Comfort Weight?

[Yoly1001]

I recently read someone mention comfort weight in a post. This is the first time I have ever heard of it, and I have been here 8 months.

Is this really true or just a myth? Has this happened to any of you?

The reason I ask, is because I have been at my current weight for about 3 to 4 weeks and I am doing everything right, much better then when I first started and was losing like mad. I still have a long way to go so I am wondering if it is the comfort weight, or if I just need to shake things up again.

I do strenuous excercise 4 days/week, I drink at least 100 oz. of water a day, I take all my supplements, I eat about 25 - 30 carbs on extended induction.

Just wondering if comfort weight could be an explanation of why it seems so hard to lose right now. I remember being this size for a long time when I was gaining weight, I really hope I don't have to be this size that long.

[Bugaboo]

Re: Comfort Weight?

Someone like 2big could probably answer this better but from what I've heard our bodies have a "memory" of certain weights we were once at and it gets comfy saying "Oh yeah...I remember this...I remember being comfy here..." It's irritating but if your patient it will eventually say "Oh...o.k...let's make some chages." I was stuck at 153 for what seemed like forever but I just waited it out. I was looking at my online medical records and that's the weight I was at for a long time after I had kids. Sometimes it breezes right through previous weights and sometimes it takes it sweet time. Just be patient...as long as you're doing everything right it will be just fine. Measuring is extremely important during these times (well...all the time...but you know what I mean) because the number on the scale might stay the same while you're losing inches. The closer you are to your goal the more likely this is to happen. Patinece grasshopper...patience! Lol!

[island reina]

Re: Comfort Weight?

Yeah, i think it's what you called a Set point, or set weight. A weight that your body usually goes back to after dieting...lol i learned about something like that in gym class

[Brook]

Re: Comfort Weight?

I've encountered 3 set points as I've lost weight, and all 3 times it was a serious pain to get past them.

For me, counting carbs at those points wasn't enough - I had to start watching calorie intake too. I also figured out that during those times I was eating enough calories to nullify a lot of the exercise I was doing. Sure, I was building muscle, but I wasn't losing fat - and that just wasn't acceptable.

It's not a myth. Our bodies have weights they're very comfy at, and some of us have bodies that are more comfy than others. LOL

~Brook

[FightingTheFight]

Re: Comfort Weight?

It's not a myth. Our bodies have weights they're very comfy at, and some of us have bodies that are more comfy than others. LOL

LMBO!

Now what I want to know is how do you know your set points? In other words, how long do you have to be at a wieght before it becomes a set.

[Brook]

Re: Comfort Weight?

For me they were weights that I stayed at very easily - without effort- on my way UP. I'll be darned if those weren't the same weights I sat at forever on my way back down.

Gahhh.

I could use a little less comfy bod. LOL!
~Brook

[Perry]

Re: Comfort Weight?

You can easily figure that out, Fighting. Just look back in your life. I was 180 throughout college, 190 for the next 15 years and then 200 for 5 more (yea, I'm old). You can pretty much figure that if you're stalled at a particular weight - it is a 'comfy' weight.

Guess which weight was the hardest to break for me? After busting the 190 mark it was amazing how quickly I got to 180. Couldn't break that barrier without moving out of the house, though! (wife is a carb machine and doesn't gain a pound) so I settled on 183. Why 183? When you eventually hit goal your weight will naturally bounce up a bit due to the additional water you retain.

[ipopup]

Re: Comfort Weight?

Food for thought More on weight Set-Point.

http://www.obgyn.net/newsheadlines/womens_health-Endocrinology-20040726-23.asp

Hormone wants to keep body at weight set-point

Endocrinology
July 26, 2004



2004 JUL 26 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Studies of a stomach hormone called ghrelin in normal-weight women indicate that the hormone may play a part in re-establishing a body weight set-point after dieting and exercise.

"Most studies have analyzed physical levels of ghrelin in obese or anorexic subjects," says Heather J. Leidy, who recently received her PhD in physiology at Pennsylvania State University. "We looked at ghrelin in healthy, normal weight women. We are trying to see how the body maintains weight and maintains its energy balance."

Prior research showed that ghrelin levels rise when fasting and fall when the subject is fed. The levels rise 60 to 30 minutes before a normal meal time and 30 to 60 minutes after a meal, the level drops. According to Leidy, studies in human and rodents have found that injections of ghrelin significantly increase both hunger and food intake.

The researchers, led by Nancy I. Williams, associate professor of kinesiology at Penn State, wanted to determine if ghrelin release was associated with body weight, physical exercise, reduced food intake, or an overall energy deficit.

"Changes in ghrelin appear to be most sensitive to changes in body weight created by an overall energy deficit, independent of specific effects of reduced food intake or physical exercise," the researchers reported in a recent issue of the journal Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism.

The researchers looked at healthy women without eating disorders, between the ages of 18 and 30, weighing between 105 and 160 pounds, with 15% to 30% body fat. The women were non-smokers, not taking hormonal contraceptives, and had no significant weight loss or gain in the past year. The study was part of a larger one designed to assess changes in reproductive function in response to controlled feeding and exercise.

