Why weight loss doesn’t work: The setpoint

Why weight loss doesn’t work: The setpoint

Weight loss doesn’t succeed long term because, whether we want to admit it or not (and most weight loss specialists don’t) – it seems that we each do have a set point or settling point.

The setpoint is our usual weight at this time in our lives when well nourished and reasonably active, and which the body defends. It's the weight that we have attained through a complex interplay of both genetic and environmental factors.(1)
Our bodies vigorously defend this weight and seem to make adjustments to restore it to the setpoint after either weight loss or gain.(2)

The human body is well designed to resist starvation – it’s a survival trait that was critically important until recent times. We store up fat and protect those fat stores. We defend them all the more vigorously when they seem threatened.(3) When not dieting, most people maintain a stable weight, despite what can be wide day-to-day variations in

The setpoint is our usual weight at this time in our lives when well nourished and reasonably active, and which our body defends.

calorie intake. The body makes its own adjustments to match food intake.(4)

When we begin losing weight or fat – it’s not clear what triggers this – the alarm bells go off. All sorts of regulatory mechanisms kick in to protect calories and stored fat by shutting down the usual body processes: slowing metabolism, reducing temperature and decreasing heart rate. These are the processes – running our inner clock – that use most of the calories we consume (not physical activity, as some believe). So there are many subtle ways for calorie readjustment.

Since there is much flexibility in the system, that inner clock can slow down at many points. It reduces the calories used for generating heat, heartbeat, circulating blood, breathing, digestion, thermogenesis, cell repair, fighting infection, sexual function, growth of children and youth, and dozens of other processes related to physical, mental, emotional and social function – even reducing the capacity for intelligent thought, planning, social relationships and spiritual restoration. The fires are banked to conserve fuel.
This is why counting calories doesn’t work. Trying to predict weight loss from the old adage “calories in equal calories out” is meaningless in the face of such a vigorous, unpredictable and unmeasurable slow down of calorie burn. "Calories out" becomes unfathomable.(5)

At the same time the body closes down to defend against starvation, the drive to eat increases. It’s not a matter of willpower. It’s biology.(6)

The setpoint apparently is not normally lowered, even for people who keep themselves thin and undernourished for years. Instead, the alarm bells are continually going off. They feel constantly chilled, exhausted, hungry, self-absorbed, socially isolated and lonely.(7)
“Setpoint creep,” on the other hand, apparently occurs with relative ease, sometimes advancing a half-pound or more each year. There is evidence that chronic dieting may stimulate this with its cycle of weight loss, regain and ratcheting weight up higher.(8)Another path to setpoint creep may be sustained overeating with sedentary living and lack of activity over time.