Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Summary
On episode 363 of 40+ Fitness, Coach Allan sits down with Jonathan Bailor, New York Times bestselling author of The Calorie Myth and author of The Set Point Diet, the 21 day program to permanently change what your body wants to weigh.
Jonathan’s central argument is that “calories in, calories out” isn’t wrong so much as incomplete. Your body has a weight set point, as real and provable as your blood pressure or blood sugar set point, and it automatically adjusts how many calories it burns based on what and how much you eat. Chasing a lower number by eating less and moving more without addressing that set point is why so many people plateau despite doing everything they were told.
The conversation works through the three biological drivers of the set point (brain, gut, and hormones), his SANE approach to food, the SANE plate, and how mindset tools like process goals, implementation intentions, and gratitude support long term change.
Links
- https://sanesolution.com
Key Takeaways
- Body weight has a set point just like blood pressure and blood sugar. Obesity, in Jonathan’s framing, is what happens when the body’s automatic regulation of weight breaks down, the same way hypertension is a breakdown in blood pressure regulation and diabetes is a breakdown in blood sugar regulation.
- Three hidden factors determine your set point: inflammation in the brain (specifically the hypothalamus), imbalance in the gut microbiota, and hormonal dysregulation. Calorie counting alone addresses none of these.
- “Calories out” isn’t fixed. The body automatically burns more calories when overfed and fewer when underfed, and conserves energy after a hard workout, which is why people often feel wiped out for the rest of the day after intense exercise.
- Brain inflammation disrupts appetite signals. The hypothalamus runs life sustaining functions automatically, without conscious control. Substances like MSG can inflame it, while whole food omega-3 fats can help reverse that inflammation.
- About 90 percent of the cells in and on your body aren’t human cells. Certain gut bacteria are more common in people who struggle with their weight, and those microbes can drive cravings for sugary and starchy foods independent of conscious choice.
- Whole food fats beat isolated oils. Olives and coconut carry more water, fiber, and protein than olive oil or coconut oil extracted from them, making the whole food the more therapeutic choice for lowering the set point.
- The SANE plate: half non-starchy vegetables, about a third nutrient-dense protein, and the rest low fructose fruit and whole food fats, which Jonathan suggests treating as dessert.
- Swap big “results goals” for small “process goals.” A goal like losing 100 pounds is largely out of your direct control and makes you feel like a failure every day you haven’t reached it. A process goal, like blending a sane smoothie today, is something you fully control and can stack daily. Implementation intentions (“if it is the morning and I am hungry, then I will make a smoothie”) extend that by planning your response to high stress moments before they happen.
- Jonathan’s three strategies to get and stay well: drink a sane green smoothie every day, sleep at least seven hours and build your life around protecting that sleep, and love and contribute as deeply as possible.
“At the end of the day, your body does what hormones tell it to do, period.”
Jonathan Bailor
Another Episode You May Enjoy
Episode 364 – Erin Boardman Wathen – Why can’t I stick to my diet
