At my doctor’s office, I get a print out that tells me that my now much leaner body is still at least 20 pounds too heavy. I’ve been that thin, and believe me, it is too scrawny. And, if I should drop that kind of weight again as a senior citizen, how would that impact my lean tissues and bones? Happily, my doctor does not look at me and ask when those last 20 will come off.
So, why do I call my current weight range “just right”? Here are a few insights into my decision making that may be helpful:
- I matured to be this weight as I developed, and I was able to accept myself as I was at that time, after a childhood of being teased for being overweight.
- I have weighed this much as an adult before for an extended period, and was able to maintain it. I would lose weight, but quickly return to it.
- My body adjusted up from a slightly lighter weight as I stopped losing weight in 2018 and moved to maintain. It is fairly easy to just wake up at this weight, plus or minus a pound or two, each morning.
So, what is this weight for me? It has history of a feeling of being comfortable in my skin. It is not unrealistic because it was where I landed before body shame and eating disorders began in my teens, and my body seems to be happy and healthy right here now.
People who write about the difficulties of losing weight and maintaining that loss use a term called a “set weight”. It is like a default point that one’s brain can defend. I believe this is where I have arrived.
As you think back through your life up to this point, do you also have a weight where you were feeling, in retrospect, just right?
Do you have a weight that you tend to return to after you try the latest new diet?
Stop Losing and Win 