The title is somewhat misleading as the book covers many other aspects of weight loss. Many of them useful, but the connection to how to get past your set point was unclear. Researchers first proposed the “fixed point” theory in 1982. They discovered that many biomechanisms in the body act as a kind of weight thermostat. If you suddenly eat a lot and start to gain weight, these mechanisms kick in to help you lose the extra weight.
Cut your calories and start a heavy exercise program, and your body will slow down to keep from losing too much weight. This explains the tendency for dieters to hit a plateau after they’ve started a weight and exercise program and lost about 10% of their pounds. After the excitement of the first month or so, suddenly stopping losing weight despite all your efforts can be immensely frustrating and explains why many dieters quit before reaching their goals.
Many experts emphasize the genetic nature of the fixed point, but while genetics is a factor, it is obviously not the only one. The reference point can and does change. Most of us gain weight gradually over the years. If the set point didn’t change, we would stay at our 21-year-old weight while eating whatever we wanted. If only. Furthermore, we know that people can continue to lose weight despite the set point. People fed starvation diets in concentration camps for a long period continue to waste away.
An important point that Dr. Blackburn makes, and one that more people looking for permanent weight gain need to understand, is that changing the set point takes about six months. Easily lose that 10% of extra pounds, he advises, then continue with your weight-loss program, but don’t expect more progress for another six months. After that, your set point has reset to your 90% weight, and then you can easily lose 10% of that. Unfortunately, at that point the book continues with a lot of advice for dieters. Much of this is good, but little is new. But he didn’t clearly draw the lines. Is it following his advice that resets the setpoint to a lower level? Or just waiting six months? Plus, it’s clearly from the calories-are-weight school. He dismisses the Zone health plan as simply a “fad diet” without bothering to address any of the medical issues Dr. Barry Sears writes about.
It doesn’t even address the glycemic index. Dieters are told to eat baby carrots even though carrots have a high glycemic index, meaning they raise insulin almost as much as table sugar. When he writes about exercise he is just as superficial. He treats all forms of exercise as a way to burn calories, although researchers have determined that the real benefit lies in how high-intensity exercise can alter your metabolism for up to forty-eight hours after exercise. And how you can increase your supply of human growth hormone and, if you’re a man, testosterone.
Those metabolic and hormonal changes are far more important to both weight loss and overall good health than the calories you burn while walking on a treadmill. Dr. Blackburn ignores them all. Instead, he advises her to move more, even if he’s just tapping his fingers to burn calories. This advice to burn more calories by acting restless and nervous seems to contradict the later sections of the book advising dieters to reduce stress.
This, and his emphasis on the importance of getting enough sleep, is welcome and helpful. You’re right that there aren’t enough diet books that emphasize the importance of reducing or coping with stress in a healthy way instead of overeating. I searched Amazon and didn’t find any other printed dots on the fit point, so it’s apparently filling a gap in the market. However, people who want long-term health, especially when they need to lose weight to achieve it, should keep the set point in mind while following the Zone diet, doing high-intensity sprints several times a week and weight training. body at other times. weekdays.
Remember that your body interprets a rapid weight loss of 10% as the beginning of a famine. Stick to eating in the Zone and exercise regularly. After six months, your body will realize that it hasn’t starved itself and will reset the set point. Then continue. Short-term diet is not healthy. Proper nutrition and exercise throughout your life is what will keep you slim and fit.
