CHANGE YOU BODY'S SET POINT
What’s this mystery of ‘set point’?
The set point theory postulates that our bodies are programmed to be of a particular weight or store certain amount of fat. Whenever we make an attempt to change this set weight, our body ‘fights back’ against any change. These are due to a mechanism of four factors- genes, diet, hormones and physical activity.
When we significantly reduce the calories consumed (say when on a diet), our body’s metabolism slows down so that we burn fewer calories. Likewise when we significantly and suddenly increase our activity levels, our body burns fewer calories.
A vast majority of people who lose weight tend to regain that weight. This is probably due to the set point of weight that doesn’t let you gain or lose beyond it. There are several factors behind this, one being the genes. But we can’t do anything about them. But this doesn’t mean that we can’t lose weight.
The crux is “the longer you remain in a given body weight, the more your body settles into it, defending weakly against increases and strongly against reductions.”
Have a look at these ways to change your body’s weight set point and lose weight:
Your diet needs a drift!
Everybody who suggests a sustainable weight loss marks the importance of lifestyle modification, most important of this being diet. Urbanisation and modernisation has led to the growth of food industries at sky-rocketed rates which produce a whole lot of processed and refined foods. This shift from whole grains to refined grains has led to obesity and metabolic syndrome. Make a drift back to the olden times and the traditional diets and try to stay as close to nature as possible. This will work by reducing the levels of insulin the body, reducing appetite and preventing the storage of fat. Not only this should be the strategy during weight loss, but a permanent lifestyle modification. Opt for sustainable options when losing weight. Also maintain a neutral energy balance if you don’t wish to gain weight and a negative balance if you wish to lose it!
Never diet! When you diet to lose weight and then you stop dieting, your body will go right back to where it was and often, because you were mentally deprived, you will eat more than you would have if you have never dieted in the first place. Diets move our body set point down, but then back up, and this back and forth, up and down momentum often creates a higher set point ultimately!
Your gut’s composition needs a shift!
The human intestine is a home for a number of healthy bacteria. But the processed and refined foods are making it a place for some unwanted microorganisms, for example-use of artificial sweeteners promote the growth of bacteria that lead to obesity. So the target has to be changing the composition of the gut. Promoting the usage of fermented foods along with a fibre-rich diet to nourish the growth of healthy bacteria. Leaner body demands a fibre-rich and probiotic-inclusive diet.
Your surroundings need a transfer!
This applies to only a few people nowadays that ‘I am eating because I am hungry’ because no doubt in this that hunger hormones control this urge to eat and humans can’t manipulate it. But what about eating when you aren’t even hungry? This is something to be worried about. These days we eat because everybody around us is also eating. Cheap, calorie-dense, fatty foods are available at the doorstep. Even the marketing companies come door-to-door to deliver us these irresistible foods that were designed just to make the humans crave for them. We keep on eating a packet of chips till it’s empty, without realising what is it giving us in return! Try to stay from these things as far as possible. Listen to your body, it’s hunger instincts and stop listening to what your environment guides you to! Yes, willpower is important for losing weight, but also along with this make concerted efforts to keep these environmental cues away from you. Use smaller plates. Don’t eat in front of television. Keep tempting foods out of sight.
Your body weight needs to go down slowly!
Changing weight too much or too quickly is always temporary. A body weight that has lost slowly is less likely to ‘fight back’ to return to its original weight. No matter how long is this taking you to lose weight, but once you get there there will be no looking back! Rapid weight loss disturbs the body’s metabolism. Have a combination of a low calorie diet and exercise to achieve weight loss. Reducing the fat percentage of body and increasing the muscle mass is the best way to lower the set point of body.
The final word
Evidence proves that set point theory is a fair deal. This set point is achieved by a combination of genes, hormones, diet and exercise. But you can change this with concerted efforts and lifestyle modifications such as getting enough sleep, managing stress and consistent diet and exercise habits. It just needs patience, discipline and consistency.
