Metabolic leverage

I’ve been wanting to study the 12 Leverage Points for intervening in systems. As it turns out the body’s metabolic system is a pretty good example, and I’m finally making some progress understanding the system of leverage points.

Leverage Points: Lowest to Highest Leverage

12: Parameters: Calories, macro tracking, weighing on a scale.
11: Buffers: Defending fat stores, and storing water.
10: Stocks-and-Flows: It’s easier to create new fat cells than destroy them.
9: Delays: Water weight delays signals of success leading to oscillations.
8: Negative Feedback Loops: As leptin drops, hunger rises to get leptin levels back to a set point.
7: Positive Feedback Loops: Poor sleep leads to fat storage which can block airways leading to poorer sleep.
6: Information Flows: Wearing a continuous glucose monitor. Eating more whole foods to trigger L-cells in the ileum to send the satiety signal.
5: Rules: Setting rules for yourself.
4: Self-Organization: Endurance training to build mitochondria. Cold exposure for conversion to brown fat.
3: System Goals: Recalibrating the body’s defended range.
2: Paradigms: Embracing a systems approach and abandoning the “willpower” paradigm.
1: Transcending Paradigms: Hold all paradigms lightly.