Am I at my Set-Point Weight?

During my weight gaining journey, I was convinced (absolutely CERTAIN) that I would not be able to keep eating the amounts I was eating. I was convinced that, once I reached my goal weight, I'd have to go back to RESTRICTING my intake, in order to maintain my weight and not keep gaining and gaining forever. Turns out I never had to!

Once you reach your set point weight, you can listen to your hunger cues and your body WILL take care of everything else. It's clever like that. It defends the weight range in which it likes to stay, and it will crank up your metabolism and reduce your hunger cues if you go overboard, and slow down your metabolism and increase your hunger cues if you restrict. As a result,

1. your set point weight is not prone to the massive fluctuations that characterise the recovery journey itself, and
2. you never have to restrict again!

In today's YouTube upload, I answer ALL the questions you sent me. I talk about set-point weight, whether I have reached a healthy weight and am 'recovered', bad habits, online recovery coaches, and more!

Anyway, just because you are 'doing better' and may have gained weight (and well-meaning people may comment on this) does not mean 

• you are no longer struggling 
• your struggles are no longer valid 
• you are now weight-restored 
• you are cured

All too often, those who gain weight and play the part of recovery fall between the gaps, and support gets dropped because the issue appears 'less pressing.' At this time, it's too easy to tell yourself you're 'recovered enough' and are at a 'decent enough' weight. But that's not your set-point. That's not full recovery.

I remember gaining weight and being told "you must be doing well now" when really I was far from it! Alongside this external feedback came the thoughts: if I had gained weight and 'should' be doing better, why was I still struggling? Was I a fraud -- just an attention-seeker? The eating disorder can convince you of a lot of things! 

It's great to acknowledge the progress you have made and are making, but you do need to move on. If there are more steps to be taken, take them. Reach out for help if you still need it. Keep going and don't settle for half-way there.

So how will you really know you've reached your set-point weight?

You’ll know you’ve reached your target weight when

🙃 you can eat freely, no restriction, without gaining weight (and without losing weight). Your body will be in its happy place

🙃 your metabolism works optimally and your hunger cues have re-regulated. You can listen to your intuition again!

🙃 food is just food. It holds no moral value

🙃 your hormones have rebalanced, and some of the damage you may have done to your body will have reversed

🙃 you not only refuse to listen to the ED voice, but this voice has completely disappeared! (This may take the longest time to reach, but I promise it does happen eventually!)

Have you noticed any of these signs for yourself? 👇🏼👇🏼 If you’re not there yet, take this as a sign to keep going! And, if you are still counting calories and cutting snacks and feeling guilty, start by challenging these behaviours and building new habits! Don’t get stuck in quasi-recovery.