Made on a Generous Plan Coaching

Meredith Noble is a food & body peace coach for plus-sized people. Part intuitive eating coach, part body image coach, and fully guided by the principles of Health At Every Size, she helps people who struggle with emotional eating, binge eating, and chronic dieting reestablish healthy relationships with their bodies and food.

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      • What is Health At Every Size?
      • Plus-sized? I understand why you want to lose weight, but…
      • Body acceptance begins with grieving the thin ideal
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      • What is intuitive eating?
      • Intuitive eating is NOT a weight loss technique. Period.
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      • Video: how to improve your body image by normalizing fat bodies
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      • Video: why it’s powerful to reclaim the word FAT
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About Meredith

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Hi! I’m Meredith Noble.

I’m a fat liberation coach and I’m here to support you on your healing journey.

I know what it’s like to desperately try to lose weight and keep it off. My own journey has involved Weight Watchers, “clean eating”, holistic nutrition and whole foods, the Paleo diet, and on and on and on…

After all the craziness (and believe me, it drove me CRAZY), I finally managed to find peace with both my food and my body. It involved changing my mindset, and debunking some pretty huge myths about how my weight was affecting my health.

My attempts to lose weight led to food obsession, over-exercising, binge eating, and intense body shame. Now, I seek well-being through trusting my intuition, deeply tuning into my body, pleasure, and body respect. I have lost the immense burden of shame, guilt and fear I was carrying with me each day.

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Adopting this philosophy has been such a profound experience that I decided to become a coach to help others do the same.

This website is a resource to introduce you to a life-changing philosophical shift towards your body and food. My work builds on core concepts from the fat liberation movement, Health At Every Size®, and Body Trust®. It involves recognizing that we live in a diet-obsessed, fatphobic culture that teaches us to strive for the beauty ideal at all costs. It also involves recognizing that weight loss isn’t necessarily the answer to a well-lived life.

 

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My Struggles With Weight Loss

I approached losing weight earnestly and devotedly, as we all do at first. I managed to lose a significant amount of weight on Weight Watchers, but soon ended up in a crumpled heap dealing with deprivation, binge eating and symptoms of over-exercise.

I eventually realized that Weight Watchers wasn’t a good fit, and self-righteously declared that instead I would become a “clean eater”. I would focus on “whole foods” and nutrition instead of calories. Much spirulina-laced green smoothie gulping, flax seed grinding, raw food crunching, and superfood eating ensued.

I went through health coach after health coach, program after program. Despite it all, binge eating continued to be my norm: I would eat perfectly all day and then at night would secretly gorge on candy and baked goods.

I felt completely out of control. I was ashamed that even though I was intelligent, hard-working and arguably very successful in every other part of my life, I couldn’t control my weight.

I was positively desperate for the acceptance — both self-acceptance and societal acceptance — I thought I would find when I became thin. I chased the acceptance with a fervor. As long as I was trying hard, I thought, no one could fault me. And one day, I figured I would finally figure it all out and become the thin woman I fantasized about.

I never dreamed that I would finally find peace and it wouldn’t involve rules or willpower — and instead would involve my intuition and accepting my body as it is. But it happened, and I can’t wait to teach you how to do it too.

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What I Believe Now

  • I believe that people of all sizes are worthy of respect and dignity, and that we need to fight discrimination against fat people in our society. (Throughout this site, I use “fat” only as a neutral descriptor of size, never as a pejorative.)apple
  • I believe that intentional weight loss is not sustainable for all but a sliver of those who try to lose weight. And I believe that many who do sustain weight loss have disordered eating (or full-blown eating disorders).
  • I believe that dieting and intentional weight loss efforts are incredibly harmful, both for our physical and our emotional health.
  • I believe that intentional weight loss is not a path to health. People in larger bodies aren’t necessarily less healthy than those in smaller bodies, and health-promoting behaviors are actually the key to healthy bodies and minds.
  • I believe that our bodies intuitively know what foods and types of movement they desire, and that tapping into this intuition is the key to sustainable health-promoting habits.cake
  • I believe that our bodies have set-point weights (actually this is a range of about 20 pounds) and that through intuitive eating and intuitive movement we will naturally fall at whatever weight is right for our unique bodies.
  • I believe that it is only through allowance — zero food and exercise rules — that we can truly find a sustainable lifestyle that helps us achieve our own unique version of optimal health.
  • I believe that shame and guilt are positively toxic and that self-compassion is paramount in a journey to reconnecting with one’s body and learning to appreciate and trust it.

