Just like a house has a thermostat, the body has a
lipostat. This is the body’s fat-regulating system. Just like a house thermostat adjusts heating/cooling to set the temperature, the lipostat adjusts conscious and unconscious behaviour to regulate fat gain/loss (
Set Point Theory).
Sounds intuitive, but here’s where it gets even more complicated. We all understand that eating 1000 excess calories (regularly) will result in some weight gain (
calories in, calories out).
But what you eat can actually change the set point of your lipostat.
In effect, eating an excess of highly palatable foods (like chocolate) hits your body with a double whammy. They’re calorie-dense, which in itself can cause weight gain, but on top of that, they turn up your lipostat — consciously/unconsciously causing you to gain weight.