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Stats on Forum #7

In Forum 7, we gave you
A definition of eating according to your body's hunger:

and asked, If you ate this way most of the time, do you think your weight would go up, go down, or stay the same?

Here's what you answered
(as of Oct. 4, 1999):

42% think their weight would go down if they ate according to hunger [86% of these folks say they're above setpoint]
37% think their weight would stay the same [50% say they're at setpoint, but 44% say they are above setpoint - and they don't think they'd lose weight]
21% think their weight would go up [54% say they're above their setpoints, 36% at, and still they think their weight would go up]

52% think that hunger-driven eating would help accomplish weight goals:

28%	Folks who are trying to lose weight who think they would lose
12%	Folks who are trying to keep weight down who think they would stay
10%	Folks who are trying to keep weight down who think they would lose
02%	Folks who are trying to gain who think they would gain
52%	Total

36% think hunger-driven eating would thwart weight goals:

16%	Folks who are trying to lose who think they would gain
16%	Folks who are trying to lose who think they would stay
04%	Folks who are trying to stay who think they would gain
00%	Folks who are trying to gain who think they would stay
00%	Folks who are trying to gain who think they would lose
36%	Total

Reasons for not eating according to hunger:

You listed two main categories of concerns -
- Your body would steer you wrong or
- You could trust your body but find it too difficult to listen to it
  view verbatim responses

Confusion about setpoint:

Because the ideal is below most people's setpoints -
- a) There should be some people who are above the ideal but below their setpoints (No one said this - 0%)
- b) There should be many people who are at the ideal but below their setpoints (only 2% said this)
There are people who say they are at the ideal and above their setpoints (keeping their weight higher than it wants to be - why?) (12%)
There are people who are at the ideal and at their setpoints, which should be effortless to maintain, but 83% are trying to "keep weight down" rather than "not concerned about weight" (only 17%)
There is a significant correlation between what people see as their setpoint and where they think they are relative to the cultural ideal - maybe these concepts get linked
But there is a significant negative correlation between setpoint and the prediction for their weight if they ate according to hunger, which is probably accurate.

General Results:

25% say they are at the cultural ideal
71% say they are above the ideal
31% say they are at their setpoint
62% say they are above setpoint
04% say they are below setpoint
12% aren't concerned about their weight [83% of these folks are above the cultural ideal - easier to accept a larger body?]
60% are trying to lose [44% of these folks are above the ideal, 12% are already there and still trying to lose more]
26% are trying to keep their weight down [16% of these folks are above the ideal but not trying to lose, 10% are at the ideal and trying to stay]
02% are trying to gain

Note that 86% are monitoring or trying to lose weight

This is a Health at Any Size site.