Harmony Center for Holistic Psychotherapy
Dr. Lisa A. Breisch, Psy.D. and Associates
Holistic and Integrative Treatment for Mind, Body and Spirit Health
6625 N. Second Street
Loves Park, IL 61111
815-639-0300
Office Hours: Monday through Friday, 12:00 p.m. - 9:00 p.m.
Harmony Center for Holistic Psychotherapy
6625 N. 2nd Street
Loves Park, IL 61111
United States
ph: 815-639-0300
fax: 815-639-0303
LisaBrei
Movement and Fitness Classes for Fun!
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COMMENTARY AND FEEDBACK ABOUT THE LAST STRETCH AND BELLY DANCE CLASS:
"The bellydancing was really fun and I looked forward to every class. Lisa offered exercise and stretching I so desperately needed, especially with my back injury. Plus, the movements from dancing have made me feel better about myself, and gave me more confidence, which has been lacking in my life for several years. Thank you so much for being there and supportive of me and everyone you teach!"
- Participant Casandra G.
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Stretch & Yoga Class
For The Round Body
**Call for our schedule**
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"Flirty Girl for the Big Girl"
Fun Movement Class
**Call for our schedule**
Are you tired of boring workouts that are repetitive, are in a location that is not comfortable, and make you want to say, "forget it!"? Then, join Club Round's fun fitness class, "Flirty Girl for the Big Girl". Each night will be a different movement theme including belly dance, burlesque striptease style, stretch & yoga, boas and heels, kids games, and more! The most exercise will include lots of laughter and play. Women only, sorry guys. Ages 16 on up. Taught by Lisa and staff. Cost is $70.00 for the entire 5 weeks (discounted), or $5.00 per class. Please pre-register by calling 815-639-0300.
What is
Size Acceptance?
The idea of size acceptance and the "Health At Every Size" movement is to:
1. Accept yourself and your body the way that you are NOW;
2. To emphasize good healthy habits in nutrition and exercise without being rigid or restrictive, and;
3. To work for a stable weight and better fitness instead of for weight loss as your primary goal.
Size acceptance recognizes that dieting and weight cycling often has more risks than maintaining a higher but stable weight. It de-emphasizes the number on the scale in favor of how you FEEL and how you ACT---your overall health and fitness.
Size acceptance recognizes that some risks may be associatedwith being fat, but knows that it is more difficult to discern the exact relationship between weight and health than authorities want to admit. Fatness may be more of a symptom of other metabolic issues that cause health problems, rather than a cause of those problems in and of itself. But fatness does not always correlate with health problems. The size acceptance movement knows that the relationship between size and health is complex and it resists simplistic views of it.
Size acceptance recognizes that fatness is not just about intake and output, but also about genetics and metabolism and setpoints, and that some people are never going to be "normal-sized," no matter what they do----and that forcing them to try tobe "normal-sized" often causes more harm than good.
Size acceptance recognizes the significant harm that comes to many people from long-term dieting behaviors and yo-yo weight patterns. It dares to question the standard medical belief that weight loss is always the answer, and that dieting/weight loss is always beneficial or benign.
Size acceptance also emphasizes empowerment and intelligent healthcare consumerism at any size. We activists know from personal experience that many people of size are discriminated against and mistreated by healthcare professionals, and that this can have many harmful outcomes.
We believe that ALL people----including people of size-----have the right to respectful, dignified, and fair care, and the right to determine our own healthcare treatment choices.
Size acceptance is not "giving up" or "letting yourself go" as some people believe; it's emphasizing good health NOW in the body you have NOW, without necessarily tying that to weight loss. It's accepting and loving yourself the way you are NOW, while still working on improving health and habits as needed. It's giving yourself permission to live fully regardless of your size, to embrace life and happiness and feeling good about yourself with gusto and joy.
Size acceptance is about loving the body you were given; it's about being as healthy as possible in the body you were given; it's about the right to positive, loving care; it's about empowerment to make your own choices; and it's about standing up for your rights to pursue your dreams, no matter what yoursize. And those dreams should include pregnancy, birth, and parenting too!!!
The Health At Every Size Paradigm
What is Health At Every Size?
Many people think in extremes when thinking about weight issues. Either a person is fit and healthy and "normal-sized," or they are fat and unhealthy, sedentary and eating excessively.
However, there is a different approach in the size-acceptance movement. This is the "Health At Every Size" paradigm (HAES). This approach rejects dieting to lose weight to fit into the narrow definitions of "normal" weight, but it doesn't mean "giving up on yourself" either. Instead, it is a weight-neutral approach to good health, focusing on behavior and self-concept instead of on the number on a scale.
The Health At Every Size paradigm emphasizes accepting and loving yourself as you are, learning to enjoy and practice physical activity regularly (but for the joy and health of moving, not as a means to weight loss), normalizing eating to eliminate and worth irrespective of differences in weight, physical size and shape.
