Okay it's nap time

Okay so the littlest one is now asleep I can try to put a little more mental energy to this post. I can't find the original blog I was talking about, but this is pretty much the idea. Basically what it says is that our bodies have a predetermined weight, kind of like our height or eye color. Our bodies are set to be some particular weight. "When you go below your body's natural set point, your metabolism will react and start to slow down to try and conserve energy. Your body will start to sense it's in a state of semi-starvation and will try to use the few calories it receives more effectively." Likewise it also says how hard it can be to go ABOVE your set point. Your metabolism speeds up, your body temp rises to burn more calories.

Anyway I just find this theory really interesting. It also says the only way to know what your body's set weight is, is by eating healthy and moderately exercising. It can take a year of doing this before your metabolism can "fix" itself from damage due to overeating or dieting, and to settle into your healthy weight.

I personally believe this theory. It makes sense to me, and I tend to believe things that make sense. I think of people I know who just can't gain weight no matter how hard they try. Drinking milkshakes before bed, drinking 500calorie protein shakes, just desperate to put on a few pounds. While others are doing the opposite to lose weight. You see it all the time. However, do I believe this means my set weight is over 200lbs? No way. I'm just trying to say that I don't think it's 160lbs either. I'm not sure what it is. And I don't want to focus so much on that number. I'd rather focus on eating healthy, quitting all the bad habits I've developed over the years, and exercising. I believe if I can do all these things I will reach my set weight. And maintaining your set weight shouldn't be as much of a struggle because it's where your body wants to be.

I can't find the exact study I read earlier. It studied 50 people. Half they restricted their diets to 500 calories a day, and had them exercise. The other half ate up to 10,000 calories a day, and limited their physical activity. They did lose and gain weight respectively, but not at the rate you would expect. And all went back to their original weight soon after the study ended.

I realize there are holes in this theory. I also believe you can change your body's set point. It all just takes work. Weight loss is not rocket science. Burn more calories than you consume. Easier said than done though, right?

I'd love to hear your thoughts on this. I'll post some links

http://medweb.mit.edu/pdf/set_point_theory.pdf

http://books.google.com/books?id=UriYBuiH_FkC&pg=PA658&lpg=PA658&dq=study+of+weight+loss+set+point&source=bl&ots=nNn2X6nrmj&sig=v4abKCr_8yHy-w6nM8L2obhO7BI&hl=en&ei=5Ky9TOzQGoOB8gaS66X9Bg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CBkQ6AEwADgK#v=onepage&q=study%20of%20weight%20loss%20set%20point&f=false

And sorry if this seems like I'm making excuses. I'm so not. I just stumbled across this and found it really interesting. And it confirmed some things I had already thought about. I still plan on continuing what I'm doing, full steam ahead! But I'm trying to do it for reasons other than weight loss. I Jazzercise because it's so fun. And an escape for me. And it doesn't hurt that I burn 600 calories in an hour. I'm trying to eat healthy food because it makes me feel good. I like the way I feel after eating a nice fresh green salad with chopped grilled chicken way better than the way I feel after eating 2 fried chicken legs. So that's what I'm trying to focus on. And cutting out all the binging, and picking, and other fat habits, because they're just no fun.

Anyway I have way more thoughts on the subject that I'll post later, but this is getting long!