Weight

Over 80% of individuals who develop an eating disorder began their dysfunctional relationship with food through dieting. At Rader Programs we realize that there is so much more to an individual than just what they weigh. One of our main goals of treatment is to help our clients realize this fact for themselves. Our focus is not just on the weight, and our staff's responsibility does not include policing food intake or forcing individuals to do something that they do not wish to do. Instead we work from the inside out, concentrating on the individual's inner beauty. Your weight on any particular day or time does not yield much information, as body weight varies do to water retention, humidity, bowel contents and menstrual cycle.

95% of all dieters regain the weight they lost within one to five years. 65 to 85 percent of the variability in body weight between individuals is due to genetics. If your family has a tendency to be a certain weight range you will tend to fall within that range. Studies involving twins have shown that identical twins have similar body weights, regardless of whether or not they grew up in the same household. Studies of adoptive children have shown comparable results in that the adoptive children's body weights were more similar to their biological parents than to their adoptive parents. Each one of us has this genetically predetermined weight range which our bodies strive for and wants to retain. This range is called the "set-point" weight. The set-point weight appears to be related to the number of fat cells an individual has by the end of their first year of life. According to set-point theory, strict dieting dramatically lowers the basal metabolic rate, causing the body to burn less food, thereby counteracting the strict diet.

For many individuals, the number the scale reads in the morning determines what kind of day they are going to have. If the scale number is higher than they had hoped for they feel depressed and if they met their weight goal they feel elated. Constant weighing usually turns into a negative experience that leads to dissatisfaction and obsession. Many individuals who have come through our program have chosen to smash their scales and in the process have freed themselves from having their emotions tied to a number that has nothing at all to do with who they really are.

To explore how weighing and the scale may have effected your life think about your answers to the following seven questions:

	When you think of the word SCALE what is the first word that pops into your mind?
	When you think of weighing yourself, what feelings come up for you?
	When was the last time you weighed yourself and how did you feel afterward?
	If someone were to ask you what you weigh, would you tell them the truth and how would you feel about telling them?
	When was the last time you had a positive experience when weighing yourself and how long did that feeling last?
	Think about three Individuals you care about and/or respect. Would you care about them or respect them any less if their weight was different?
	If you never weighed yourself again and only had feedback by how your clothes fit, what would you miss?

We work with our clients to de-program themselves by replacing any false messages they have received about how they should look with realistic goals that take into account their own personal beauty and uniqueness.

For more information or to arrange for a free confidential consultation, call

800-841-1515