Today I will answer one of your questions about set point weight: “How do I know when I’m at my set point weight?”
And if you haven’t seen it yet then last week I talked about “What is set point weight?” and make sure to check out that post HERE.
What is the set point weight?
Your set point weight is the weight your body naturally maintains without you needing to put in any conscious effort.
You don’t need to diet or restrict, you don’t need to overexercise to control it.
It’s a weight you will maintain just by living your life and focusing on other things than your body or the food you eat. To learn more, see HERE.
How do I know when you are at your set point?
If you are here on my website you are likely going through recovery from some kind of restriction. And when you have spent weeks, months, or maybe even decades trying to suppress your weight it’s very hard to know what is actually your natural weight or the set point weight.
And I must be very honest here, that there is actually nobody that can tell you exactly your set point weight, only your body knows this and you will have to go through recovery to see what is the weight range your body will settle at.
And no matter how many weight or BMI calculations we do nobody can tell you what is the correct or most optimal weight for you where your body can function its best. Nobody can tell you at what weight you are weight restored.
And very often in recovery treatments, the goal weights are set too low. People may be “technically” not in an underweight BMI but are they also physically optimally healthy? Is their body functioning the best in that weight? This can’t be determined by a number on a scale but it is mostly determined by the positive changes you see physically and mentally.
Please watch my video about BMI and why it’s not an accurate measure of health HERE.
But there are some indicators that will tell if you are most likely at your set point. So let’s see what they are.
How you can tell you are at your set point weight?
- You will have food freedom. When you are at your set point you will be completely free from any food disorder, no more food obsession, no more urges to binge or overeat, no more stress, anxiety, or fear around eating.
- You will have normal hunger cues. You are easily able to eat when hungry, stop when full, you feel satisfied and content after eating. There is no effort in your eating, no willpower needed, it happens naturally without you even having to think about it. In short, you are a normal eater.
- No restriction is needed to maintain your weight. You never have to restrict, diet, or compensate to maintain your set point weight. It happens naturally by you just living your life.
- Starvation symptoms are gone. All of the previous starvation symptoms are gone – you have your period back and it comes regularly, you no longer feel cold all the time, you have normal digestion, you see improvements in your nail, skin, and hair health, you no longer have edema or water retention, the extreme bloating is gone, and also mentally you feel free from food obsession, you have less anxiety and improved cognitive functioning like better concentration, you think more rationally, etc
- You maintain this weight for a longer period. All of these improvements and the weight you are at has lasted for a longer time, not just a few days or weeks but more like many months. And again, all just by you living your life and having no obsession with food or trying to manipulate your weight. It should all feel effortless and natural. And this is most likely how you know it’s your set point weight.
I know many people also wonder about the overshoot because some people do overshoot their set point weight in recovery. You can watch that video HERE.
And I also recommend you to watch my video on “How to know when you are weight restored?”
If you want to learn more about recovery and how to do it step by step then please read my book “BrainwashED”
You can check out my recovery online courses HERE.
If you wish to work with me one on one, then I offer Recovery Coaching where I can help you go through your recovery step by step and offer support and accountability. Read more and apply HERE.
Or you can book a one-off coaching call with me HERE.
