Many overweight people are able to easily lose a certain amount of weight when they start a new diet only to reach a plateau and stop losing. The reason for this plateau can be explained by something called the “set point theory” which refers to a weight range in which your body is programmed and will fight to stay. Set points differ from person to person, which means one person’s thinnest weight could easily be someone else’s heaviest weight. Weight charts found in doctor’s offices are often criticized for this very reason; they do not account for individual variations in healthy weight ranges.

Our bodies’ have set points for a reason. Set points exist to protect us from starvation and help us maintain healthy reproductive systems. Many people take comfort in this concept because it takes off the pressure they feel to lose weight and achieve greater fitness goals, but doing so is an easy way out of pushing past your perceived limitations and making lasting and dramatic changes to your appearance. The fact is, you can healthfully and positively break through your set-points and actually re-set them at different stages of your weight-loss journey. Set points are determined by genetics and environmental factors, but they are not impossible to re-set when you change your environment or defy your genetics. You can change your set point through dietary changes, exercise, and even climate!

When your weight hovers in a certain range, known as your set point, your body will grow accustomed to that weight range and resist change when you eat differently or try to lose weight. However, if you stay focused on your goals and hold steady with your increased physical activity and dietary changes, your body will eventually adjust to the idea of change. As your body adjusts, you will break through your set point, reach a new weight, and develop a whole new, lower weight range that your body will then grow accustomed to again. Our bodies want to feel safe and secure and they don’t want to worry about starvation, so if you take your time and show them that the changes you are making to your lifestyle are positive changes and won’t result in starvation, your body will lower its defenses and adjust to the changes by lowering your weight and resetting your set point.

The next time you hit a weight plateau, rather than give up on further weight loss, stay focused and take your time. You are on a journey of weight loss and weight management and on this journey you will continue to modify your eating and exercise behaviors. Your body may resist at times, especially when you reach the lower end of a particular weight range, but as long as you allow this resistance and give your body time to acclimate to your new behaviors, it will let down its defenses and actually establish a new set-point. Aerobic exercise and frequent, healthy meals are both especially helpful at resetting set points.  As long as you don’t over-train your body of starve yourself by eating too few calories, your body will learn that change isn’t so bad. Your body will learn that change can be beneficial to your health.

If your weight-loss goals are big, you may go through many cycles of re-setting your set point. Each time you reach a new weight range it will seem awkward and foreign at first, but the longer you stay in that range, the more natural it will feel. When this happens, you know you have successfully re-set your set-point! When you honor your body and its natural instincts, it will honor you and your commitment to good health.