Photo: Off the beaten path looking at Baker Lake, Klondike Glacier, and Klondike Peak on our way to climb Gannett Peak and a new body set weight. Wyoming, July 2024. Credit Paul Gardner.
We walked in circles under grey skies. The air was bitter cold. Thanks to an early season snow storm, two foot high banks of snow lined the track. We came from different walks of life, but we all wore forest green. A number of years ago, I spent eight months as a guest of the Federal government at the Duluth Federal Prison Camp. Among the many lessons I learned during my stay was the remarkable weight loss experienced by my peers: white males age 55 to 75. Weight declines of 20 to 30 pounds were common.
In past blogs I have written about body set weight. Read Body Set Weight: Why It’s So Hard To Lose Weight. In this article I write about what I have learned about how to change your body set weight to a healthy and sustainable level.
The body set weight theory states our bodies have a normal weight wired into our brain. This weight is determined by genetics, psychological and environmental factors. The body has a regulatory system that resists changes to body set weight. Our bodies have intricate hormonal systems that guide body fat regulation. Fat stores are regulated by hormones that regulate growth, blood sugar, hunger and satiety. Unfortunately, our modern lifestyle throws this elegant system out of whack. If we chronically subject our bodies to eating high calorie processed foods and chronic stress, we drive our body set weight higher.
The men walking the track at Duluth had a common history. Federal prosecutors move at glacial speed. They leave no stone untouched including friends and family. Your reputation is shredded, your life turned upside down. From the time you are a target of investigation to conviction and incarceration can take 5 to 7 years. The stress is over-the-top. Weight gains of among these men were 20 to 50 pounds.
This changes when you enter camp. Once you settle down, life is safe, repetitive and relatively stress-free. The food sucks. You eat less, exercise more. The weight melts off. I don’t recommend going to prison to lose weight. However, losing a significant amount of weight takes a radical change in lifestyle.
One of my clients had a drinking problem and a stressful job. He quit drinking and got his life under control. After several years of no weight loss, he radically changed his diet: no sugar or processed food and went with a Mediterranean/Paleo diet. The changes worked. He lost over 30 pounds and is now training to get stronger and aerobically fitter.
In other articles I have written about how to train your body to preferentially burn fat Fat for Fuel and how to use interval training to slim down and improve your overall fitness Gaining Fitness, Losing Weight and Slowing Aging with Interval Training. The key to losing weight is to change your body set weight. Everyone is different and there is no one formula that fits all.
For years I tried to lose weight. When I was 18, I weighed 185 pounds. My low point came after climbing Denali at age 22— 162 pounds. For the next forty years my body set weight sat at 180 plus or minus 2 pounds. Five years ago at age 65, I started focusing on interval training combined with intermittent fasting (read Fasting: Critical for Weight Loss). It worked. I brought my body set weight down to 176. This year I addressed my sugar addiction and brought my set weight down to 170. My trip to Wyoming this summer (read Resilience: Learned from Adversity and There and Back Again: Gannett Peak, WY Fifty Year Anniversary Climb) kicked my weight-loss into over-drive. Two weeks of hard exertion combined with a restricted calorie diet did the trick. Six weeks after my trip I have maintained my training regimen and disciplined diet. I weigh 161— my new set weight. My body feels great at this weight.
I have helped a number of clients: male, female age 40 to 70 resetting their body weight to a healthy and sustainable level. If I can help you, please reach out to me at steve.crookedthumb@gmail.com. Thank you for reading.
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