If you have to diet or use food rules to maintain your body size, it is not your healthy weight.

If you have been fighting with your body to reach or maintain a healthy weight, the truth is, it’s not your healthy weight. Using food rules and diets to control your body’s weight and shape is only drawing you further away from having an easy and peaceful relationship with food. The only way to truly feel good in your body is to let go of control and work with your body to find its natural and healthiest weight. Learn the 5 signs to know if you are at a healthy weight for your body and how you can start working towards achieving your healthy weight.

What is a healthy weight?

I can’t tell you what your healthy weight is. In fact, no one can tell you what weight you should be. We all have a different weight range our bodies will naturally gravitate to, just like we all have different heights. Your body’s healthiest weight may change throughout life and from environmental factors but when you are looking after your body the best you can at the time, your body will gravitate to the healthiest place for you.

If you have to diet, use food rules or exercise to maintain or achieve a certain weight, then it is not your body’s healthy weight

The first step in learning to eat intuitively is letting go of controlling your body to an ideal weight and instead switching to caring for your body while allowing your body to naturally find its healthy weight.

The 5 signs you are at your healthy weight

1. You stop thinking about food between meals and snacks

If you feel obsessed with food and can’t stop thinking about it for a large part of the day, that’s a sure sign you are not eating enough for your body. Thinking about food is a natural hunger signal your body uses to communicate it needs more energy. The only way to stop obsessive food thoughts is to eat enough. Having enough and regular food will help your body feel safe that food is unconditionally available and you will have more headspace for other areas of life.

 2. You eat when you are hungry

Feeling hunger is simply a message from your body that it needs food to keep working at its best. When you are at your healthy weight, hunger will no longer bring up panic about what, when or how much to eat. Responding to hunger throughout the day will feel like self care rather than a mathematical equation and you will feel confident in eating to feel satisfied.

3. Food feels happy and supportive in your life

When you are working with your body, food will feel joyful, not a source of guilt and shame. Food will serve as more than just nutrients for your body. It will also serve you socially, culturally and emotionally and will provide happy memories. Other areas of your life will thrive when food is no longer stressful.

4. You don’t monitor your weight

You don’t police your weight or feel you need to jump on the scale regularly to check your body. Your weight or clothes size does not determine how you feel emotionally or what you are allowed to eat. When you do see your weight, it is just a number with absolutely no moral value to it.

5. You move your body for self care

You move your body because it makes you feel good, not because it burns calories or to lose weight. You choose movement that you enjoy whenever possible, rather than it serving as punishment for your body. And you always fuel your body before and after because that makes movement feel nice and cares for your body.

How to start working towards your healthy weight

To find your healthy weight so you can feel your best, be free of obsessive food thoughts and have the headspace for life, you need to first accept that your healthy weight may be higher than your ideal weight. That’s because we live in a diet culture that worships thinness. Very few people meet the cultural ideals of bodies we see in the media and trying to strive for a body thinner than your natural body will just keep you stuck in a stressful relationship with food and body.

Letting go of expectations for your body can open up space to start working with your body. Intuitive eating is an evidence-based non-diet approach that guides you to develop connection with your body’s hunger, satisfaction, emotional and self care needs so eating and being in your body feels peaceful and natural and your body will gravitate to the weight that feels best and the healthiest for you.

Grab your free e-book here for support to get started finding your healthy weight through intuitive eating.

Author Bio:

Written by Emma Townsin, Registered Dietitian and Certified Intuitive Eating Counsellor

Emma is the founder of Food Life Freedom and the host of the Food & Life Freedom Podcast. For personalised support to stop stressing over health and heal your relationship with food and your body, learn how you can fast track your way food and life freedom.