Set-Point Theory: The Fat-Loss Secret No One Talks About

Set-Point Theory: The Fat-Loss Secret No One Talks About

I’ve been journaling—soewhat consistently—since second grade. While unpacking boxes after a recent move, I found an entry from 1991 (I was 9) that read: “I don’t have to always fit into big pants.”
I was that guy. The chubby guy who needed his pants tailored for his Bar Mitzvah because they didn’t make suits for young men with a waist so big and height so… restricted. Now here I am, still not so tall, but I’m much more fit and determined to help others overcome the same battles I once fought.

If my story sounds cliché, well, it is. But it’s not too good to be true. The part missing from the fast-forwarded version is that I struggled with weight loss and body image for years. I’d go as far as telling people I was allergic to chlorine to keep my t-shirt on in the pool. (I’ll never understand how I thought this explanation would work. It’s not like the shirt protected my skin from the water, but I digress… )

My ultimate success was a byproduct of many (many) failures and learning how to overcome times of despair and lost hope. I shifted away from gimmick diets and “four-week plans” and focused on blocking out my negative thoughts and becoming happier with who I was. Once that happened, I could finally focus on building a realistic weight-loss plan for my body.

You can transform your body. Most people just do it the wrong way. Too fast. Too impatient. Too generalized. And too unrealistic.

It’s the same approach I’ve used to coach hundreds of overweight people to better health and more happiness. But it all starts with believing one simple truth that's starting to feel more like myth than reality: You can transform your body. Most people just do it the wrong way. Too fast. Too impatient. Too generalized. And too unrealistic.I’ve worked with clients who have lost 100 to 200 pounds. And most of the time, it happens over the course of three to five years, not three to five episodes on a television show. At least, that’s the case for those who successfully keep the weight off.

This is an especially important point, because some research (and recent media coverage) is twisted to suggest that long-term weight loss is hopeless. While many people do, in fact, regain lost weight, it’s not because dropping fat is “mission impossible.” Instead, it starts with changing your definition of “success,” setting aside instant gratification, and understanding how weight loss actually works.

Weight-Loss Dreams vs. Reality

First, some bad news: All nutritional approaches or diet plans stop “working” at some point. Weight loss stops. You don’t see changes, and you believe that either you or the plan are no longer functioning.
The good news: When it appears to stop working, it’s actually still working.
Confused? Stay with me and it’ll make more sense.

We know that as you lose weight, your metabolism tends to slow down—although it’s not absolute. (This research reviewed 71 studies and didn’t find a significant drop in metabolism.) We also know that if you’re patient about it (say, focus on losing one to two pounds per week at most), then you’re more likely to keep it off for good. But most people quit before significant weight loss occurs. It usually looks something like this:

The thing is, steps two and three (stalled progress) are often an important part of the weight-loss process. Dropping one to two pounds per week is considered healthy, but it’s also the average. That means you might lose four pounds one week and zero the next. On those weeks, when the scale doesn’t change, it’s not necessarily a sign that your body has reached its weight-loss limit.
To put it another way, your plateau is a normal and necessary part of the process. You must stall in order to move forward (again). And when you understand why—or more importantly, accept this reality—it changes everything.

Ready for the Big Weight-Loss Secret?

Your body does not like change. I don’t care who you are; it’s very resistant to anything that takes it out of its comfort zone (a.k.a. homeostasis). When that change occurs—specifically when you try to lose weight—your body does everything in its power to get you “back to normal.” This is a process known as set-point theory.

If more people understood that stagnation is an expected and natural part of the weight-loss process, then they wouldn’t quit prematurely.

If you ask me, set-point theory is the reason why so many people fail on long-term weight-loss goals. If more people understood that stagnation is an expected and natural part of the process, then they wouldn’t quit prematurely. Sometimes the scale isn’t moving simply because your body is adjusting to change.

Here’s how it works: We all have a “normal” body weight. Whether we like that weight or not is a different story, but this is the weight that we’ve come to “accept” as our own. We also have a look we desire, whether it’s your college weight, your pre-baby body, or where you were that one time you got super fit a few years ago.

