Print

xiv Introduction What Is Weight Disruption? Most of the time, when we try to lose weight or maintain a healthy weight, our bodies (and minds) follow one of a series of set pathways to maintain our overweight state. Each of us has a weight range that is deter- mined by our genes and that we are programmed to maintain. This natu­ ral weight range is called our “set-­point.” Our bodies’ internal mechanisms keep our weight within this range. For example, our metabolism ­ will work faster if we eat more than we need in order to maintain our set-­point weight. Conversely, if we ­ don’t eat enough to maintain our weight, then our metab- olism slows down and spares the available calories.3 If we are predisposed to becoming overweight or obese, ­these mechanisms ­don’t function properly.4 And our dysfunctional “fat” minds can contribute. We look in the mir- ror. We think we look fat, so we are ashamed. We get anxious. We get something to eat to make us feel better. Unfortunately, the destination of “feeling better” is not the last stop on this pathway. We travel on to feeling guilty that we ate, angry that we have “destroyed” all our previous good work, and too ashamed to talk with anyone about it. So we eat more. Or a dysfunctional physical pathway may also switch on when we are trying lose weight, and we plateau, or hit the wall—­usually at about three months. The hormones in our stomach start to work as if the diet is pre- venting us from getting enough calories to live. And the hormones work even harder to hang onto ­every calorie from food. Disruptive weight management works to change ­these pathways—­again and again, ­ until they no longer are the pathways that our bodies and minds ­ settle into. For me, disruptive weight management is a lifelong feel-­good activity. I hope it becomes yours. The pro­cess requires disrupting our bodies and minds from being com- fortable with fat and in the long term rewires them. Designed for serious long-­term losers, it is a technique that I have practiced and taught for over 20 years. ­ There are only four ­simple messages in weight disruption. 1. Disruption and rewiring are lifelong paths. Rather than one par­tic­u­lar strategy, disrupting our weight requires us to engage in a range of approaches and keep changing them ­until our minds and bodies no longer operate in comfortably fat mode. We need to upgrade frequently to reach and stay at our goals. For example, to start disruptive dieting, we need to accept that once the diet we have chosen ­ isn’t working