Intrigued? Read some of my writing on Health At Every Size (also known as HAES), intuitive eating and allowance and body image to learn more.

You too can find food and body freedom without rules.

 

Work with me >

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My Professional Background

Certified Body Trust® Provider

Certified Body Trust® ProviderThis 8-month long training taught me how to use the Body Trust® paradigm to help individuals heal their relationships with food and body.

Body Trust® promotes rejecting diet culture, tuning into one’s body, practicing weight-neutral self-care and self-compassion, moving one’s body in pleasurable ways, and building resiliency in a fat-phobic world.

This certification is from Be Nourished, a collaboration between therapist Hilary Kinavey and dietitian Dana Sturtevant.

Professional Mental Health Counselor-in-Training

I am in my second year of attending Lewis & Clark College in Portland, OR to become a counselor. I chose my program because Lewis & Clark puts great emphasis on social justice issues in counseling. When I graduate I will start to pursue licensure as Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC) in Oregon.

Courageous Living Coaching Certification

Courageous Living Coaching CertificationI am a certified through this 10-month long life coaching program, which focuses on holistic coaching methods. We see clients as whole people, and go deep to help you work with your emotions and solve life problems at their roots instead of just on the surface.

Graduate of Anamsong Mind-Body Coach University

Anamsong Mind-Body Coach UniversityThis 9-month long training taught me somatic coaching techniques. I’m not a woo-woo person, but I have deep respect for the mind-body connection and the power of our emotions. I am not afraid of the hard stuff, and if we work together, I will encourage you to learn how to work with your emotions.

I can weave these techniques into one-on-one sessions to the extent you are interested in them; there’s no pressure!

Other Training & My Previous Career

I have also completed an internship with Christy Harrison, a prominent intuitive eating coach and non-diet dietitian.

I originally trained as a computer engineer and have a B.A.Sc. in Engineering Science from the University of Toronto. My engineering roots mean I’m very practical and pragmatic; I don’t do anything without a purpose and I try to make sure you have a clear path forward at the end of each coaching session.

I spent 12 years working as a user experience designer and researcher. My job was to help companies deeply understand the people using their websites, and help design user-friendly online experiences. Empathy and insights about people were the tools of my trade, and I now bring those skills to my work with coaching clients.

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Where I’m Based

I am Canadian and spent many years living in Toronto, Ontario. I currently live in Portland, Oregon, but I work with clients all over the world via phone and videoconference.

 

Learn more about working with Meredith >

 

About Meredith

Fat liberation and intuitive eating coach Meredith NobleI'm Meredith Noble and I'm a fat liberation, Health At Every Size® and intuitive eating coach.

If you have struggled with chronic dieting and the challenges of being fat in a fatphobic world, I'm here to help you finally feel at home in your fat body.

More about Meredith and this site >

Connect with me:
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My Instagram Feed