Your mind wants to achieve your goals, but your body wants to cling to what’s familiar. So when you try to change, physiological reactions occur to suck you back into the body you’ve known for so long.
The more weight you lose, the harder your body works to resist that change, or even pull you back to your old weight. It does this by slowing your metabolism (comparatively) and increasing your hunger. Sucks, right?
It’s not all doom and gloom. If you can hang in there and resist the urge to quit, these changes are temporary and can help ease the permanence of your weight loss. Set points are not carved in stone. You can undo the process by changing your body and then allowing your body to adjust. This is why plateaus can be so deceiving. Your body is just adapting to its new reality. Once it does, that’s when you’re ready to take the next jump and see a "whoosh" of new weight loss.

Everyone’s set point is a little different, so there’s not one hard rule for how long you have to wait. The more weight you have to lose (say, more than 50 pounds), the quicker it can happen initially without hitting your set point. But if you want to lose closer to 15 or 20 pounds, you might hit a wall after the first 10. This is why so many magazine cover lines read “How to Lose the Last 10 Lbs.” They should really say, “How to Be Patient After You Lose the First 10 Lbs.” But that doesn’t sound as sexy.

Once you hit your set point, your body likely needs about four to eight weeks to adjust to your new weight. Then you’ll establish a new set point, and your body will respond like that’s your new normal. It doesn’t sound that exciting, but it’s better than you think.

If you go from 200 to 180 pounds or 150 to 130 pounds and wait out the set-point process, your body’s drive to move back to the old weight has changed. It becomes much easier to stay at your current weight because your body no longer thinks it’s outside its comfort zone. This is when you’re able to start losing weight again.
Long-term fat loss never occurs in 30 days or anything magical. It's a process. Almost any plan can deliver the quick results. Ignore those. Instead, focus on what you think you can do for six to 12 months. When you do, you won’t be as frustrated when you hit the set point. Instead, you’ll be buying time—not buying a new approach (literally)—until the weight loss starts again.

Habits Can make You Stupid And Then Kill you

Good article about habits. Sometimes, in every aspect of our lives we get in a rut....


Habits Can Make You Stupid And Then Kill You
• Published on November 17, 2016
James Altucher
FollowJames Altucher
Editor at The Altucher Report
I’ve written 18 books. I’ve started 20 businesses. I’ve failed at about 17 of them but some have done OK.
I’ve helped raise two beautiful kids. I have a podcast that I love doing.
Sometimes I’m really lazy. Sometimes I do nothing. I go play arcade games or watch TV or sit in a store and drink coffee and play on my iPad.
But to do all of the above I had to work a lot.
Everyone is into habit porn these days. “Do these habits for success.”
I’m guilty of this also. I am a habit pornographer. BUT…be very careful. Don’t blindly do habits. Habits kill. Here’s why:

A) Life goes by too quick.
I like this salmon dish across the street. So a month ago I said, I’m going to just eat this every day and make decision-making easier.
Within a week I was sick of it. I thought I was going to die if I ate another bite of salmon.
If you do the same thing every day, your brain gets used to it. Then the tenth time you do it (the hundredth time) your brain doesn’t even realize it’s doing it.
That’s why people who work the same 9–5 job for 40 years feel like “the years went by so quick!”
Because if you do the same thing every day, the brain shuts down during those activities and it feels like just seconds have gone by when you think about it later.
People write: do these 100 habits every day. Do them at the same time (a morning ritual, an evening ritual, etc).
If you do that, and you blink, you’re going to be 90 years old.

B) You either grow or get worse.
You can’t step in the same river twice. It’s always changing.
One time I said, “I’m going to do 20 pushups a day.” That works for about a week. Then you have to do 21 pushups. Then 25, then 50.
Then pushups are no good. You’ve only worked one set of muscles. You have to change your exercise. You have to change your habits. So then it’s no longer a habit.
You can say, “Exercise every day.” Fine. But don’t do it at the same time each day (see “A”).

