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Home » How to lose weight safely » Intuitive Eating to Lose Weight: Your Set Point First – Thrive Global

Im done with dieting Ive had enough. I cant go on one more diet!

Youve probably said that at one point.

You start looking for an option. Then you find intuitive eating, and it sounds interesting! No more food restriction. You follow your hunger and fullness cues instead of counting calories.

You want to try intuitive eating to lose weightbecause food freedom sounds oh so appealing and exciting after years of dieting!

More and more women are turning to intuitive eating these days. Its cool to be anti-diet,andeven cooler to be anintuitive eater.Intuitive eating has been proposed as the next big diet trend in the next decade aheadand thats a big problem!

Typically,when we refer to diet trend, we refer to ways of eating toachieveweight loss. Thats what we expect,and for most of us,thatswhat we seek. We think weneedto lose weight.Notice that the keyword hereisNEED. We want to lose weight and we dont want to diet anymore so intuitive eating seems to be the perfect option.

I want to validate those weight loss desires. Those desires to modify your body to fit the thin ideal are real and constantly encouraged in a society that is laden with weight stigma and fatphobia. It makes perfect sense that you have that desire and that you think you need to lose weight.

If you find yourself asking the question, How can I practice intuitive eating and still lose weight? then this post is for you. And so, Im writing this blog post to help you understand what intuitive eating is about, how your body maintains a certain weight through your set point, why its useless to fight against this mechanism through dieting, and what you can do instead.

You will learn:

What is Intuitive Eating?

Should you try intuitive eating to lose weight?

Your set point first

Homeostasisand happiness set point theory

Identifying and manipulating your set point

Why dieting is not the answer

How to get started with Intuitive Eating

If people ask for anintuitive eating definition, this is what I usually give them: a self-care eating framework that uses your bodys internal cues of hunger, fullness, and satisfaction to guideyoureating behavior. Notice that this definition emphasizes the body attunement element ofintuitive eating, meaningthat you need to listen to your body in order to eat intuitively.

This approach to eating allows you to develop a healthy relationship with food and your body. It teaches you to trust your ability to meet your own needs, distinguish between physical and emotional hunger, and ultimately develop body wisdom.

If someone who claims to be a health professional tells you that youlllose weight with intuitive eating, run the other way! No health professional can rightly claim that Intuitive Eating leads to weight loss.Illexplain why.

Rejecting the diet mentality is thefirst principle of intuitive eating. Focusing on weight loss will only hinder your progress as an intuitive eater.

Does that sound surprising?Well, it shouldnt if you understand what eating intuitively means.

Intuitive Eating is based on interoceptive awareness or the ability to perceive physical sensations inside your body. This means,to be able to eatintuitively,you need to connect with your body and listen to your bodys messages.

In contrast, focusing on weight loss is based on external rules. It dulls your interoceptive sense and leads to body-doubt. It makes you think that something is wrong with you just because youre not losing weight as you expected. Thus, yourelikelyto think that intuitive eating doesnt work.

While its true that some people lose weight when they eat intuitively, weight loss is more of a side effect rather than the focal point of intuitive eating. Some people who eat intuitively dont lose weight, and thats okay. Intuitive eating is weight neutral and is aligned with the HealthAtEvery Size approach.(For more info on this approach, I recommend that you read theHealth At Every Size book byLinda Bacon.

Time and again,researchhasproven thatdieting for weight loss is not sustainable. Besides, itcausesmore harmthan good to your body and mind. Dietingincreases the risk of eating disorders, binge eating, weight cycling and weight stigma.

Think of your set point like a natural mechanism that your body uses to maintain a natural weight. This mechanism runs without your intervention. Its just like how your lungs manage the appropriate amount of oxygen for your body orthe way in which your heart manages your blood pressure.

Another fascinating analogy is how your brain automatically gets you steady on a bike even if its been 10 years since your last ride. It just happenswithout you having to think about it. Set point manages your weight in the same way.

In her book Health EverySize,Dr.LindaBacon describes our set point as the fat thermostat in our bodies. Your set point actsjust like a heat thermostat in a room. When set to a certain temperature,the thermostat will send a message to the heating system to activatewhen below a determined temperature.

Your hypothalamus is the region of the brain that controlsthe system in your body that regulatesyour set point. It sends messages of hunger and fullness to manage your weight. Set point will make you think of the cookies in the cupboard and will also make you say no to the pizza when youre full.

Our set point manages all the various componentsin the complex human body that create our body weight. Your set point is your ideal body weight, the body weight you manage naturally without food restriction, deprivation, and over-exercising. It is your weight between diets, the weight at which you can live anon-food or exercise-obsessed life.

The set point is the bodys internal system to maintain healthy weight. One 1970s research study showed that the average weight of a 60-year-old man was only four to five pounds more than the average 30-year-old man.That kind of weight maintenance is no accident and not the consequence of dieting either.

