Understanding Ideal Weight
The notion of an “ideal” body weight isn’t one-size-fits-all. It varies from person to person based on several factors, including:
- Genetics: Genetic factors affect how the body responds to food and can influence appetite regulation and food-seeking behaviours.
- Gut and brain function: The interaction between the gut and the brain plays a key role in regulating hunger and feelings of fullness (satiety), which directly affects body weight.
- Body fat: Both the amount of body fat and where it is distributed influence overall weight and long-term health.
- Social and environmental factors: Living conditions, employment, family dynamics, social relationships, and financial stability can impact stress levels, food choices, physical activity, and sleep quality.
- Early life factors: Parental overweight or obesity before and during pregnancy may influence a child’s future weight.
- Diet and physical activity: The types and quantities of food consumed, combined with activity levels, have a direct effect on body weight.
- Emotional wellbeing: Mental health and emotional state can strongly influence eating behaviours and weight management.
- Medications: Some medications may contribute to weight gain as a side effect.
To manage weight holistically, it is important to consider all of these factors together and identify which areas can be adjusted to better understand body weight and support sustainable change. While certain influences, such as genetics, cannot be changed, greater awareness of family history, sleep patterns, and stress responses can help foster self-compassion and reduce self-blame around weight gain.
Overweight and obesity are not simply lifestyle choices. They are long-term health conditions shaped by a wide range of factors. Without looking at the broader context of daily life, how people live, work, rest, and interact with others, it becomes difficult to make truly healthy decisions or approach weight management with kindness.
Metabolic Set Point Theory
A key difference between holistic and conventional approaches to weight management lies in perspective. Traditional weight loss strategies often focus almost entirely on the idea of “eat less, move more,” typically through calorie restriction, intermittent fasting, carbohydrate restriction, or meal replacements.
While consuming fewer calories than the body uses can lead to weight loss, this approach alone does not address the deeper factors that influence weight over the long term. It also does not necessarily support overall health.
Purely conventional approaches may lead to frustration, self-criticism, and feelings of failure if weight loss is slower than expected. This is partly because the body naturally resists change. Fat cells can retain a form of “memory,” encouraging the body to return to a previous weight, a process often explained by the metabolic set point theory.
Practical Tips for Holistic Weight Management
Because weight is influenced by many interconnected factors, effective change often goes beyond diet and exercise alone.
Focus on Healthy Sleep Habits
Poor or disrupted sleep has been linked to overweight and obesity in both adults and children. This includes individuals with irregular schedules, such as night-shift workers, whose circadian rhythms are often disturbed.
Sleep difficulties may stem from environmental conditions, caregiving responsibilities, work demands, or stress. Reviewing sleep habits and improving sleep hygiene where possible can positively affect not only body weight, but also emotional and physical health.
Address Stress and Emotional Wellbeing
Chronic stress can influence weight, particularly for those who eat in response to emotions. Even small steps to reduce stress and support emotional wellbeing may have a meaningful impact.
Many individuals with higher body weight experience negative internal weight bias, an inner dialogue shaped by guilt, shame, or the belief that they have failed. Recognising self-worth and prioritising self-care are essential components of overall wellbeing.
Practice Mindful Eating
The body constantly sends signals from the gut and other organs to the brain to indicate hunger and fullness. Eating habits can support this natural communication. Helpful practices include:
- Eating slowly, allowing fullness signals time to reach the brain
- Paying attention to food and eating with intention to reduce cravings driven by pleasure rather than hunger
- Choosing foods rich in protein and healthy fats, which support satiety and help regulate appetite
Consider Intermittent Fasting with Professional Guidance
Intermittent fasting can support weight loss for some people, but others may find it tricky or hard to stick with. It can help control appetite in certain cases, but it might also spark more hunger or feel uncomfortable for some. There’s no single way of eating that works for everyone, so it’s best to find an approach that feels manageable and sustainable. If this sparks your interest, trying it with an intermittent fasting program that offers guidance and support can make it much easier and more effective.
Move the Body Regularly
Physical activity benefits both physical and emotional health. While exercise alone may not lead to significant weight loss, it plays an important role in maintaining weight and improving wellbeing.
A balanced routine may include activities that raise the heart rate alongside muscle-strengthening exercises. Choosing enjoyable and accessible forms of movement is key, especially for those who may feel uncomfortable exercising in certain environments.
Is a Holistic Approach Right for Everyone?
There is no one-size-fits-all solution to weight loss or long-term weight management. The same applies to treatments such as medications or surgery.
People with medical conditions that affect mobility or require specific dietary patterns should approach major lifestyle changes carefully and seek appropriate guidance. Certain medications may also influence body weight, and they should never be adjusted or stopped without proper consultation.
The Impact of Weight Bias and Self-Image
Remember that your ideal body weight is more than just a number, it’s about feeling balanced, energetic, and confident in your own skin. Many people with overweight or obesity experience internalised weight bias, shaped by widespread societal stigma. Individuals with higher body weight are often unfairly judged as lazy, unmotivated, or less capable, and such stereotypes remain common in media and popular culture.
These biases can have real consequences, including emotional distress and unequal treatment in professional and healthcare settings. Addressing and understanding weight bias is essential when supporting people on their weight management journey, as shame and stigma can make change more difficult and emotionally overwhelming.
A Holistic Approach to Ideal Weight
Healthy weight management is never just about food or exercise. Real, lasting change begins when the body is gently supported to reset, often through detox and targeted nutrition, and when the mind is given space to release old patterns that no longer serve it.
A more integrated approach brings together nutritional guidance with supportive therapies and psychological care, helping the body respond more efficiently while encouraging the mind to build healthier, more sustainable habits. When physical balance and emotional wellbeing are addressed together, weight management becomes less of a struggle and more of a natural outcome.
Many people who follow this kind of holistic path describe feeling more energized, confident, and motivated, not only to lose weight, but to maintain the lifestyle changes that allow those results to last.
If this perspective resonates with you and feels like the right moment for a fresh start, exploring a structured, holistic weight program may offer valuable insight and support.
