Set point weight theory

xxzenabxx · January 2021

Hey everyone!

So recently I’ve been dabbling in the ED recovery community/intuitive eating/anti-diet community and they all talk about everyone having a set point weight. Apparently there’s nothing we can do to change this and it’s just something that you have to live with for the rest of your life because of genetics. What is everyone’s opinion on this and is it scientifically valid? If so then that means I’m going to be stuck at 150-160 lbs for the rest of my life 😦. I’m 5’ 4” and small/medium boned (5.75” wrists!) so feel that’s waaay too much weight for my frame! Even with muscle. Exercise is harder as well when I weigh more (currently on a long diet break of 6-9 months).

Lietchi · January 2021

I defy set point theory 😁 my weight has never been stable throughout my adult life, gaining weight gradually over 15+ years and then losing weight the past 18 months.

For those people who do seem to have a set point, I personally don't think it's 'genetic' (our body wanting to be a certain weight), I think it's just a matter of an array of personal habits (food, movement,...) combined with our metabolism leading to a certain weight. My totally non expert view 🙂

ninerbuff · January 2021

BS. If that were true, then starting as a teen who was thin, you'd be thin your whole life. Ever wonder why so many people that migrate to America end up gaining a lot of weight even though they've been a normal size their whole life? It's because food is to easily available to buy cause much of it is cheap in the US. Here our society is build around have BIG everything. Big house, big car and big appetites. Hence advertisements for food try to give you as much as possible while spending as little as you can. As well as we have wholesale food places so you can buy in bulk. Never fails when I go to Costco and see some of the biggest people there have not a regular cart, but a flatbed to buy their food.

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cmriverside · January 2021

Yeah, I agree with Lietchi.

It may "feel" like a scenario with a sure outcome, but I can assure you it's not.

Does it sometimes feel really hard to stay or get to a particular weight? Yes, but that's all about hormones and they do balance out after a period of adaptation to lower or higher calorie management.

SnifterPug · January 2021

There is such a theory but you can change your set point. If you are interested, I suggest you read Why We Eat (Too Much) by Dr Andrew Jenkinson, who is a bariatric surgeon.

richardgavel · January 2021

I'll answer if this way, do you think the people you see on My 600 lb life are that weight because their bodies think they should be that weight or could something else be involved?

L1zardQueen · January 2021

I’ve been a bit chunky my whole life but have managed to get to a normal weight for a few years now. by the way, I’m 5’4”/ 162.5, 122lb/55k and 60 years old. I don’t buy into the set point theory.

LivingtheLeanDream · January 2021

Don't pay any heed, set point is not a thing.

quiksylver296 · January 2021

It's bull. Your "set point" is based on your habits. Change your habits and your "set point" will change, too.

janejellyroll · January 2021

quiksylver296 wrote: »

It's bull. Your "set point" is based on your habits. Change your habits and your "set point" will change, too.

I agree with this. One set of habits results in my "set point" being about 150 pounds. When I was living with those habits, it did seem like my weight would never change.

With a different set of habits, my weight stays around 115.

If I went back to my old habits, I have no doubt I'd regain weight.

I think the reason why so many people believe in this is that we do tend to go on auto pilot when it comes to diet and activity. This can make our weight seem like something inevitable, but really our weight is just the outcome of the diet and activity choices we're making day after day.

SuzySunshine99 · January 2021

I don't believe anyone is genetically inclined to maintain at a certain weight.

I do think that everyone needs to find a weight that they are comfortable with and can easily maintain, ideally within a healthy range.

When I first started losing weight, I wasn't sure what my goal would be. I kind of leveled off at a certain range, I was happy with that, and I knew I could maintain it. I COULD lose more weight and still be in a healthy range...but I know I'd be fighting harder to stay there.

So, it's not a genetic "set point", but more of a lifestyle one.

ahoy_m8 · January 2021

This topic comes up in the forum from time to time. Set point theory was popularized in mainstream press around 1980 or a little earlier than that. 40 years is a long time for a hypothesis to garner evidence. Is there any scientific evidence supporting the set point mechanism at all?