C) PLAY versus HABITS
I like to play. But if I play the same game every day, I’ll get bored.
In the past week: air hockey, ping pong, pool, golf, mini-golf, some kind of small car race, skeet bowl, chess, etc.
Every game uses different parts of my brain and body. And I don’t do it at the same time. I do it when I’m not busy with other things. But I do try to spend time every day playing.
We’re not so different from when we were kids. If anything we’re more stupid.
I certainly didn’t call playing baseball a habit when I was a kid.
It was fun and it made me a better person and I play every day.
[ RELATED: All I Want To Do Is Play ]

D) Habits make you stupid.
I used to live in the beautiful country. I would drive and notice the trees and the architecture and the leaves changing.
But then on the 50th time on the same route, I stopped noticing everything. In fact, I’d get to my destination and not even remember anything. “How did I get here?”
If you take a different route each day, you keep noticing things. You keep learning about your surroundings.
The more new things that hit your brain (the less habits), the smarter you get.
Being present in every new moment forces the universe to deliver up a new experience on your plate of life. Devour it, digest it, and you’ll get more.

E) Habits are for insects.
Bees have habits. They do stuff with honey and flowers. They do the same thing each time.
Ants have habits. They build ant farms.
Humans don’t have habits. We have the exact same genes as 40,000 years ago. And, if you take out violent death and infant mortality, humans probably lived longer then.
Why?
Because they had a wider variety of things to eat. They had healthier exercise to get their food.
And they didn’t eat at the same time each day. They ate when they could find food.
Nor did they exercise at the same time. “Exercise” was “let’s get food” which only occurred when they were hungry.
Habits started when we were domesticated by wheat and turned from nomads into farmers to grow the wheat.
Prior to that, variety was the spice of life.
And now, to live long, to be smart, to live healthy, to have fun – variety also should be the spice of life.
So what do we do with all of the habits?
I try to contribute every day. To have impact. To learn and then share.
But that’s not a habit. That’s called being a decent citizen. I’m trying.

Yo-yo dieting dangerous for women's hearts, study says

Yo-yo dieting may increase the risk for coronary heart disease and sudden cardiac death in post-menopausal women, according to a study presented to the American Heart Association on Tuesday.

Although previous research focused on the heart risks associated with obesity, study leader Dr. Somwail Rasla of Memorial Hospital of Rhode Island questioned whether women with normal weights could be putting their hearts in danger by on-and-off dieting.

Drinking two sweetened drinks per day? You could be doubling your risk of diabetes
Drinking two sugary drinks per day? You could be doubling your risk of diabetes

There's evidence that being overweight in midlife increases risk of dying from two types of heart disease, according to the heart association -- coronary heart disease, in which blood vessels are blocked by fat and other material, or sudden cardiac death, where the heart's electrical system suddenly stops working.

But it wasn't clear whether losing or gaining weight in adulthood increased the risk of death from those diseases.
"We wanted to know if weight cycling is clinically significant," Rasla said.

Does weight cycling effect our hearts?

To find the answer, researchers studied 153,063 post-menopausal women who self-reported their weights.
At the start of the study, women were asked to describe their weights as normal (with a body mass index less than 25), overweight (a BMI of 25 to 29.9) or obese (a BMI greater than 30). They also reported their adult weight histories, describing themselves as maintaining stable weight, steadily gaining weight, steadily losing weight or weight cycling (if they had lost and regained 10 pounds or more). Weight gained and lost during pregnancy didn't count as weight cycling, Rasla said.

Researchers followed the outcome of their participants for more than 11 years, recording fatalities due to coronary heart disease and sudden cardiac death.

Exercise: It's what the doctor ordered

Over the course of the study, 2,526 coronary heart disease deaths and 83 sudden cardiac death deaths were recorded. Researchers categorized the deaths based on the women's starting weights and their weight histories over time.

For overweight and obese women, weight cycling was not associated with the risk of heart disease-related deaths.

But the most surprising findings came from the group of normal-weight women who confessed to weight cycling. They were 3½ times more likely to have sudden cardiac death than women with stable weights. Additionally, yo-yo dieting in normal-weight women was associated with a 66% increased risk of coronary heart disease deaths, according to the research.
"Normal-weight women who said 'yes' to weight cycling when they were younger had an increased risk of sudden cardiac death and increased risk of coronary heart disease, which can lead to heart attacks and other serious issues," Rasla said.

The frequency of weight cycling -- how often the women had lost and regained 10 pounds or more -- was also a risk factor. "The more cycling, the more hazardous (to their hearts)," Rasla explained.

The dangers of yo-yo dieting

Women are more likely to change their weight frequently: According to Rasla, 20% to 55% of the female population of the United States has admitted to weight cycling, while only 10% to 20% of men have. Though it's a common issue, the clinical significance of weight cycling isn't always agreed on.

