Is it Bad to Want to Lose Weight While Eating Intuitively?
Happy Wednesday everyone! In this week’s podcast episode, I answer a question that I often hear from my clients – is it bad to want to lose weight as an intuitive eater?
The short answer is no, absolutely not (I explain more in this episode). Do you NEED to want to lose weight while practicing intuitive eating? No. But if this is a desire, you should not feel shame for having it.
In the intuitive eating community, I have heard from clients (and have felt myself) that a desire to lose weight is “bad”. Like you should have it… and if you do, don’t let anyone know about it! Weight-loss talks should be OFF the table. However, my approach is that instead of thinking of as wanting to lose weight as wrong, we should ask ourselves why we want to lose weight. We should call it neutral and simply explore our desire.
Do you like your reasons for wanting to lose weight? Do they leave you feeling good? Encouraged? Do you like what this desire is producing in your life?
Let’s call the desire to lose weight neutral (just like having a desire to shop – this desire could be completely harmless or extremely harmful depending on how you deal with it). Within each desire, there is a range – is this a light desire, or an obsession? On what level is this desire producing for you?
Work towards letting your desire to lose weight be light. Meaning, the results on the scale or the size of your pants are totally up in the air (you surrender these numbers, you don’t control them). There is no set number to attach your body to, it’s just about taking daily actions that will lead to you feeling great and letting your body decide what you weigh from there.
All you are responsible for is taking great care of yourself. You can let the rest go. You will feel so good just knowing that you’re taking great care of yourself. You don’t need a number on the scale to “confirm” that it’s okay to feel good.
The results of taking care of yourself (your size, weight, measurements, etc) are up to your body and what is best for her. You can trust that as you let go, slow down, and simply care for yourself that she will find her most natural/healthy weight. That will free your mind to focus on other things in life that are much more important to you than the number on the scale.
You might be wondering: How do I know if I’m at my set-point weight? Or, how do I know if I’m at my most natural, healthy body weight? See this post from me on Instagram:
Want an exercise to go with this?
In your journal, write out what would be different if you were to lose weight. How would you dress yourself? Would you go for your dream career? Be more outgoing with friends? Who do you see? How do you feel?
Are these things different than how you are living right now? If so, start doing those things right now. Don’t wait until you lose the weight. You will NOT ever look back and say “I’m so glad I didn’t let myself live the life I wanted until I lost weight.” NEVER. You WILL say “I’m so glad that no matter what I weighed, I always allowed myself to live a great life.”
Listen to the podcast episode “Is It Bad to Want to Lose Weight” to hear more ways that you can still lose weight while no longer feeling attached to a number or an end goal, and how you can take daily actions toward becoming the version of yourself you envision.
Subscribe to Aligned with Paige Schmidt on any major platform, and let me know what you would like to hear in future episodes! A new episode is live each Tuesday!
Click to listen to this episode on Apple, Spotify, or Google.
While you’re there, please subscribe for weekly episodes, rate and review (I notice every single one — thank you!).
P.S. If you would like even more support in this area, make sure you come check out Aligned Coaching where you can get coaching and immediately jump into the course of your pick (ALL of my courses are available in your single membership!). I’d love to see you there. Come join me in Aligned Coaching today.
