point theory and apparently it’s the fat loss no one talks about
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Replies

  • Sunshine_And_Sand
    Sunshine_And_Sand Posts: 1,320 Member
    I've heard people say that your body has a set weight it wants to be at and to get lower than that, you have to "shock your body". Some of the "shock" methods I've heard people talk about are cutting carbs and running. Both are fine to do, but honestly it all comes down to CICO. It's not that people have set points but that people are comfortable with a certain amount of activity versus amount of food and maintain their weight according to that.
    So, if your maintaining your weight and decide to add say running 3 miles 4-5 days a week, you will lose weight if you change nothing about your diet/calories in. If you keep up a consistent exercise routine but never paid attention to your calories in, you would lose weight if you (for example) cut out snacking but otherwise kept your meals exactly the same.
    Here's the problem. The person who adds exercise could easily eat a bit extra at meals or grab a handful of nuts after a run without even thinking about it, and your back up to maintainance calories and you don't lose weight (or maybe even an excess and you gain a little). The person cutting snacking may be cutting their workout a bit short or sand bagging it a little to compensate for the lower energy intake without realizing it and there they are at maintenance too. This is why a lot of people have a hard time with intuitive eating. I know it works for some, but a lot of us have to track.
    If you're not accurately tracking, weighing, and measuring, these subtle compensations are harder to see and you maintain your "set point".
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