What a Set Point Weight Means for Your Fitness Journey
If you have ever attempted to modify your weight, you are aware that reaching your target is just the beginning of the process; it may be just as difficult to maintain the weight that you have achieved. Hundreds of studies have been conducted to investigate why this would be the case, and some of those studies point to the concept of a “set point” for one’s body weight.
What exactly is a “Set Point”?
It is commonly believed that your body will fight to maintain your set point weight no matter what the circumstances are. The situation is as follows: When you reduce the number of calories in your diet and restrict the foods you eat, your body responds by slowing down your metabolism and your activity levels in order to conserve energy. On the other hand, if you start eating more, both your metabolic rate and your activity level will increase, which will quickly result in you returning to the weight you were at before. Frustrating? It is possible. Unchangeable? Not if you are aware of the factors that will determine your final weight. And studies have found that some of these factors include heredity, food, activity level, and hormones. Should we make an effort to alter our set point, or should we simply attempt to live as healthily as possible and let nature take its course? We made the decision to look into these very topics, so we contacted two professionals and asked them for their input.
Continue reading to find out more about the four elements that have an effect on your body-weight set point, what you can do about those things, and whether or not you should try to change your set point.
Genetics
Genes that instruct our bodies on which proteins to produce are contained within each of our 23 pairs of chromosomes.
How It Might Influence Your Predetermined Point
When it comes to your permanent weight, your genes might not be the single most important factor. On the other hand, it is a fact that some genes can predispose you to particular conditions that regulate how and where fat is stored in your body.
How to Proceed
Isn’t all genetics really the same thing? It seems like a waste of time to try to battle against them because none one us has the power to change the core aspects that define who we are. Optimizing the other aspects of your health that are under your control is, however, something you can accomplish.
Hormones
Hormones are chemical messengers that are employed by the body to affect the functioning of many processes and functions.
How Their Potential Influence on Your “Set Point”
Both the rate at which you feel hungry and the rate at which fat is accumulated and stored in your body are influenced by hormones, which in turn affects your body’s set point for its own weight. Tanner believes that when you are full, your body will send signals to your brain via chemicals called leptin. “On the other hand, the ghrelin tells you that you are starving, just like a gremlin. Does it seem about right? When ghrelin begins to work, it causes an increase in hunger.
How to Proceed
The good news is that calming these hormones might not be as difficult as it sounds like it will be. You only need to focus on the fundamentals of self-care, which include obtaining adequate amounts of sleep, moving your body on a regular basis, figuring out how to deal with stress, and eating a diet that is high in fiber and contains whole foods. In other words, you should avoid eating processed meals and instead choose foods that are closer to their original state. Some examples of such foods include vegetables, fruits, legumes, lean meats, eggs, nuts, seeds, and whole grains.
“Provide your body with the nutrients it requires just in time before those hormones take effect. Tanner makes the observation that “if you’re tuned in to your body, you’ll see a tendency in the times that you get hungry.” “If this is happening on a daily basis at the same time, opt to feed your body with the appropriate kind of nutrients so that you may avoid receiving excess hormonal cues.”
Find techniques to reduce the amount of stress in your life, such as practicing mindfulness meditation, yoga, tai chi, breathwork, or walking, and make sure you receive at least seven hours of excellent sleep every night.
Diet
Your diet consists of everything that you consume, including food and drink.
How It Might Influence Your Predetermined Point
It should come as no surprise that the food you eat might have an effect on how much you weigh. It is common knowledge that the amount of calories consumed should approximately correspond to the amount of energy that is lost in order to keep the same weight. However, things aren’t quite as straightforward as that. Even if the “thermostat” is functioning properly, the concept that cutting calories and increasing the amount of time spent working out would result in sustained weight loss may not always be accurate.
How to Proceed
If you want to successfully reduce weight, you should avoid going on crash diets. According to Tanner, “crash diets can show results for a short amount of time, but in most situations, it will leave you binge eating in a few days.” “Crash diets can show results for a short length of time.” If you want to avoid yo-yo dieting, which can mess up your hormone levels and make it harder to maintain weight loss, “adding one thing at a time to your daily routine to achieve your goals,” rather than completely cutting everything out, will help you. Yo-yo dieting can make it harder to maintain weight loss.