Dr. Bacon has this very powerful example in her book,Health at Every Size:

Just consider a 50-year-old woman who weighs about five pounds more than she did when she was 20. If she eats about 2,000 calories a day over the course of 30 years, she takes in about 22 million calories. Since five pounds of body fat stores about 17,500 calories, that means that her body was just 0.08% off in balancing energy in versus energy out. This amounts to a difference of about 50 calories per monthless than the calories in one egg! Bacon, Linda. Healthat Every Size: The Surprising Truth About Your Weight (p. 12).

Our set point can fluctuate during our lifetime. Currently,research estimatesthe fluctuation to be between 10 to 20 lbs. Set point fluctuatesso it can maintain homeostasis.

If you are ready to exploreHealthAtEvery Size,you can downloadDr. Baconsmanifesto here.

Homeostasis is the abilityofthe human body to maintain a stable environment. Itskey to our survival.The bodysmagical ability to adapt toitsenvironmentatany given condition is whatallows us tosurvive.

This ability to maintain balance is what maintainsa stable body temperature, stable blood pressure,stable level of iron, blood glucoseand yes,body weight. All of these biological systemsfocus on maintaining homeostasis,a.k.a. balance,so we can survive and thrive in our environment.

Itevengoes beyondthephysical body. Homeostasis is also what createsyour thoughts andemotions.Your mind respondsto its emotional environment as well.

The happiness set point theory is almost similar as the body weight set point theory. It suggests that our level of subjective well-being is determined primarily by heredity and by personality traits ingrained in us early in life. As a result, itremains relatively constant throughout our lives. Our level of happiness may change temporarilyin response to life events.However, italmost always returns to its baseline level.

For humans,homeostasis meanssurvival. Our bodieswill do anything to bring us back to homeostasis so we can survive, including the dreaded weight gain.

Are you at your set pointrightnow?

Thats a very good question whichunfortunatelyis not that easy to answer. How much fat protection your body requires (your set point) is the result of a complex interplay of genetics and the lifestyle choices you made today as well as in the past.

You see,at this time,we do not have a tool that will allow us to determine an individual set point. We also donthave the knowledge on how to manipulate someonesset point either.As of today, the complexity of the human body and the number of elementsinvolved in managingonesset point exceed our scientific capacity.

Soto be clear,if you see a headline claiming to have the secret trick to lower your set point, like the 21-day set point reset detox, which I just saw recently, thats 100% diet culture in action. Its a lie! Dont buy into it because its a scam. Its just another gimmick from someone who wants to make money from your despair about your body weight.

What we do know is that if we want our body to settle at a natural weight that is effortless and healthy,we must make our brain feel safe. When the brain feels safe, it will send messages to the body that its safe. Will you lose weight? We do not know. No one actually knows. But what we know is that healtharisesor is maintained in a safe physical and psychological environment.

When you go on a diet or when you exercise, you create an unsafe condition for your body.

The human body perceivesintentional weight loss as athreat. Thatsthe reasondietsdontwork. Yourbody will adapt to the starvation/deprivation periodwhile youre dieting and trying to lose weight.

Butas soon as you release the pressure of the unsafecondition(i.e. youstop dieting or over exercising), yourbody will come right back to your set point. In many cases, it willensure complete protection fromanyfurtherthreat ofweight loss.

So,what can we do? Based on all the current research that Iveread,Id like to suggest focusingoncreating a relationship of trust and respect with the innate wisdom ofyour body. Create a safe environment, both psychologically and physically, in which youand your body can thrive in, not just survive.

The bestplace to get started is to educateand understand what could be perceived by your body as unsafe specially when it comes to food and body weight.

I would encourage you to get started by listening toepisode 214 of the GoingBeyondTheFoodpodcastright up to thepartwhere Irecommenda tool to help you determine what could be impacting your set point.

Heres a free checklist and resource to help youunderstand the set point theoryand get started on your journey into a more trusting and respectful relationship with your body.

In all the years that Ive been helping womenasa clinical nutritionist, Ive found that intuitive eating is the best starting point for developing a healthy relationship with food and ones body. Ive also made a part of my life.The women Ive helped, as well as I, can attest that itspositively life-changing!

Iinvite you to start your ownintuitive eating journeyandexperience the same benefitsthat weve enjoyed from it. I have put together someresourcesthat will help you get a good head start.

First,you can downloadmyGet Started with Intuitive Eating Guidefor free. Itwill teach youa 3-step process that will help you get started with intuitive eating right away.

Also, you can listen to theintuitive eating podcast episodes. Here, I share my best tips and interview experts who give their valuable insights on eating intuitively.

Originally posted here:
Intuitive Eating to Lose Weight: Your Set Point First - Thrive Global

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Home » How to lose weight safely » Intuitive Eating to Lose Weight: Your Set Point First – Thrive Global