"Some studies say weight cycling has no effects on health," Rasla said. Others claim that it can cause cancer, diabetes and other illnesses.

According to Rasla, one reason weight cycling may be harmful is "overshoot theory": When someone changes weight frequently, he explained, gaining weight increases health risk by raising blood pressure, cholesterol and body fat. When she loses the weight, these levels drop, but not all the way to her healthy baseline, because her "normal" state was overshot by the weight gain. If these cycles keep repeating, the woman's health will decline, even if she appears "normal."

"The appearance of health can be deceptive," said Dr. Michael Miller, a professor of cardiovascular medicine at the University of Maryland School of Medicine who was not involved in the new research. "You can look and appear healthy, but you don't know what your risk factors are."

As a cardiologist, Miller often encounters the effects of weight cycling in his patients, particularly middle-age women. "Yo-yo dieting can result in fluid shifts and electrolyte changes, such as potassium, that can cause deadly heart arrhythmias in susceptible middle-aged women," he said.

Men are also negatively affected by weight cycling, but Miller sees the condition "more in women than men."

"Popular diets want you to lose weight quickly, often by reducing your caloric intake by 500 to 1,000 calories a day," he said. When this happens, the dieter's levels of electrolytes, calcium and magnesium are depleted, which can be very hazardous to the body. "You should never lose weight in a drastic fashion," he said.

"Under normal conditions, we shouldn't be putting on or losing weight," Miller continued. "If someone is a normal weight, keep it stable," Rasla agreed.

If a patient wants to lose some weight, Miller warns not to lose more than a pound a week. Instead of restricting food, he suggests eating a healthy diet and increasing energy output, or physical exercise, by about 300 calories a day.

Dr. Naveed Sattar, a professor of metabolic medicine at the University of Glasgow who wasn't involved in the study, emphasizes that weight loss is still a healthy choice for many people.
"This study does not change the fact that overall evidence shows the value of intentional weight loss where lifestyle changes lead to beneficial weight change," Sattar said. "If we look beyond this study at the totality of evidence, it shows us that if women (or men) try to lose weight intentionally, then there is no evidence from trials that this does anything other than good, even if weight gain recurs."
Outside factors?

Dr. Suzanne Steinbaum, director of Women's Heart Health at Lenox Hill Hospital and a Heart Association spokeswoman, says the study "shows the real, true negative effects of what yo-yo dieting can do on our hearts, and this is very, very relevant and important for us to see and understand." Steinbaum was not involved in the research.
However, she continued, "I don't know how much emphasis we can put on this study, because it is an observational study" and is therefore not conclusive about the effects of yo-yo dieting.

"In observational studies, there are always factors that can't be adjusted for," such as pre-existing unhealthy habits, Miller said. These outside factors may have triggered the women's heart conditions, he explained.
"This study has limitations," Sattar agreed. "Women of normal weight are less likely to be intentionally losing weight than overweight women, so this weight loss in normal weight women is much more likely to be unintentional and could be due to illnesses, and the study cannot rule that out. So, weight cycling in normal weight women may be disguising some underlying illness, and these same illnesses may also in turn increase heart disease risks."

Rasla also noted that the data collected for the study were self-reported, and the participants could have given biased answers. For future studies, he hopes to see participants' weights monitored for better precision.
Miller is hopeful about the study results and future research on yo-yo dieting's effects on heart health. "I think it's a great start," he said.

Busted: Diet And Weight Loss Myths (1 of 3)

Aaron Nimmo is one of thousands of fitness gurus that I came across on Instagram, but he is someone I respect and his posts are always spot on. This series sounds like it will be a good one. here is 1 of 3.



Behind most food and nutrition myths, there is a kernel of truth, but there’s so much misinformation out there that it’s hard to know what’s true and what’s false.

In this week’s 3-part series we’re going to cover myths about certain foods, diets and weight loss tactics.

By the time we’re done you’ll have the knowledge you need to keep yourself from falling victim to industry myths.

So, why do some diet and weight loss myths stick around?

Myths are exciting!

A balanced diet and regular exercise are the best course for fighting diseases and staying healthy and that just isn’t as interesting to people as criminalizing carbs or gluten.

So let’s start covering some of these myths and debunk them once and for all.

