What is set-point?

Basically "set point" is the weight range that your body is physiologically programmed to maintain. For example, if your set point is between 140 and 145 pounds, your body will try to do whatever it can to stay within that range. If you go under the range, you may feel hungrier so that you eat more food or become less active so that the body can get back within the range. If you go over the range, you can lose appetite so that you eat less and, again, get back into the set point range. Everyone has their own set point range.

That is one of the biggest problems with the "one size fits all" approach to dieting that the dieting industry takes. People are led to believe that they should be able to lose all the weight they want to lose or that a weight chart says they should lose. This is a disservice to people. How frustrating to not know about set point and make endless attempts to lose a particular amount of weight when your body will be working against you if you go outside your range!

If you look back through the years at your weight history you can get an idea of your set point. Most likely it's around the weight that your body seemed to stabilize at when you weren't dieting stringently. For some people this is too hard to figure out because they have constantly dieted for years.

Having a set point is actually a good thing. It's just another wonderful survival mechanism that the body has. Accepting that you have a set point and becoming familiar with it will help you be more successful with your attempts to be more fit. That's because you won't continue to fail at unrealistic attempts to lose weight. You will choose methods of losing weight that are doable for you and you will be more relaxed while you're making changes.

Finally, there is one way that you can semi-permanently change your set point to a lower range. That is with consistent, aerobic exercise. When you engage in this type of exercise, your metabolism increases temporarily for hours after the exercise has ended. If you do this consistently, you can see that you will keep your metabolism and, therefore, your set point at a lower range. If you stop doing consistent, aerobic exercise your body will go back to it's original set point range. So when you exercise think about the fact that you're not only burning more while you're exercising, but for hours afterwards (even if you're sleeping)! That's nice, huh?