What is a 'Weight Set-Point' and What Does it Have to Do With Weight-Loss?

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By Lindy S. Diffenbaugh

We have all been there! At least those of us chunky guys and gals who have lived with the yo-yo syndrome of dieting and binging and losing and gaining that unsightly fat. We go into diets that we know will work. We lose the weight and we look great! We get the compliments and we look like a million bucks. But from out of nowhere the pounds start creeping back on. Before long we are right back where we started. On top of that we are in the middle of heart-break, scratching our heads and asking, "Where did I go wrong?"
Maybe you did everything right, but there is one small piece of information that you did not understand that could make all the difference in the world. It is the concept of the Weight-Set Point. The theory behind the Weight-Set-Point is that our bodies get used to being a certain weight. If you have been overweight for a year or two, then it is safe to assume that your body has gotten used to being overweight. Even though you diet and lose 30 or 40 pounds, at some point a complex system of triggers in your body will go off and alert your body that it has gotten off of its 'Weight Set Point." At that point it will do everything that it can to regain the stability of that set-point.
Your set-point can be determined by genetics, but your life-style also plays into the equation. If you eat healthy and exercise a lot, you will likely maintain a slender body and a low set-point. Conversely if you are a couch potato and you eat a lot, then you are likely to put the pounds on and create a high set point.
There are those who believe that whatever your set point is, that is what it is and you cannot change it. It would be more likely to assume that you can change your set point. Let's say you weighed 125 when you were 23. By the time you turned 33 you had put on 50 pounds and maintained that weight until you were 35. Obviously if you weighed 125 for a good portion of your life and now you weigh 175, somewhere along the line your weight set-point changed. And in all honestly it is much easier to change the set-point going up, but not so easy when you are going down. But know that it can be done on the down side as well.
In his book Break Through Your Set Point: How to Finally Lose the Weight You Want and Keep It Off, Dr. George Blackburn, MD says that in order to reset your set-point, you start by losing 10% of your weight. At that point you should stop actively trying to lose weight. It is assumed that if you lost that much weight then you have had to develop healthier eating and life-style patterns. Maintain those patterns but eat a little more at each meal. If you need a number, go by your current weight and eat about 10 calories per pound to your diet. But make sure that the food is nutritious and that you are maintaining a steady program of exercise.
If you continue with these behaviors for six months and maintain the initial weight-loss, then according to Dr. Blackburn's theory, you have effectively reset your Weight-Set-Point. When you are satisfied that your set-point has been reset and you still want to lose more weight, then all you have to do is repeat the cycle for another six to eight months.
This may sound like a slow and difficult way to lose weight. I don't know about you, to me it is an amazing new insight. I would rather take a year to set my body weight to a lower point and reach my ideal weight-loss than lose it all in two months and gain it all back in three weeks. It just makes good sense. I am not asking you to buy this theory hook-line-and sinker. Just asking you to consider it. Let me know what you think. Here's to your stunning new figure!
Lindy Diffenbaugh is a Mental Health Therapist and Life Coach by Profession. She has followed the trend of Internet Marketing and the Home Base Business in order to help others move forward and get beyond the perils of the current economic threat in our nation, to a place of personal and economic strength. Her current focus is the multi-billion dollar weight-loss/nutrition industry. For more information on how Lindy can help you prosper, even in a down economy, visit, http://www.loseweightlookgreatnow.org.

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