Set Point Theories

According to Scott Powers and Edward Howley in the Sixth Edition of Exercise Physiology, New York: McGraw Hill, 2007, pages 387-388, there are two set point theories of why a person tends to go back to a certain weight. One is the physiological model, in which the hypothalamus has a certain weight in mind for the individual and increases signals to eat when one starts to drift below that weight. Another is the cognitive set point theory. According to this theory, a person has an ideal body weight in mind. This ideal body weight is tied to one's perceptions about one's appearance, how one's clothing fits, the proper size of clothing, how physically active one is being, and the effect of weight on one's health. All of this plays into one's behavior regarding eating and exercise. I feel that the cognitive set point theory has a lot to do with people who are stuck in weight maintenance. People who are very weight conscious are subject to their minds operating constantly toward weight reduction behaviors. The problem is that, as I said, life intervenes, and they become distracted from this attention to weight loss behaviors. Also, some of them have competing behaviors which interfere with the constant attention to weight loss. In addition, this society does not make it easy to engage in weight loss behaviors. Therefore, even though their mind is constantly at work to engage in weight loss behaviors, the interference involved cancels their efforts out. This is why they don't continue to gain and become more and more obese. However, it is also why they can't reduce and maintain the ideal body weight in their mind.