Set Point Theory and Determining Your Healthiest Weight
Most of us have an “ideal” weight and often get frustrated when we can’t reach that weight or when it’s really difficult to maintain that weight. Often the “ideal” weight that we pick is just a number that sounds acceptable. Maybe it’s based on height, suggested by a doctor, your weight in high school, your weight before babies, or the weight you’ve always dreamed of being that is the key to true happiness (psst it’s not). Where did that ideal number come from for you? Have you ever thought of why it never works out as easily as you think it should? Well, it’s because your “ideal” weight likely is not your body’s ideal weight aka your set point.
Set point theory acknowledges that weight is determined by more than height, what you eat and how much you exercise. Although diets make us believe we can pick any number, get there through doing all the “right” things, and maintain that goal by being “disciplined” in our behaviors, set point offers a key factor that all the diets forgot to mention. A lot of your weight is actually predetermined by your genetic make up- genes, bone structure, musculature, metabolism, etc. Just like you can’t change your height, you can’t change the combination of intricate factors that determine where your body innately likes to be.
Set point theory is the idea that your body has a natural, healthy weight range that it operates best at. [Note- it is a range. For some that can be several pounds give or take. This is normal. It’s also normal for your weight to fluctuate some throughout the day and day to day.] This is the weight range that your body likes to be in. This is where is functions its best in all senses of the world - metabolism, digestion, strength, cognition, hormones, etc. This weight does not require effort to maintain and is achieved by living a healthy lifestyle.
Your set point is the natural weight of your body when:
You’re eating enough and eating a balanced diet
You’re moving your body in a way that feels good
You’re getting adequate sleep
You’re well hydrated
You’re compliant with interventions such as medications for disease management
You are overall caring for yourself and your health
You are not using eating disorder behaviors
You are not dieting
You are not over exercising
You are not over eating or binging
You are not using any substance to suppress your appetite
You are not using any substance to maintain a weight or lose weight
You don’t have to “work for it”
Your weight and set point range also fluctuate through life as you change and have different experiences. Our bodies are not meant to be the same - in functionality and appearance- at ages 6, 12,19, 25, 42, 53, 79, 107, etc. I mean can you imagine a 67 year old woman looking the same as a 12 year old girl?! That’s absurd! And obviously a 12 year old body and a 67 year old body need to do very different things to keep that human being alive and healthy. There are other factors that contribute to your set point in a particular season of life as well such as puberty, having children, medical diagnoses, weight cycling (i.e. weight fluctuations particularly from yo-yo dieting), using eating disorder behaviors (i.e. restricting, binging, purging, overexercise, etc). In these cases, your set point will likely increase as a protective mechanism. This is because your body will require extra space and resources to do its job to and support you in that season of life. This is normal and necessary for our bodies to do. This is what allows our bodies to adapt and grow and carry us through life as we adapt and grow.
This is good information to know and to normalize. All of our weights change and our bodies will fight us to be at its set point because that is where it will function its best and do its best to allow us to survive and thrive. This is almost never the “goal” weight you picked out for your body. If you are putting a lot of effort into maintaining a weight or getting to a weight - it likely is not the healthiest weight for your body. It is not your set point. This is why your body does not abide by your “goal” weight. My advice: F(orget) a goal weight and the scale because you really don’t get the choice anyways. What you do get a choice in is living a healthy lifestyle and doing what you can to support your body (see above bullet points).
xx, Desa