Body weight set points: why maintaining weight loss is so difficult | Stephan Guyenet

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This clip is from episode 212 - The Neuroscience of Obesity with Stephan Guyenet, Ph.D.
In this clip, they discuss:
Whether post-obese individuals are metabolically identical to those who were never obese.
How environmental and dietary changes can modify the body’s weight set point.
The differences between weight loss through gastric bypass surgery versus diet and lifestyle changes.
And more
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[@satchm05]

Just wanted to give kudos to the guest for his humility and honesty.

[@chameleonlandlord]

Im 64 and was obese for 40 years, i have lost 50 pounds and train with free weights, without a knowledge of nutrition i will put it back on i firmly believe that is the answer. I have not had surgery or taken medication to lose the weight, i eat like my parents did in the 50s and 60s, meat and vegetables.

[@ykonratev]

Uh no you won't put it back on eating meat and vegetables what

[@realifethunder]

@@ykonratevI think they were insinuating that prior to losing the weight they weren’t eating meats and veggies.

[@lev1-uk3dy]

I was 105 kg about a year and half ago, at the age of 33 i decided to lose weight and in 5 mounts with intense exercise and eating healthy i lost 35kg. And now i weigh 70kg but with increased apetite and low energy levels. Sometimes i lose my mind and control and i start to bing eat, finishing whole jar of peanut butter but in the next day i get back to eat healthy and exercise, so this helped me to keep the weight off for about a year. If i would chronically bing eat and be sedentary again i would gained all that weight back again, i think the key is to be consistent and enjoy eating low calorie foods and working out, if u start to hate this new healthy lifestyle than you will eventually give up and lose the battle. With increased appetite and slowed metabolism you might gain even more weight. So if you don't enjoy working out and eating healthy than its doom to fail, just find a way to enjoy this and sometimes treat yourself once in a week with eating junk food so that it can be sustainable for u, and it can even boost ur energy.

[@nicktheodorou3474]

Larger deficits create larger hunger responses and it's like any learning, the body doesn't know that this large deficit isn't forever and dials up hunger when food is available to compensate. I always recommend weight loss over long periods of time in a very small calorie deficit.

[@dylanfgarrison]

I’m that guy at 195 trying to get to and stay at 155. Every time I make it to 170 things go bad.

[@SoberTea]

This is why following CICO is so important, you learn that it’s all about how many calories you’re eating regardless of set point theory. Once you get to a goal weight, you need to understand what calories your body actually requires for that weight and eat around that amount. As obese people who have lost weight it is going to be far easier to slip into our old habits and gain back the weight, but it’s not rocket science, don’t eat in a calorie surplus and you won’t gain weight.

[@jstefoni]

I love how two men didn’t think of all the obvious times in a women’s life where it’s so easy to gain weight. I’m thinking of pregnancy and menopause here.

[@realvonusaur]

Oh ok.

[@stargazerbird]

Effortlessly slim all my life until I had my son. I put on a lot of weight during pregnancy. It’s been harder to maintain my youthful weight ever since. You see it every day. Women and men of the same age with kids - women are the fattest.

[@ironmaidenfitness654]

Dr Ben Bikman is amazing at pointing this out as during pregnancy we tend to have higher insulin to be able to store energy for when we require the energy… too bad we live in a modern age where food is plentiful 🤦🏻‍♀️

[@Hansolo2048]

​@ironmaidenfitness654 Ya, the insulin stores the calories, but since insulin doesn't lower after a couple hours you get hungry. That's just how it works. That's why some people are always hungry, cuz they taught their body to always have insulin high by always snacking. That's one mechanism.

[@skiaerialist]

Having lost 50ish pounds almost 40 years ago and kept it off, I'm fascinated by this. For decades it was CONSTANT vigilance. I watched what I ate, counted calories (and fat because that was in the unfortunate fat free time), exercised constantly. My body reset when I went through a period of long distance running. I'm wondering if increasing my slow twitch, fat burning muscles did something to it because lifting heavy didn't. Now 60, I'm careful but not as religiously as I used to have to be. The food noise is just as loud. I think THAT is a key.

[@keepmoving7064]

So what is key? Long distance running to reset your metabolism? :)

[@gannonmurray889]

If you lose 40 lbs and develop new habits to maintain that weight loss, then stop maintaining those habits, you will slowly creep back up in weight. You cannot just lose weight and magically keep it off without intentional diet and exercise to maintain that, albeit it is not as hard to maintain once the weight is lost.

