I do agree that it's more than what your body is used to, I think it's as much as what your lifestyle encourages.
Everyone knows that we tend to eat the same foods over and over, and we are much more creatures of habit than we admit to ourselves at times.
So, I think there is a point where it's subconsciously uncomfortable to go any lower with calories or higher with activity levels. To change those things, takes a REAL effort on our part and so it feels dramatic when we do it, and when we do it, it's harder to keep up long term.
IF we do keep it up, then that will become our go-to pattern and thereby establishing a new set point.
i deffinately think there's numbers your body prefers. for me, i always get stuck at numbers ending with an 8. so like, i was at 208, for 2 months -then WHOOSH to 198, then 2 month stall then WHOOSh 188, then 2 months again, and WHOOOSH to 178. guess when i'm stuck right now for the last 3 weeks?
yeah you guessed it, 178.
I've had several "set points" throughout my life. I've pretty much always eaten the same way, but my activity level over the years has dropped. And I've read that the metabolism slows down with age, so it shouldn't really be all that surprising when the weight goes up 10 pounds every decade or so. In my mid to late 20's my weight stayed in the 215 range. I dropped below 200 once during that time, but it didn't last long. Once I got into my 30's it seemed my weight went up pretty steadily until it came to rest at 235. I stayed there for years. I would exercise and diet for a while and lose 20 pounds every now and again, but I always went back to my old eating habits and gained it all back. In the last few years, though, my weight climbed up to 245 and hovered there for the last 3 or 4 years.
I'm hoping I can get to a new set point around 185.
I have these too. I gained a serious amount of weight during my 1st pregnancy (75 lbs). Got down to 207 and stayed there for 2 years until I became pregnant again, then again and again (at the same weight). 207 is my magic pregnancy weight for some reason .
But on a more serious note, I loose in "whooshes" as well. I stay at a certain weight for 3-6 weeks, loose 2-3 lbs, and the cycle states all over again.
I always get stuck at 218, 213, 207, 201 etc. Not sure why that is.
1) ~ heaviest ~ I seem to top off at 165-170 range
2) ~middle~ I go down to 151-152 easy, but I can't seem to break 150 without tricks. I hover around 150 forever.
3) ~ low ~ If I break 150, I seem to cruise down to 125-130 range. -- I had quite easy time maintaining at 126 for years.
I loved seeing this thread! This is something I have talked with a best friend about too. Not really something you can ask just any old person you meet out in the real world. So seeing that other people see this same phenomena is awesome.
My friend and I came to the conclusion that we have certain weights that we settle at for awhile. This happend when going up and when going down. (sadly this testifies to the fact that we have yo yo'd our weight around a bit).
So my high weight was christmas of '09, right about when I got engadged. I weight 186. I then lost down to 172 by my wedding. During this time I notivced my weight sticking around 182 for awhile. Did the same thing at 178. After the wedding bounced around 172-175 a few months, then settled up to 178. Lost down to 168 when doing a bunch of home improvements and then back to 172-175. Got a second job over the summer, back down to 168. By just before the holidays I was right around 170-172. After the holiday shot up to 178-180.
Anyways that smy pattern. When I weight daily I see alot of variance, but my weight likes to go in fits and starts. Its as if I lose 5 lbs really fast, but then see it vary a few pounds for awhile right around a 2 or an 8. Then I see a loss to the next, (or at times a gain up) 2 or 8. Maybe when losing weight our bodies needs to resettle? Totally unscientific and out of my own head term here. I just find it interseting. And like I said my best friend has the same thing. She has yo yo'd for many more years than I have. And she feels she always gets stalled or stuck at certain numbers, and always has.
This makes sense, my husband can't get above 150 lbs no matter what he does. He'll eat a ton, he get's plenty of physical exercise as well as he is a carpenter. Sometimes he dips to about 145 and he gets so sad because he tries so hard to gain weight. He's 6'3 and I wish we could trade weights, haha.
I just had a baby, and even though I lost a ton of weight on 3FC back in 2010, my weight settled at 194. That's the weight I started at when I lost weight back then. Now I have to work to lose all the weight all over again.
Hmm... it makes some sense. Unfortunately, my 'set point' has just gone up since high school. I'll up about 5-10 pounds and staythere for a long time. Then up another 5-10 pounds, and stay there for along time. I just keeps going up. I need it to go back DOWN!
This makes sense, my husband can't get above 150 lbs no matter what he does. He'll eat a ton, he get's plenty of physical exercise as well as he is a carpenter. Sometimes he dips to about 145 and he gets so sad because he tries so hard to gain weight. He's 6'3 and I wish we could trade weights, haha.
I think this is a slightly different animal. Your husband sounds like he has a freakish metabolism. My boyfriend does as well: he's never been over 135, if he ever actually got there, and is typically around 128, and he's 6' and age 50.
With a set point the idea is that you actually can put on weight, but the body works hard to get you back to your set weight. And, similarly, if you lose weight, your body works hard to get you back up to your set weight.
Incidentally, one of the theories for why people gain weight past the set point and stick there is that, when you force your body to go under the set weight, it retaliates by trying to make you eat AND by raising your set point. The belief is that the body is trying to protect itself from starvation.
Last edited by Petite Powerhouse; 01-30-2012 at 04:03 PM.
If I behave like a ¨normal¨person and eat what my family does I am always about 170....I never really go much above that no matter what crazy things I eat...Im going to google this theory.
Yep Yep... my previous set point was about 220. I worked hard and now I seem to level off at 170 and once I get things under control and drop the water weight associated with the gain I settle at 165. I'm going to have to get really serious to get below this, I have a feeling... One day I will. I promise :P.
I think this may be true for some people. However, my weight adjusts according to my lifestyle. If I eat like crap (way over my calories), I easily gain weight. If I eat low-calorie, I pretty easily lose weight. If I eat right at maintenance, I maintain. Maybe I just haven't gotten to it yet, but it doesn't seem like my body really has a set weight that it particularly likes being at.
Without keeping much track of my weight when I was younger, I would automatically be around 120. I had to work really hard everyday to get down to 112.
My body now wants to be around 130 keeping track of my weight or not (it's just how I eat, so there is no real variation). I need to get moving more and indulge in fewer libations on the weekends if I want the scale to budge!
