The human body is the most amazing thing ever created.  We are yet to fully unlock the full power of our brains and are still discovering things about the major systems of our body including the endocrine system, the nervous system and the immune system.

The human body is incredibly resistant to change.

It stems back to early man where we are geared to resist any major changes in our body composition in either direction.  This is called homeostasis and is part of our survival instinct.

When this comes to our weight loss your body develops what we call a “body set weight” and a set point for body fat. Some scientists argue that this may even be “pre-programmed” in our DNA, but I do not personally prescribe to that theory. My own personal experience of losing more than 100lbs and keeping it off for many years tells me it can be reset.

Based on my research I draw the conclusion that the body set weight is the last known state that the body became accustomed to for a period of time. Homeostasis will then lead the body to resisting any dramatic changes to that weight and body fat percentage.

The author of “Why diets make us fat”, Sandra Aamodt PhD has posed that going on a diet is actually one of the best ways to actually gain weight over time for a number of different factors

“Whenever your weight changes too much, your brain will intervene to push it back to what it thinks is the correct weight for you.” Sandra Aamodt PhD

Your body will do everything in its incredible powers to resist changes to that state and return the body to its last know body set weight.

Stephen Guyunet PhD, author of “The Hungry Brain” often draws an analogy to the thermostat in your house. When the temperature in your house rises about the set temperature the thermostat will send signals for the air conditioning to kick in and cool the place back down. When the temperature drops below the set point then the heater will be asked to do its job and raise the temperature back up.

In the human body this is controlled by the hypothalamus, a very small part of the brain the size of an almond is responsible for body set weight (amongst many other things) and will use multiple controls to attempt to return to body set weight if large deviations are detected.

Variety of exercise 

Regardless of your exercise goals, it is advisable to have some variety in your routines. In the gym this could mean varying exercises or having a progressive overload of weight and/or repetitions. If you are a runner, mix it up between things like hill sprinting; strides; interval training; in addition to longer runs. Build in combinations of resistance training and cardio training. I am a big fan of High Intensity Interval Training sessions that involve getting the heart rate up AND using some form of resistance work. However, even then make sure you mix it up and don’t gravitate back to the same exercises and routines every time.

Some things to remember

The body is resistant to change and will always try to return you to your body set weight

Severe calorie restriction will cause your body to use all its powers to reverse any short term weight loss you may have achieve and your slowed metabolism will make it even harder to lose weight in the future

Rather than restricting calories look at replacement and displacement as ways to improve the quality of the food you are consuming

Look for a balanced diet of nutrient rich foods that are low GI and higher in fibre

Mix up your exercise routines to avoid doing the same thing over and over again.