The likely explanation for the observation (bodies tend to stay the same weight) is what quiksylver said -- habits tend to stay the same rather than any biological mechanism.

xxzenabxx · January 2021

I feel better now and I recently realised I don’t want to stay at this weight after thinking about it. Also what about the obesity epidemic? I just felt like the set point theory didn’t make sense because it didn’t consider epi-genetics. Lifestyle and other factors, diet, muscle mass, stress etc. The intuitive eating community are also inline with HAES (a pretty toxic community!) that condemn anyone who loses weight. I think this also stems from fat activism and body positivity. With hindsight, I definitely don’t want to be part of such a community...I mean if I gain anymore weight then I won’t be able to do planks without my wrists hurting (I’m a pear shape with a naturally weaker upper body ) and apparently I’m being toxic if I want to lose weight...!
Long term goals: lose on the lower body and build upper body strength.

Theo166 · January 2021

If this theory of our DNA prescribing our weight was true, then why have Americans gained so much weight in the past 50 yrs?

4Phoenix · January 2021

You can change your "set point".....my own personal journey provides me with evidence.

callsitlikeiseeit · January 2021

The doctor who did my physical last year (not my normal one) made the comment of ' well, we all have a happy weight that our bodies like to be at'

I told my regular doctor (same practice, mind you) and he rolled his eyes.

I agree with my regular doctor.

breefoshee · January 2021

It also doesn't make sense on a cellular level. Your body does maintain a certain number of fat cells (adipocytes) throughout your adult life... so that is what this theory seems to be built on.

But you don't keep the same cells forever and ever. Cells die and get replenished through cell division. I think the set point theory assumes that you are stuck at a certain size because the number of fat cells do not change much. So even if they are depleted of fat, they are overstretched and more inclined to be filled with fat.

But if your body is always making new cells, then eventually those cells would be replaced with not-so-fat-filled smaller cells.

sijomial · January 2021

Funny how set point theory didn't apply for all the poor souls incarcerated in concentration camps, or anyone with very restricted access to food, or during famines but only applies to people exercising free will over their food choices and quantities.

Be cautious that drowning people can drag down others with them. Have courage and let them get on with their beliefs and suffer the health consequnces of those beliefs while you take positive action to improve your health.

PAV8888 · January 2021

The first two years after weight loss are extremely prone to weight regain in part because of hormonal changes that often take place during weight loss.

People who lose weight but are not prepared to apply a similar degree of continuing effort during the first two (to five, if you want your best statistical chance to retain your weight loss) years of maintenance often yo-yo up and down losing and then regaining and then losing again. Maybe a bit more maybe a bit less each time. Most of us know this drill, I think. And from that perspective it sure looks like there's a set point to which our bodies want to return.

In fact, maybe i should claim a set point of 155lbs.

I don't have my exact dates and numbers handy, but let's say that for the past 4 years I've lost and regained between scale weights of 158 to 149 lbs a number of times.

But time and time again my trending weight seems to circle near the upper part of that range, closer to the mid than the low 150s. In spite of logging my food and making some conscious effort to control my weight to try and balance out in the low 150s

While this 155 set point would appear a reasonable conclusion, it would fail to adequately address the fact that a good eight years ago I stopped getting on my then analogue scale after the needle had almost circled back to zero. Well above the 280 max on the dial.

I have not changed everything in my life during the past 7+ years, but I have made a substantial number of changes as time has gone on, most of them with some consideration to my general health.

elisa123gal · January 2021

My husband sat next to a Health Department official at an event. She said trying to lose weight is useless..that the body will fight to get back to a certain weight no matter what, and win. She compared it to a refrigerator set a certain temperature and will stay there.

I thought that was a load of crap and still do. Yes, we have habits and lifestyles that lead us back to a certain weight. But those habits and lifestyles can be changed. It takes work..but it can be done. We all know when we regain weight, that we eat our way there...no mystery or genetics involved.

Who wants to listen to such negative feedback that we are predisposed to be obese.

rosebarnalice · January 2021

I think the reason that set point theory got some traction for a while is because it's not at all uncommon to lose (or bulk up) to a target weight by changing eating or activity behaviors, then once the "target" is reached, slowly returning back to the behaviors that were associated with the starting weight.

So it's not that our BODIES have a "set point" weight, but that our BRAINS have "set point behaviors" that will take us to--and maintain us at-- a particular weight. (And as a long time yoyo weighter, I speak from experience :-) )

Permanent change in body weight means permanent change in mindset and behavior :-)

Set point weight theory

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