The Set Point Theory
The theory tells us that every individual has a natural weight—i.e., a weight that your body will try to return to and maintain whenever you have lost weight. Actually, it is a bit misleading to call your set point weight a “natural” weight, since this implies that if you gain a little weight, the natural tendency would be to drop back down again to your normal weight. In fact, gaining weight—especially quite a bit of weight—appears to raise your set point substantially, while losing weight does not automatically lower it again. If you have always gained weight easily, have a history of obesity, and/or especially if you have had to struggle with weight plateaus, food cravings, and increased appetite, you should expect that keeping it off is going to require some special attention on your part.
The Set Point Problem
Some people start regaining weight simply because they start eating a little bit more and exercising a little less, often without even noticing it. But let’s assume you’ve really taken to heart the idea of a permanent lifestyle change—does this mean you can expect smooth sailing? Sadly, no. For many, the biggest and most difficult challenge of keeping the weight off may be the fact that your body thinks you have lost too much weight, and is determined to put at least some of it back on.
The Good News
The good news is that it is NOT impossible to maintain your weight loss, and that you do not need to become an expert in metabolic biochemistry and food analysis, or eat rabbit food for the rest of your life. There are ways you can help to manage the problem.
Strategies for Managing Set Point
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Know your caloric target for weight maintenance.
The first step towards lowering your set point weight and
getting your body to cooperate with weight maintenance is to know your
daily caloric requirement. Once you figure this out use it as a dietary
reference to maintain your present weight at your current activity
level, assuming no set point problems.
- Work up (or down) to this calorie
intake gradually.
Now that you know your daily caloric requirement don’t
assume you can start eating at this maintenance level right away. You
need to experiment a little until you figure out what your metabolism
will let you get away with. A usual approach is to increase your daily
calorie intake by 150-200 calories (from healthy, low-fat food sources,
of course) for one week, and watch the effect that has on your weight.
If you continue to lose weight, or your weight holds steady, do the same
thing again for another week, and continue doing this until you either
reach your estimated maintenance target, or you start gaining weight.
Obviously, you will want to continue (or restart) daily recording of
your calories and exercise during this period to keep things accurate,
and if you have stopped weighing yourself frequently, you may want to
start doing that again as well.
-
Exercise, Exercise, Exercise.
By far the most important factor in maintaining weight loss is a consistently high level of regular activity and exercise. Basically, you need to convince your body that storing energy as fat to protect against potential food shortages in the future is not a smart strategy because the food supply is adequate and you need that energy NOW to keep up with the physical demands of your present environment. Most likely, you will need to increase the intensity and/or duration of your exercise and other daily activity above what you did during the weight loss phase, so that your caloric expenditure stays a little higher than your maintenance level calorie intake (as determined above).
For most people who are successful at weight maintenance, burning an additional 150-200 calories per day (in addition to your normal daily exercise expenditure) seems to do the trick, though you may need to experiment a little bit to find out what works for you. But—make sure you do NOT reduce your calorie intake below the maintenance level in order to get out of doing more exercise or to “be safe”. To lower your set point weight, you need to avoid restricting calorie intake below your maintenance level, and rely on additional exercise, if necessary, to keep your weight stable.
For further information on this topic and fitness and wellness contact:
Clement Buchanan MA, CFT
Fitness and Wellness Coach
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