madeonagenerousplan

Meredith Noble (she/her)
@fireflycounseling and I host ongoing peer support @fireflycounseling and I host ongoing peer support groups where fat people can come together to live their best fat lives. We reflect on our experiences with anti-fatness, offer support to one another, and celebrate our moments of fat joy.
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These groups are appropriate for those who have already begun their fat liberation journey and will not be a good fit for those in early eating disorder recovery.
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Dates: every other Tues or Thurs for 6 sessions, starting in Apr
Time: 4:30-6pm PST / 7:30-9pm EST
Cost: $300, contact us for equity pricing options
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If you’re interested in applying, email me at hello@generousplan.com!
@fireflycounseling and I have a VERY limited numbe @fireflycounseling and I have a VERY limited number of spots available in our two every-other-week fat liberation peer support groups. These are groups of 8-10 fat people who want to support each other in coping with societal fatphobia and thriving in fat bodies.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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We have two wonderful communities already existing and are looking for a couple of new members to join us either on Thursdays (starting Sept 9) or Tuesdays (starting Sept 14).⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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Groups take place from 4:30-6pm PST / 7:30-9pm EST every other week. The cost is $300 USD; contact us for equity pricing arrangements.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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These groups are for you if:⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
- You are *small fat or above* (ask us if you're not sure)⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
- You want support navigating life in a fat body⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
- You're craving fat community⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
- You have a decent grasp of basic HAES and fat lib concepts⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
- You are not actively dealing with eating disorder symptoms⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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This group isn't the best fit for you if:⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
- You're thin / straight-sized⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
- You're BRAND new to HAES and/or fat lib concepts⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
- You are dealing with active eating disorder symptoms⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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💬 Example group discussion topics:⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
- Self-advocacy in medical settings⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
- Navigating diet culture with family and friends⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
- Finding ways to move joyfully⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
- Seeking pleasurable embodiment⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
- Dealing with body shame⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
- And anything else the group wants to discuss!⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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To apply, email us at hello@generousplan.com and let us know what draws you to the group, and whether you want Tuesdays or Thursdays (or can do either). We'll have a couple more questions to answer and then we can register you!⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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We expect to get more interest than we have room for but if so we'll put you on our waiting list for our next opening. We can't wait to meet you!
I'm thrilled to announce that I have another Fat L I'm thrilled to announce that I have another Fat Liberation Support Group starting. This one will be co-facilitated with my friend and colleague Kristy Fassio (@redheadfatlibwarrior), who is an incredible HAES therapist and fat activist.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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🔮 This group is for you if:⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
- You are *small fat or above* (ask us if you're not sure)⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
- You want support navigating life in a fat body⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
- You're craving fat community⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
- You have a decent grasp of basic HAES concepts⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
- You are not actively dealing with eating disorder symptoms⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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🪞This group isn't the best fit for you if:⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
- You're thin / straight-sized⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
- You're BRAND new to HAES and/or fat liberation concepts⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
- You are dealing with active eating disorder symptoms⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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💬 Example group discussion topics:⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
- Self-advocacy in medical settings⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
- Navigating diet culture with family and friends⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
- Finding ways to move joyfully⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
- Seeking pleasurable embodiment⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
- Dealing with body shame⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
- And anything else the group wants to discuss!⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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🗓 The group starts Thursday March 10th from 4:30-6pm PST (7:30-9pm EST). It will run every other week for 6 sessions, at which point participants will have the option to renew.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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💵 The cost is $300 USD; email us at hello@generousplan.com to explore equity pricing options.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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***Email hello@generousplan if you're interested in joining us or if you have questions!***
I took part in an event recently with a variety of I took part in an event recently with a variety of students in healthcare fields. They were all future doctors or other allied medial professionals. And I was so disheartened by the fact that extremely few of them had been disabused of the idea that fat people are fat because they either haven't thought to diet or haven't tried hard enough to diet.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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Even the most basic advice we fat people are given by healthcare providers to help us lose weight, such as "eat less and move more", DOESN'T WORK. In reality our bodies undergo a series of metabolic changes that sabotage our ability to maintain any weight loss — this includes making food literally tastier to our tastebuds and reducing our energy level so we move less. (Look up the Minnesota Starvation study for more details, and note that 1500 calories was considered a "starvation diet" for the participants.)⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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So reader, in case your medical provider has tried to advise you to lose weight, I just want you to know that you are able to care for your health and wellbeing without chasing a number on a scale. Dieting of any kind, and by that I mean manipulating food and movement in any way to purposefully lose weight, does not work in the long-term. But caring for yourself in a weight-neutral way does.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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Yes, we can be fooled into thinking these weight loss tactics work — how many times have you heard someone say, "I lose X pounds in the last Y days?!" But research shows that at the one, two, three, five year marks — people have regained the weight, and usually have gained past their initial starting weight. I can't wait for more of the healthcare providers in the world to catch on to this.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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Made on a Generous Plan ・ Fat liberation coaching ・ Online and in Portland, OR ・ Visit generousplan.com for more!