Participants had to agree to eat only food provided by the Penn State General Clinical Research Center at University Park and to eat two of their three meals at the facility.

In the initial study, researchers studied all participants for about a month to establish a baseline; the subjects followed the controlled diet and exercise plans for 3 months. Researchers randomly assigned women to four groups: a control group that did no exercise and was given enough calories to maintain weight; a group that exercised but given enough calories to maintain weight; and two groups that exercised but were given fewer calories than required to maintain weight. One energy deficit group had a moderate energy deficit and the other had a high-energy deficit.

For the ghrelin study, the four groups were compressed to three: the control group, the weight-stable exerciser group, and the weight-loss exerciser group. Because the participants' diets were closely controlled, those who exhibited a weight loss clearly experienced an energy deficit caused by exercise.

The researchers measured body fat, fat mass, and fat-free mass before the study, at the study midpoint, and after the study. They also measured resting metabolic rate and maximal aerobic capacity. Blood samples to measure ghrelin level were collected from 22 subjects and midpoint measurements taken on 17 subjects.

"The disruption of body weight regulation seen in obesity makes one examine physiological factors in short- and long-term energy balance," says Leidy. "This is the first study to show that weight loss resulting from a diet and exercise intervention leads to an increase in circulating ghrelin in normal weight, healthy young women. We found that ghrelin was significantly elevated with weight loss in exercising subjects."

The researchers found that changes in ghrelin came after changes in body weight, composition, and resting metabolic rate. Previous research showed that ghrelin levels are low in obese subjects and high in anorexic subjects; however, in the study's normal women, no correlation between baseline ghrelin and body weight, body mass index, percent body fat, fat mass, or fat-free mass was found.

The researchers state that ghrelin levels reflect energy status and body composition only in subjects who have experienced significant alterations in energy status rather than the relatively stable energy and body composition status of the study's subjects.

"The stimulatory effect on food intake attributed to ghrelin suggests a potential role for ghrelin in returning the body to a prior set-point for body weight after weight loss," the Penn State researchers report. "The absence of changes in ghrelin in our weight-stable group demonstrates that exercise training itself has little impact on at least one powerful modulator of food intake."

"The increase in ghrelin in the weight-loss group was in response to the overall energy deficit created by the combination of reduced food intake and exercise, and not due to the endocrine and/or metabolic effects of physical exercise itself," says Leidy.

The U.S. National Institutes of Health supported this research. This article was prepared by Obesity & Diabetes Week editors from staff and other reports. Copyright 2004, Obesity & Diabetes Week via NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net. ©Copyright 2004, Women's Health Weekly

[Yoly1001]

Re: Comfort Weight?

ipopup thanks. That was great information. Do you know if there is anything you can take to deal with the overproduction of this hormone. I guess I should ask my doctor, maybe he'll know something. Thanks again.

Everyone thanks for the responses, it's nice to know that I'm not the only one going through this.

After thinking about this I have decided that that is probably what is going on with me at the moment. I remember being a size 16 forever, and that is where I am right now. I feel like I am doing everything right and hopefully I will be able to come out on the other side of this soon. Thanks for all the information and tips.

Brook - I wanted to ask you, what did you do to come out of your comfy weight. I get about 25 - 30 carbs/day, I eat about 1800 calories or under/day (which is close to my BMR), I take all of my supplements, and I burn about 400 calories during excercise about 4 times/week. I also drink at least 100 oz. of water a day. Is there anything that I may have missed? Just wanted to ask you because I feel like you are such an inspiration to me. We were about the same size at start and you look amazing now, I can't even picture myself looking like you, but wouldn't it be lovely. So what do you think, anything I have overlooked?

[FightingTheFight]

Re: Comfort Weight?

Yeah perry, but remember, 15 years ago, I was only 6<img>

Now we need to learn how to fight this effect.

[ipopup]

Re: Comfort Weight?

There is a larger picture. This info comes from the Colorado State University.
Gastrointestinal Hormones: Introduction and Index

http://arbl.cvmbs.colostate.edu/hboo.../gi/index.html

Perry any info I put on the BB you can use any where you feel it will help.

BJ Webb

[ipopup]

Re: Comfort Weight?

The answer is eat smaller meals every three hours to prevent a rise in ghrelin.

See the chart here:
http://arbl.cvmbs.colostate.edu/hboo...i/ghrelin.html
Blood concentrations of ghrelin are lowest shortly after consumption of a meal, then rise during the fast just prior to the next meal. The figure to the right shows this pattern based on assays of plasma ghrelin in 10 humans during the course of a day.

Disease States
Ghrelin concentrations in blood are reduced in obese humans compared to lean control subjects, but whether this is cause or effect is not defined. Patients with anorexia nervosa have higher than normal plasma ghrelin levels, which decrease if weight gain occurs.

[Yoly1001]

Re: Comfort Weight?

Thank ipopup, you are really helpful with this. I have decided to up my workouts and I think that I am seeing progress. I lost 3/4" around my waist in 6 days, I can't weigh until the 6th of September but I feel lighter, so maybe I am breaking through this comfort spot. I hope, I hope.