I love Gary Taubes but he scares me on one thing. page 2

[JKC]

I think there are setpoints, plural, rather than 1 setpoint for your whole adult life. I tend to have a setpoint every 7 lbs difference or so (perhaps every 5 lbs at the lower weights). It is possible, definitely, to get past them, but they do take more work to lose through. Often I have required a tweak to get past a setpoint, but not always.

[marthat]

My thoughts: I believe there are setpoints in your weight that are places that your body struggles to maintain, and that there is a "healthy" setpoint weight for everyone. When you provide ideal conditions (like eating a primal diet and moving, your body will naturally find a healthy "setpoint", which may or may not be what we consider an esthetic "ideal". Those who wish to take their body fat % or weight below that are going to have to fight the body's natural desire to remain "healthy". There is a place for effortless maintenance, and below that is harder to achieve and maintain. It depends how hard you want to fight.

When you look at healthy wild animals in nature, they are not skin over muscle with their veins sticking out, like some of the very low % BF bodies seen here. They are slim, lithe, agile, and with a smooth look to their skin that indicates a thin layer of insulating fat under the surface. In my opinion, that is the ideal.

[Ummmmya]

If I'm recalling the same passage in Gary's book, he was talking about people who have severely damaged hormonal systems that may be beyond repair. I don't think that applies to the vast majority of people, and there's no reason to believe that may apply to you, but you could certainly psych yourself out by worrying about it too much. You've already lost 40 lbs, so that's a good indication that you're not going to be one of those people who gets stuck forever. You didn't say how long you've been stalled, but stalls and plateaus are just part of the process. It doesn't necessarily mean you've reached the end of the road.

[demuralist]

My body has a few setpoints, I have broken them all-in both directions-several times, but as i am fairly new to PB I have just now hit the first of them on my way down. I could get on the scale and pretty much tell you what it says. But I am confident with good choices as I am patient and allow the healing necessary, that my body will move down. I don't believe it is in my genetic make up to be as big as I am right now, it is not optimal for survival. I believe that following very bad advice for a very long time put me here, and that following very good advice now will reverse the trend.

All that being said, I would like to add 2 things...1. you are only as attractive as you believe you are, 2. I am not personally attracted to the super buff bodies and doubt I am the only woman who feels this way. Don't get me wrong, I appreciate the beauty and work involved, but think a healthy athletic type build is more attractive. (for whatever that is worth since I am older-52- and married)

Good Luck with your journey, and in the interim-during those periods where you seem to be sitting on a plateau-focus on the non-scale victories.

[Ummmmya]

All that being said, I would like to add 2 things...1. you are only as attractive as you believe you are, 2. I am not personally attracted to the super buff bodies and doubt I am the only woman who feels this way. Don't get me wrong, I appreciate the beauty and work involved, but think a healthy athletic type build is more attractive. (for whatever that is worth since I am older-52- and married)

I'm 39 and single, and I totally agree with you. Aesthetics are just a part of attraction, people of all different body types are desired by other people, and confidence, happiness and some sort of internal substance are far more attractive than a 6-pack to me.

[Dharma_Punk]

I can't speak for everyone, but my body definitly has a set point. I'm 5'6" and that set point seems to be around 125ish. Not ripped, but enough that you can see muscle definition. I've been cover model ripped as hell before, and my body definitly didn't like it, and it required a super strict adherence to primal ontop of being a gym rat to accomplish it. Was funny, everyone always told me how healthy I was, when in reality I am pretty sure I am healthier now with a little more meat on my bones. That being said, I have also been around 140 before, and my body definitly didn't like that either, atleast in terms of how I felt, but it was plenty happy staying at that point.

[iniQuity]

Taubes would say that because his stance is mostly "carbs are evil" and if you stick continously to a low-carb approach eventually you will stall. Boost leptin (by eating carbs, sensibly) and this shouldn't be a long lasting problem. If you don't have any metabolic derangement and all that jazz.

Keep it simple: eat meat and vegetables, sprint and lift. On the days you sprint and lift eat a little more in the way of carbs and watch the fat intake a bit. On "off" days eat non-starchy vegs and meats/eggs/etc.

Should go without saying that I'm talking about starchy veg when I talk about carbs.

[Horsewoman]

Taubes would say that because his stance is mostly "carbs are evil" and if you stick continously to a low-carb approach eventually you will stall. Boost leptin (by eating carbs, sensibly) and this shouldn't be a long lasting problem. If you don't have any metabolic derangement and all that jazz.

Keep it simple: eat meat and vegetables, sprint and lift. On the days you sprint and lift eat a little more in the way of carbs and watch the fat intake a bit. On "off" days eat non-starchy vegs and meats/eggs/etc.

Should go without saying that I'm talking about starchy veg when I talk about carbs.

Can I butt in and ask what you'd do if you needed to eat as starch free as possible?

[MalPaz]

i agree with the points-in-life setpoints. growing up you hit spurts. some kids are fat until their growth spurt, and then they are lean the rest of their lives. genes play a role, and how your mom ate will play a role.

its all hormonal signals from your brain, set them correctly and you will get your own set point, tweak them, and you will tweak your set point. it is much easier for men b/c underlying health problems are not as obvious. for women they are, gaount hips, amenorrhea, bloat, etc.

[spakesneaker]

Taubes would say that because his stance is mostly "carbs are evil" and if you stick continously to a low-carb approach eventually you will stall. Boost leptin (by eating carbs, sensibly) and this shouldn't be a long lasting problem. If you don't have any metabolic derangement and all that jazz.

Would Taubes say that, though? My understanding is that Taubes thinks it's best to always be LC or VLC.

Although I totally agree that boosting leptin through carb re-feeds seems like it would be a great way to reach a new bodyfat set-point, I'm just not sure at what 'scale' (i.e. how much excess fat you have) you can start implementing them successfully.