Meredith answers a follower’s question about how Meredith answers a follower’s question about how to reduce the strong need to eat food when feeling sad, angry, etc.
Please don't put so much pressure on yourselves to Please don't put so much pressure on yourselves to have an unconditionally positive relationship to fatness as a fat person. You don't have to aim to go through your life saying "everything about fatness is the cat's meow and I'm never going to let this get to me." Allow me to explain.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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I would love for you to find ways to thrive in your fat body and feel kind, compassionate, and even loving towards it. I would love for you to find joyful ways to feel embodied, and for you to know that you have the same worthiness regardless of the size and shape of your body. I want SO badly for you to have those things and I've devoted my life to supporting people as they find new ways of relating to their fat bodies.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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BUT: I also want you to know that being fat positive doesn't mean you're never impacted by the shittiness of the world. Being fat positive doesn't mean fatphobia is supposed to run off you like water on a duck's back. Never get down on yourself for your grief about having to live in a fat body in a world that is inhospitable to it. Never get down on yourself for your sadness and anger about having to miss out on opportunities that are inaccessible due to your size. Never get down on yourself when you notice you're gaining weight and you feel afraid of what the consequences might be in terms of medical care, access to clothing, how your family/colleagues/friends might treat you, etc. etc. etc.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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Being fat positive is about your relationship with YOURSELF and your relationship TO OTHER FAT PEOPLE. It's about accepting yourself and accepting others, and that's it. It has nothing to do with how you feel when other people treat you poorly for being fat, or how you feel when the built environment doesn't accommodate your fatness. Focus on your relationship to yourself and other fat people in your healing, and don't hold yourself back from feeling your oh-so-valid emotions about fat oppression whenever they arise.
Your health status and size have zero bearing on y Your health status and size have zero bearing on your worth or your lovability. They do not impact how much compassion you deserve, how much patience you deserve, or how much kindness you deserve. PERIOD.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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If you are fat and have health conditions, I see you. I AM you. Please be kind and gentle with yourself, and seek out others who will also be kind and gentle with you. Although they can be hard to find, HAES-informed medical providers do exist, and connecting with HAES community can help you figure out who in your community is safe to see as a fat person.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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Made on a Generous Plan ・ Fat liberation coaching ・ Online and in Portland, OR ・ Visit generousplan.com for more!
The stigma around diabetes is strong, particularly The stigma around diabetes is strong, particularly type 2 diabetes, which is considered by many to be the result of "poor lifestyle choices."⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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Here's the thing: you are not to blame for your health conditions, diabetes or otherwise. You think you're to blame for them because our neoliberal society (particularly in America) has taught us that we are responsible for our health. Making so many things our responsibility makes things easier for the state — it means the government doesn't have to work as hard to care for its citizens, and that we still stay productive and produce and consume capital as it wants us to do.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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(These are all ideas put forward by Michel Foucault, or built on Foucault's ideas. For more information, look up governmentality, responsibilization, neoliberalism, and healthism.)⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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By the way, most people ignore that type 2 is HIGHLY genetically influenced and is even more genetically influenced than type 1. Furthermore, fatphobia originally led scientists to assume that fatness caused type 2 diabetes, and now evidence is showing that metabolic changes lead to BOTH weight gain and the development of type 2. (Look up Peter Attia's TED talk for more. But stop there because he's now a diety biohacker, eww.)⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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But what about lifestyle factors, you ask? First—and this is important—eating sugar and other simple carbohydrates does NOT cause diabetes.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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Second, some sources claim that moving your body regularly can stave off the development of diabetes. I am not enough of an expert to know if this is true (particularly after fatphobia in research is accounted for), but hey, it's plausible given what we know about how movement impacts blood sugar. Here's what I know for sure though: even if movement could theoretically stave off type 2, people who don't move "enough" STILL aren't to blame for their type 2 diagnosis.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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CONTINUED IN FIRST COMMENT
You may have heard of the concept of setpoint. It You may have heard of the concept of setpoint. It is defined in Lucy Aphramor & Lindo Bacon's Body Respect book as "the weight range that your body likes best." Sandra Aamodt has also begun calling it one's "defended weight range", to account for the fact that it's not a single number, it's a range.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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Setpoints are a real thing, no doubt about it. But I also kind of hate the concept, because when we're steeped in our own fatphobia, it can be hard to believe that our setpoint might be higher than our current weight. This is particularly true if we're fat. It's easy to convince ourselves that our body can't possibly want to be fat, and therefore our setpoint must be lower than our current weight.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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Sadly, some writers have also introduced the idea of aiming for the "lowest part" of your setpoint range. This concept is steeped in fatphobia and encourages us to move out of relationship with our bodies and aim at a number through effort. In other words, this concept tends to encourage us to engage in diety behaviors.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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Hoping that our setpoint is lower than our current weight and trying to get to the lowest part of our natural setpoint range can get in the way of having a caring relationship with our body. It can prevent us from trusting our body's intuition around when, how much, and what to eat, and when, how much, and what kind of movement feels good.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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If you think this concept of 'setpoint' is throwing you for a loop, I urge you to ditch it. Your body is going to land where it's going to land, period. Focus on the path of rekindling that relationship with your body after years of denying it what it wanted while dieting. Whatever size your body lands at when you're caring for it in a non-diety, non-disordered way is where it's meant to be. And technically that is your setpoint but ironically, you might have better luck by not getting distracted by it.
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