Hi there. This is Monica Reinagle, the nutrition diva here with your quick and dirty tips for eating well and feeling fabulous.

Today's show was suggested by Cindy.

Hi, my name is Cindy.

I'm from River Falls, Wisconsin.

And I've been listening for several years.

I don't even know how many years.

And my question is, I want to know if you

where you come in on the set point versus the settling point for weight that is

are we destined to stay just around one weight or is it possible for that to move?

I know this is a little bit of a debate within the literature but I don't understand it

super well and so I'm hoping someone who knows that literature better than me can answer it.

Thanks so much. The idea of the body weight set point is that our bodies are

programmed to be a certain weight or to store a certain amount of fat and that the body will fight back against any

attempts to change this predetermined weight.

And there is some evidence to support this idea. When we significantly restrict our calorie intake

for more than a few days, say by going on a crash diet, our metabolism starts to

slow down and we burn fewer calories and that makes it harder to

lose weight. Likewise if we significantly and suddenly increase our activity

levels, say by starting a new exercise program, our bodies compensate by burning fewer calories.

There have been experiments where lab rats were fed diets that caused them to either lose

or gain a bunch of weight.

And as soon as the experiment was over,

...