[@lisinbondi1240]

Honestly I think you need to look into this more. It isn’t a set point per se I lost over 40lbs over 30 years ago and kept it off by PAYING ATTENTION EVERY DAY.

[@skiaerialist]

That really is the set point theory. You have to pay attention every day but someone whose natural set point is where you are doesn't. It's not that you can't do it, it's that it's so much harder.

[@User-54631]

Didn’t he say when the change goes away the effect goes away?

[@slowcyclist4324]

I honestly think the key is being able to make delicious food that is also healthy. For example, Lots of Asian cooking can be low calorie, while also packing a ton of healthy proteins and fibre.

[@MyMlittleFriends]

Whatever I do or anyone it has to be a lifestyle.

[@mfcriz2561]

If you lost 40 lbs and after a while started gaining it back, you never looked at your blood panel. Realize it’s not just the weight you should be happy about. It’s the physiological change your body has gone thru. There is your motivation to maintain!

[@SoberTea]

If you go back to your old habits and eat in a caloric surplus and gain back all the weight, it’s not necessary that your body wanted to get back to a set point, rather, your habits and behaviors guided you back to that weight. How can you expect to maintain weight loss if you’re eating more than your current body needs?.

[@RedPilled100]

As person who maintains weight roughly at an approximate level 78-80.Being a dietician I can agree to the Body Weight Set Point theory unless yoy yo dieting is being done

[@pine5088]

I don’t think there is anything surprising that the child from a mum having lose a lot of weight from gastric bypass would be thinner. The child would have grown up in a family with “less food” and normalized a much smaller serving portion.

[@maytem2137]

Speaking for myself.... I naturally lost 160 lbs and although I am hypervigilant with my diet and exercise, I am steadily gaining 5-8 lbs per year. I have tried to lose some of it, but without extreme measures, it doesn't come off. I have about 30 lbs of fat that isn't necessary, but my body won't give it up... it's extremely disappointing how much effort goes in and still feeling like it's not enough.... I lost it naturally and some have suggested that perhaps a glp1 could help keep it off but it all is very confusing 😕

[@inaramusic]

My set point weight was 68 kilos. I moved to canada and became 100 in three years. 😮 I lost weight oast year. Now my set ooint us 90kg. 😢 How can i retyrn to my original set point if 68 kg ?

[@Boiledchickenleg]

My brothers are both naturally skinny. I just weight before college. I maintained my weight for 8 years. The last 10 years I've been obese, I'm working on losing weight, I guess I always need to be in a deficit to not be obese.

[@davidbenson5451]

This video might contain useful information. But it reminds me of times when I’ve walked into a room, into the middle of a conversation, and struggled to pick up the thread of the discussion. Youre missing the opening summary that gives structure to the conversation.

[@K4R3N]

Dont drink your calories

[@User-54631]

Smart people can always say I dont know

[@rathelmmc3194]

I don’t really buy the set point hypothesis. It seems to me that what is happening is our genetics create different eating desires. Some people just like to eat a lot and it’s no surprise that their weight increases to a point to where their TDEE equals their default consumption preference.

[@annettebroomfield1767]

It's not they like to eat a lot, appetite has a genetic driver.

[@rathelmmc3194]

@annette that’s just a different way to say the same thing I did. If you have a high appetite then you really have to watch the calorie density of the food you’re eating.

[@Grumpyoldman666]

The guy who gained the fat will still always have far greater fat cells and that will not change. They can shrink but not disappear once created

[@slowcyclist4324]

It can disappear, it just takes decades since the half life of adipose cells are that damn long.

[@Asphesteros]

All these discussions, always focused on eating. Always a subject eating like they’re moderately or highly active but are sedentary or lightly active vs one who’s less active but also eats that way. Of course someone who eats as though active but isn’t will gain fat, but they all assume that means they’re body is expecting to be fat and puzzle how to contradict that, never that their body is expecting to be active, despite the fact Humans were moderate-highly active since there’s been humans, and only became inactive exactly the same time they got fat. Weird we all miss something right in front of us. It’s as though we’d rather give up the food, than the car seat.

[@TrueHealthHub-d2k]

I like video🎉❤

[@geo525252]

Not a good message. Makes weight loss seem like an exercise on futility. It's not. It's about changing eating habits and of course what one actually eats. No more complicated than that.

