Ever since The F*ck It Diet book came out, I've been paying attention to the most commonly asked questions, and trying to address them. And one of the biggest question themes is about weight set point.
And the first thing I want to always point out, is that it's a weight set range. Whenever anyone refers to weight set point, the point is actually a weight range where your body feels safest.
This is not exactly a newbie question, this is usually a question people ask after they've read the book and start worrying about what this process is going to be like for them, which is understandable. There is usually a thought process that goes something like:
"Ok, so you're telling me that my bingeing and food addiction is not actually a food addiction, but more of biological food fixation thanks to food insecurity, past attempts at dieting, diet mentality, food guilt, and the threat of future diets? Ok. And you're telling me that when I get out of the yo-yo, stop restricting, start truly trusting and feeding my body, that my appetite will normalize? OK... And you're telling me that my body has a weight set point where it wants to be, and will settle there if I can just trust my appetite??"
Well, again, it's a weight range, not a static point.
And with the disclaimer that The F*ck It Diet book will do a way better job of explaining the nuances of this process beyond the 95-word inner monologue synopsis I wrote above, let's get to the common questions about weight set range:
HOW MUCH OF A RANGE IS MY WEIGHT SET RANGE?
HOW LONG IS IT GOING TO TAKE TO STABILIZE IN MY WEIGHT SET RANGE?!?!
HOW WILL I KNOW THAT I'VE SETTLED IN MY WEIGHT SET RANGE????
In a way, I regret all of the focus I have to put on normalizing in a weight set range because it can become, in it's own way, a diet-like mentality. It puts the focus on weight. It makes a promise about weight that people focus on in a way that can undermine healing.
I tend to prefer focusing on how allowing food, and eating more food, can calm down fixation on food, compulsive eating, binge eating, feelings of food addiction, and even emotional eating.
At the same time, I also understand the focus on weight. I understand that's an essential piece of the puzzle. And if I said: Just eat a lot, gain lots of weight, fuck weight stabilization and frankly: fuck everything and everyone, most people would say: Eh, No thanks. Sounds like anarchy. Though, it should be said that I think that anarchy would be healing in its own right, it's still not really the full picture. Because... what the fuck is going on with our weight? Why do we struggle with weight? Why do we seem to gain weight at the drop of a hat, while other people don't? How does weight work? Of COURSE WE WANT TO KNOW THE ANSWER TO THESE QUESTIONS! And without some sort of assurance that you will have a more stable experience with your eating and weight, I'm not sure many people would take the leap.
And, contrary to what The F*ck It Diet's biggest detractors think, I'm not encouraging people to gorge themselves into oblivion just for the freaking sake of it, even though, again, I support it if that's what your soul is calling you towards. Because after being forced to obsess over something as soul sucking as the size of your body for years, fuck everyone, really. But, the truth is, that we are obsessed with food, act out of control with food, and feel addicted to food because of our fear of food and weight. The biggest predictor for future weight gain, weight cycling, and binge eating, is dieting and intentional weight loss. So if what you want is to feel calmer around food,
