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Last Thursday, we dicussed the matter of set point in different, everyday examples. I have heard of body weight having a set point in the past, but I never understood it. Even now, I'm still a little confused by it. If we eat less or exercise more, our weight will definitely go down. In contrast, I doubt eating a significant amount of bad food choices would allow you to remain at your set point. So is a set point the tendency for a weight to hover near that certain number? Maybe it is easier to adjust the body weight towards the set point, rather than away from it? Because it is certainly not a distinct number that we are tied to. Besides pregnancy, what else adjusts this set point? Do we have any control over adjusting it? I have heard the term 'set point' used only when referring to weight, but I had not heard it used in other examples discussed in class, such as shivering with a fever. This occurs because the body is trying to raise the temperature to the newly established set point. Did a virus or bacteria cause this set point adjustment? How do set points change? Furthermore, how are set points determined? What makes one person have a higher set point for weight than another? I'm assuming it's genetic, but what specifically? How does something that's genetic change due to other influences, such as pregnancy? This idea of not having control over something as close to you as your own weight is intimidating, and not greatly believed in our society full of advertisments of lowering your body weight.