"Target weights prevent the individual who is recovering from learning to eat and live non-numerically. They may seek to strengthen the therapeutic alliance, even though that depends primarily on recovery progress. They may result from a fear of fat and of other extremes. Target weight "colludes" with the values of the eating disorder being treated. In this part of my miniseries on target weights (which started here), I explore three ways in which they are presented as part of the solution but ultimately reinforce the problem, by propping up the numerical and fat-phobic underpinnings of anorexia."
"There are many wonderful things to aim for in recovery from an eating disorder: all kinds of ways to live differently, to feel different, to love and think and laugh and eat and move and be different. Aiming to reach x kilos or pounds is not a wonderful thing. It's not a thing to get inspired by. (An exception might arise for an individual who has long been kept unwell by obedience to a bodyweight number imposed by themselves or someone else,"
Target weights keep recovering individuals focused on numerical metrics and inhibit learning to eat and live without counting. They can be presented as strengthening therapeutic alliance despite alliance depending mainly on recovery progress. They may arise from fear of fat and other extremes and thereby collude with the values of the eating disorder. Using target weights encourages continued counting of weight, calories, steps and other measures, perpetuating numerical thinking. Contemporary technologies and some public health advice enable and normalize numeric tracking. Living by numbers often functions as a fear response to complexity, hindering broader recovery goals.
Read at Psychology Today
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