How Much Should You Weigh?
This question comes up a lot... "How much should I weigh?" And though I can't give you a definitive number as to how much you should weigh, personally, what I can do is help you to understand more of what it looks like to be at a healthy weight.
Let me just start off by saying, what you weigh, the number on the scale, is not what gives you worth. But sadly, so many of us girls find satisfaction by stepping on the scale and seeing the number go down. Or, we step on the scale and find our day ruined before it already began if the number is higher than you had hoped. There are so many better ways to determine your health apart from what you weigh.
I do know this question comes up, and I know that a lot of you might be asking the question of how much you should weigh. Whether you're in a larger body and have had someone tell you you have to lose weight or even if you're in a smaller body, but scared to gain weight, I hope you will be a little more encouraged after reading this post that your body is a lot smarter than you think. And you really don't have to micromanage your weight.
What is set point theory?
There is thought that your body has a unique "set point", or a range of weight that it prefers to be at. This range is where your body tends to fluctuate throughout your entire adult life and where it tries to stay within. But, hear me out, this range can be anywhere from 10-20 pounds depending on the person. Just like each of us is a different height, we each have different set point weights.
Now, our bodies have mechanisms in place that help to keep us in this set point. And weight maintenance is so much more than "calories in= calories out" like we're often told. Our hypothalamus releases hormones that help to regulate our metabolism during certain activities and times in our lives to keep us in this set point. During starvation, metabolism slows down to conserve energy as a natural protective measure. The hypothalamus also sends out signals that cause us to notice food more (why you can't stop thinking about eating a brownie or whatever other food you're restricting when you're on a diet). Reduced intake of calories also may cause us to be less sensitive to satisfaction with food...i.e you feel the need to eat more in order to meet your need for satisfaction. Our bodies aim to protect. It does everything it can to keep you alive, and in the case of dieting or starvation (yes, dieting is seen as starvation by your body), it does what it can to keep you at your set weight.
Along those lines, however, your body is more inclined to gain weight than lose it. Gaining weight and being at a higher weight is actually safer than being at a low weight. This is why if you've dieted a lot in your life or even if you've just had a "food restriction" mentality, you may feel like you gain weight easier than you can lose weight.
So, how does this help us answer how much you should weigh? Like I mentioned, I'm never going to say a certain number you should weigh. And we can't know exactly what your set weight should be. But there are a few things to think about and answer for yourself to understand whether you're at a healthy weight or not.
Are your basic needs being met?
Your stable weight is the one in which you're first focus is on having your basic needs met. That is, are you sleeping an adequate amount? Are you eating enough calories and moving your body without exercising too much. Are you making time for friends and community? Do you keep stress to a minimum?
If you're getting your basics, you're going to be more attune to listening to your body. And listening to those cues about when to eat, how to eat, what to eat, and when to stop eating are going to help you to be more stable in your weight. When basic needs aren't met, on the other hand, such as when you're not regularly getting enough sleep, it's easy to turn to food to try to meet those needs. The reality is, however, that food can not meet all of our needs.
Are you keeping stress levels down?
Remember how I said our bodies are smart? Well, they are. Your body functions at it's absolute best and is it's healthiest self when it's not under stress. Stress on your body can be anything from eating too much, eating too little, exercising too much, worrying too much, not sleeping enough...the list goes on.
Stress, in the case of your weight, leads to cortisol release in the blood stream which increases fat storage. But apart from weight, stress decreases immune function, bone density, increases blood pressure, etc. The number one thing you can do to improve your health and how you feel is decreasing your stress.
Are you eating enough?
Like I mentioned above, not eating enough can trigger your body into starvation mode which leads to decreased metabolic rate as a safety mechanism to keep you alive. Your body doesn't know that your diet is only for 1 month! It has no idea when you'll be back to eating regularly again and also has no idea when it'll be starved again once you do start eating enough again.The best way to ensure you're at your set weight is by eating enough. That means, for someone who is below their set weight, you'll have to eat enough to get back to your set weight. And likewise, with someone who is above their set weight, you'll still have to eat enough to make sure your body doesn't think it has to be conserving energy as it does in starvation mode.
Are you viewing food for what it is?
Food is fuel for your body, yes. But we have to be careful with thinking too extreme in this area. Food is going to give you energy to do everything you want to do in your life. But it also does have a pleasurable component to it, which is not a bad thing. It actually is another way your body keeps you safe! If food wasn't pleasurable, we wouldn't have as much of an incentive to eat it!But, also, food can only meet your needs for comfort to an extent. There comes a point where food only temporarily comforts and, if seen as more than that, can lead to us using it to numb ourselves. Food is fuel for our bodies and comforting, but we have to have a balanced view of both of these roles food plays. Viewing food as only the fuel for your body can lead to orthorexic behaviors and becoming obsessed with healthy foods as well as fearful of foods that maybe aren't as good of a fuel for your body. But along those same lines, if we're viewing food too much as the comfort for our souls, it can only soothe so far and we can start to turn to food for our emotional needs where it can't fully meet our needs, which can turn to us over-eating.
Are you moving your body joyfully?
Lastly, are you moving your body joyfully? If you've been under the impression that you have to change your body and have spent hours and hours at the gym and doing "two-a-days" just to try to lose weight, that's a lot of exercise! And like I mentioned, too much exercise can actually be a bad thing. Too much exercise puts unhealthy stress on your body, raises your cortisol levels, and can make it more difficult to be at your set point weight. Not to mention, it also decreases immunity and makes you more prone to getting sick.
Remember, your body's goal is to keep you safe. Exercising too much elicits your "fight or flight" sympathetic nervous system response which, essentially tells your body it's not safe. What it does, then, is everything it can to protect. That means conserving fat, upping cortisol, and decreasing function of "unnecessary" body systems (i.e gastrointestinal and reproductive).
If you're moving in a way that's non-stressful, exercising joyfully, you're more likely to be at your set weight. You're also more likely to stay in that range. So how do you know if you're moving in a non-stressful way? Listen to your body. Ask yourself, "What do I feel like doing today?" or "What intensity sounds good today?" I hope this brings some encouragement to you today, that you don't have to micromanage your weight. I know for years I fought my body, thinking I had to do certain things and eat a certain way to stay at a healthy weight. But the reality is, your body fights for you to stay healthy, so you don't have to!