If you suddenly and drastically reduce the number of calories you consume, this could mean that your body weight shifts too quickly, which would make it more difficult for your body weight set point to adjust to the new level. In addition, there is a possibility that you will lose lean muscle tissue, which can slow down your metabolism. Therefore, if you want to keep your weight at a healthy level, you should avoid fad diets and instead focus on eating a balanced food while “dieting” slowly. For instance, first strive to lose between 5 and 10 percent of your total body weight, and then focus on keeping that weight off for at least two to three months before moving on to the next step down. Again, your primary focus should always be on high-quality foods that are still in their natural state.
Fitness
In the context of this discussion, fitness might refer to either the degree of your normal activity or the exercise that you deliberately plan to accomplish (such as whether you sit at a desk most of the day, work on your feet doing a labor-intensive job, etc.).
How It Might Influence Your Predetermined Point
As was just said, the most common cause of weight loss is an imbalance between the amount of energy expended and the amount of energy taken in. Exercising can even overcome specific genetic markers that predispose to obesity, according to research that has been conducted. Exercising regularly is one of the most important things you can do to bring down your body weight set point. On the other hand, our next argument can cause you to rethink your approach to going to the gym.
How to Proceed
Increasing the amount of muscle on your frame is by far the most effective means of achieving long-term weight loss with exercise. This is due to the fact that muscle is a metabolically active tissue, which may enable your body to burn a significant number of additional calories even when you are not actively doing anything. If there is anything that is going to hinder your body from defending a set weight, it is this, therefore look to workouts that involve weights and toning for your forthcoming visits to the gym. Weightlifting, rowing, the barre, and boxing are all fantastic exercises that train the entire body. If you tend to be very dedicated to cardiovascular exercise, you should make sure that you are also performing strength training and eating adequate protein in order to keep your muscle mass.
Should You Make an Attempt to Alter Your Predetermined Weight?
Therefore, in the end, there are some things you can do to encourage healthy weight reduction, such as following a nutritious diet with an acceptable caloric intake and obtaining consistent exercise. These are the two most important components of a healthy weight loss plan. However, it is also essential to check with your physician to see whether or not the weight you hope to achieve is actually good for your body. According to Mincemeyer, “in our culture, we have a tendency not to trust our body,” particularly when it comes to regulating our weight and the amount of food we consume. However, our bodies have a propensity to form set point weights or weight ranges because they are biologically optimum and are frequently influenced by genetics. These weights and ranges are good for our bodies. 7 And according to Mincemeyer, making an effort to diet in order to achieve a weight that is below this figure or range may, in the end, be counterproductive. According to her explanation, “the evidence shows that the majority of attempts to lose weight result in eventual regain of weight; often, the weight regain will result in a higher body weight than before the initial weight loss.” “The evidence shows that the majority of attempts to lose weight result in eventual regain of weight.” When we lose weight, the natural defensive strategy that our body does is to reduce the metabolism in order to restore that weight, which may cause the set point to become even higher.
It is likely that you are currently at a body weight that is either above or below your natural body weight set point. This could be the result of dieting and/or excessive exercise, binge eating and emotional eating, or any combination of these factors. In situations like these, according to Mincemeyer, “moving your focus to behaviors instead of trying to control results is the key to living with a more tranquil relationship with food and body, and ultimately, feeling better health.”
She recommends Health At Every Size (HAES) and Intuitive Eating interventions, which are non-diet approaches to nutrition and fitness that take the focus off of weight loss and place it on behaviors such as listening to your body’s hunger and satiety cues rather than counting calories. These approaches emphasize the importance of maintaining a healthy relationship with food and physical activity. According to Mincemeyer’s explanation, concentrating on these activities “may allow our body to drift to its natural set point, wherever that may be, [and can result in] improved self-esteem, more balanced nutrition choices, and more physical activity.” “The single most crucial thing for us to keep in mind is that we have to have faith that our bodies know what they’re doing at all times,” It sounds like the ideal recipe for maintaining both a healthy body and a healthy mind.