Gaining

A lot of feedees want to gain but need to observe some kind of limit, for work, personal, or health reasons.

The trouble with limits is it can be really hard not to go past them. Going past the limit is bad, because it may undermine your confidence that you can gain in a controlled way--maybe even so much that you fail to ever control it.

I just talked to a woman who is gaining with a “soft” limit...she can stop anywhere between 190 pounds and 220. This gives her plenty of slack in case she hits 190 and can’t stop on a dime.

Has anyone ever tried this?

How did it work out?

I have done that a few times but always seem to go past my limits eventually.

There are too many things going on to say you can stop at a specific point. Once you get into the habit of eating what you want, it's hard to stop. Your body gets into a routine, and expects the same thing every day. Once you stop, your body thinks there is a famine, and will start to store more of your food as fat. Your brain will tell you to eat more.

Interesting...so you're saying limits NEVER work?

I never tried a soft limit. I typically set a goal and then reassess when I achieve it (typically resulted in raising the bar) . I'm currently binging for a week to see how much I can gain so maybe I'll throw a soft limit in there so that I don't overwhelm myself by having to clean up my act on day 8.

Now I think of it it might be better to phrase a "soft limit" as simply a goal and a limit, with the rule that your limit has to be at least 5 pounds more than your goal!

All my limits and goals can change, nothing is set in stone. I'm not dead yet!!