Homeostasis is the tendency towards a relatively stable equilibrium, or balance between interdependent elements, especially as maintained by physiological processes. Our bodies’ love and can in fact only thrive when in state of a balance. For example, your body temperature must be maintained at or around 98.6°F (37°C). If this temperature should rise too high or go too low, you will die. To prevent this, when you get too hot your body will automatically begin to sweat in an attempt to cool you down. Should you get too cold your skin will shiver, in an attempt to warm you back up. This is homeostasis in action. Our body has similar homeostatic mechanisms and chemical processes in place for things like blood pressure, or blood pH, blood sugar, and just about every other biochemical process that occurs.

Your body also loves habits. The Set Point Theory states that the body has a set point (or weight), which it thinks is your ‘normal’ (or stable equilibrium). If you spend enough time within a particular weight range, your body learns that this is the appropriate weight for you to be at. As such, your brain and body will try to maintain this weight even if it’s not ideal or healthy for you. Like getting too cold causes your skin to automatically shiver, losing weight beyond what your body thinks is normal will cause the mind and body to do whatever it can to conserve energy and reverse the weight loss. This leads to the body being able to maintain the same weight while consuming fewer calories, which can make losing weight extremely difficult. If we consume calories at too large a deficit, the body may react by slowing down the basal metabolic rate, increasing food cravings, and making urges to eat more calorie-dense (read junk) food much stronger.

These completely natural biological processes can lead a dieter to weight gain and even deadly binging habits. This is why so many people gain back weight and then some, after being on and then falling off a strict calorie deficit diet. Long-term, steady, slow dietary changes are not only more conductive of successful results, but are necessary for healthy eating habits. Adding regular exercise and incorporating small changes, that give body and mind the time to adapt to them is the key to success. This may result in slower fat loss which can be demotivating for some, but this method is safer and creates lasting change and greater potential for success. This method also ensures that weight loss is actually fat loss, and not water weight loss as typically occurs on most quick weight loss plans.

Eating at a small deficit is sometimes necessary for fat loss, but if that deficit is too high (and/or comes from all the wrong macronutrients) it can have catastrophic long-term results.