FOODS THAT MAKE YOU FAT

Let’s get one things straight here. Anything (and I mean ANYTHING) will make you pack on the lbs. if you eat too much of it.

But perhaps the biggest myth of all is that carbohydrates make you fat.

The truth? There’s nothing inherently fattening about carbohydrates. No matter what the latest fad diet teaches, we NEED carbs. It’s eating too many carbs, period, that makes you fat.

There’s no question that sugary and refined-carbohydrate-rich foods, such as white bread, pasta and doughnuts, don’t compare to whole grains, beans, fruits and vegetables. When you’re eating refined foods you’re missing out on your body’s main source of nutrition (micros and macros) as well as vital fiber. But at the same time, when you cut out healthy carbs you eliminate a main source of fuel.

You. Need. Carbs.

Now on to the next…

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. Fat does not make you fat.

So, why do so many people believe that fat is the enemy? This myth was created by saturated fat.

Several years ago, a study was published showing that there were more cases of heart disease in countries where people ate higher amounts of saturated fat, and after that people started to demonize fat altogether.

Here’s the problem. Just because the studies showed that fat intake and heart disease were higher among the same population doesn’t mean the heart disease was caused by fat consumption.

But these studies sidetracked us into believing that fat causes heart disease. And the fat free craze began!

Now we’ve learned that sugar is the true culprit, not fat. And we’ve also learned that good fats are VITAL to our health.

Ok, so you now know the truth about carbs and fat. Contrary to diet and weigh loss myths, good carbs and fats are a must.

But there’s one more thing I want to debunk while we’re on the subject of myths.

One word… gluten.

For people who are sensitive to it, gluten should be avoided. But despite the claims that it is the sole culprit of weight gain, the same is true for gluten-containing foods as it is for anything else. Eat too much and you WILL gain weight. The bottom line is that gluten itself can’t be held accountable for extra lbs.

In fact, the most common gluten-free packaged products are full of starch and sugar, making them less healthy than good old gluten packed foods.

Instead of "villainizing" one thing in the diet, we need to look at the quality of our food and total caloric content.

First Things First...

I think that to start off with, my first post should be something about PERSISTENCE and CONSISTENCY. I think that is the biggest struggle of all. We want instant gratification whe, in all reality, the instant gratification is what got us un-well in the first place. So here it is....the story of the Bamboo Tree.

Everything doesn’t happen when we want it to happen. It doesn’t happen quickly. In the Far East they have something called the Chinese Bamboo tree. Every day, for five years, the tree has to be watered, fertilized and nurtured before it breaks the ground’s surface. If the watering and fertilizing process stops, the tree will die in the ground. Now, once it breaks through in that 5th year, then in 6 weeks the tree will grow 90 feet tall!
Now the question is, does it grow 90 feet in 6 weeks, or does it grow 90 feet in 5 years? The answer is obvious….it takes 5 years. That’s how long it took to grow it, to build that foundation, to nurture it, to water it, to build a reputation, to learn about other people, cultures, yourself, to learn the system, to learn new habits, to break down old habits that caused growth to cease and desist. That is why you must have patience and engage in consistent action.

As it relates to health and wellness, you are the bamboo tree. To explain the analogy further, when you begin to change the way you approach your health and determine your own value, your own self-worth, you change bad habits. You nurture yourself with the right things, consistently. Now, in the beginning, you may get on the scale and not see any results. At least, not right away. Like the bamboo seed, there is a lot going on below the surface, inside of you, that is not visible or tangible. But there is change. The things you do now, whether they are small or large changes, are assisting your body, your mind, your whole being with the fuel, the knowledge necessary to break through the surface to realize your potential. Like the bamboo tree, you push through the thick, crusted layers of the soil, realizing the resistance is softened by the water, the nurturing, and the consistency of doing the same thing every day. Remaining consistent allows for the seed to reach the surface and take off skyward; unhindered by the pains of Earth neglected. There is no resistance to what it can be. There is no resistance to what you can be either.

Be patient and engage in consistent action. It will not take five years for you to realize your life begins with some self-nurturing. What are you waiting for? Time is going to pass whether you are ready or not. Don’t wait for the perfect time to begin this change. It won’t come, and time will pass you by. You will watch others realize their own potential. Your life, your choices, your rewards and your consequences.