[@someguyusa]

So, you're saying CICO determines total body weight? I'm shocked. It's just a question of which dietary pattern readily tends toward leaner vs fatter.

[@julietijerina8176]

Stop the obnoxious outro music. Jesus.

[@zacharysmith7872]

Bring data. I don't buy a material difference in physiology at 36 months. You haven't controlled for psychological factors at all. Even in your hypothetical, you didn't address why the post-obese individual decided to be sedentary vs. the sibling.

[@justin3606-j8l]

I didn't really understand what was being said or asserted here, must be thick

[@ATFstein]

This guy was a complete waste of time to have on the show. Someone going back to their old weight has everything to do with their lifestyle no one is going to lose 40 pounds from changing their diet and keep it off without changing their lifestyle i.e. exercise routine, and living a life that is just geared toward health. He literally ignored the most important factor. It’s like all these people shitting on Ozempic saying that you just gain all the way back well no you don’t. The only people that gain all the way back are the people who just stopped taking it cold turkey and weren’t even exercising much like anything else you don’t stop taking something cold turkey that’s never a good idea you wean off of it. That way you can deal with the gradual increase in hunger and it’s not overwhelming and then you should’ve been exercising that entire time which is the main reason you’re going to end up keeping the weight off, but they failed to mention that in all of these references online they talk about people losing muscle from Ozempic does not make you lose muscle. There is nothing about the drugs that is catabolic. The only thing that makes you lose muscle is being deficient in hypertrophic stimuli whether that be through protein synthesis from protein, consumption or protein synthesis from weightlifting.

[@stargazerbird]

lol. I really like Stephen but he must be the most boring speaker on podcasts. His total honesty is negative clickbait.

[@Kananaboo]

Epigenetics at work

[@annettebroomfield1767]

Either men recognise that women exist and address our issues like menopause and pregnancy or they explicitly say we are talking mainly about men.

[@pryme2013]

This guest didn’t know much. The main reason it’s so easy to regain weight you lost vs never had to begin with is because the body never actually loses fat cells when you lose weight. They just shrink. Those cells will always be there. It’s a lot easier to refill those cells than to build fat cells to begin with.

[@Rooster7six]

Unless you get lipo!

[@jeffweber8244]

There's everything right about a scientist saying "I don't know" when there isn't a reviewed study to cite.

[@anonona1]

Peter should've invited you then

[@anonona1]

Peter should've invited you then

[@christinahek]

Real experts don’t have all the answers and rely on scientific studies. Too many have gotten used to experts on social who get out of their academic lanes and pretend to be experts on everything.

[@moontrack4625]

E S T R O G E N buttheads

[@jamesforstify]

This guy lost all credibility after his debate with Gary Taubes. Peter should never give him the light of day.

[@StraightEdgeJunkie]

Stephan was presenting data and evidence, Gary - as is typical of him - was just telling entertaining stories. Sadly those stories work on a lot of people who can't think critically. It did get unnecessarily heated perhaps, but Stephan was right.

[@jamesforstify]

@ no. You’re wrong. You’re as wrong as anybody CAN be wrong. I’m speculating that you didn’t understand the history leading up to that or even the specific points they were trying to make. Stephan was trying to argue that Calories in, Calories out was the CAUSE of obesity. Gary was saying that’s nonsense because you’re just repeating the laws of thermodynamics which says nothing about causal phenomena. Gary is the Harvard Physics major and a science journalist. He would know something about thermodynamics. There were several times in that interview when Stephan specifically brought up something that he ABSOLUTELY knew to be false and was already addressed between the two of them. Shameful. Plus he just did the debate tactic of interrupting, speaking louder, and just being an asshole. I have less than zero respect for him. Peter should never give that asshole a platform.

[@justinmininger5973]

This isnt difficult at all, Mike Israetel at RP strength could teach you a lot. His expertise and masterclass lectures could easily debunk and replace a few of your latest guests. That being said I just finished your book and I appreciate your time and effort in these podcasts.

[@gball8466]

This is a joke, right?

[@pero98]

@@gball8466I like Dr Mike, he‘s funny and I agree with most of his takes on training and nutrition for hypertrophy. That said, he should stay in his lane. He is not an expert on many of any of the longevity stuff he talks about lately.

[@wade4839]

Bro eats cereal and Gatorade to get in shape 😅 you serious?

[@HkFinn83]

Good grief

[@satchm05]

No one knows as much as Mike THINKS he knows.