Physical Activity: Support for increasing social, pleasure-based movement for enjoyment and enhanced quality of life. restriction/over-indulging as a person moves toward a more physiological response to hunger, and focusing on overall health in mind and in body.
The Wikipedia entry on Health At Every Size,http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Health_at_Every_Size
summarizes it succinctly:
The major components of HAES, as described by Jon Robison, are:
1. Self-Acceptance: Affirmation and reinforcement of human beauty
2. Normalized Eating: Support for discarding externally-imposed rules and regimens for eating and attaining a more peaceful relationship with food by relearning to eat in response to physiological hunger and fullness cues.
3. HAES advocates generally do not believe that the same narrow weight range (or BMI range) is maximally healthy for every individual. Rather, the HAES approach is that as individuals include physical activity in their lives, and eat in response to physical cues rather than emotional cues, they will settle towards their own, personal ideal weights. These weights, however, can be higher or lower than those described by standard medical guidelines.
4. The HAES size approach recognizes that people come in all shapes and sizes naturally, and that some people will never fit into the "normal" weight ranges as they are currently defined, despite leading perfectly healthy lives. Instead, the HAESapproach redefines "ideal" or "normal" body weights. Fromhttp://www.healthyweight.net/haes.htm
5. Instead of defining healthy weight with numbers, charts or BMI, it is defined in terms of the natural diversity of weight. Steven Hawks and Julie Gast, associate professors at Utah State University, define healthy weight as the natural weight the body adopts, given a healthy diet and meaningful levels of physical activity.
The Health at Every Size movement embraces the following concepts:
Accept and respect your own and others unique traits and talents; celebrate diversity.
Healthy lifestyle is achievable for everyone, unlike so-called ideal weight.
Enjoy physical activity every day, your own way, as natural and beneficial.
Enjoy eating well; rediscover normal eating tune in to hunger, appetite and fullness.
Enjoy full nutrition without dieting; honor balance and variety; all foods can fit.
Focus on wellness in body, mind and spirit, on overall health and well-being.
An excellent summary (and handout!) of the HAES paradigm is athttp://www.healthyweight.net/celhaes.pdf.
Another summary of the HAES tenets is at
http://www.aedweb.org/sigs/health.cfm
They summarize it as:
Health enhancementattention to emotional, physical andspiritual well-being without focus on weight loss or achieving a specific ideal weight
Size and self-acceptancerespect and appreciation for the wonderful diversity of body shapes and sizes (including one's own!), rather than the pursuit of an idealized weight or shape
The pleasure of eating welleating based on internal cues of hunger, satiety, and appetite, rather than on external food plans or diets
The joy of movementencouraging all physical activities for the associated pleasure and health benefits, rather than following a specific routine of regimented exercise for the primary purpose of weight loss
An end to weight biasrecognition that body shape, size and/or weight are not evidence of any particular way of eating, level of physical activity, personality, psychological issue or moral character; confirmation that there is beauty and worth in EVERYbody
In the past, critics have charged that the HAES approach was unhealthy and would harm the health or participants. But a two-year long U.C. Davis study, published in the June 2005 issue of the Journal o f the American Dietetic Association (http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/medicalnews.php?newsid=25384) found that the Health At Every Size approach actually produced better long-term health benefits than a traditional dieting approach.
Members of the dieting group were told to moderately restrict their food consumption, maintain food diaries and monitor their weight. They were provided with information on the benefits of exercise, on behavioral strategies for successful dieting, and on how to count calories and fat content, read food labels and shop for appropriate foods.
Participants in the non-dieting group were instructed to let go of restrictive eating habits associated with dieting. Instead they were counseled to pay close attention to internal body cues indicating when they were truly hungry or full, and to how the food made them feel. They also received standard nutritional information to help them choose healthful foods, and participated in a support group designed to help them better understand how culture influences the experience of obese people and to become more accepting of their larger bodies. In addition, they were encouraged to identify and deal with barriers, including negative self-image, which might get in the way of enjoying physical activity.
The study spanned two years, with each group meeting for 24 weekly treatment sessions and, after that, for six monthly optional support group meetings. They also attended five testing sessions...At the testing sessions, factors such as blood pressure and cholesterol levels were measured. The participants' levels of physical activity also were evaluated, as were their eating behaviors and attitudes toward weight, body shapeandeating. Study results:
Almost all (92 percent) of the non-dieting group stayed in the study throughout the treatment period, while almost half (42 percent) of the dieters dropped out before finishing treatments. This reinforces another message of the research -- that in the long run, people are much more likely to stick with a non-diet than a diet.
When the researchers tallied the results from the participants who completed the study, they found that:
-- The non-dieters maintained their same weight throughout the study. The dieting group lost 5.2 percent of their initial weight by the end of the 24-week treatment period, but regained almost all of it by the end of the two-year study.
-- The non-dieters showed an initial increase in their total cholesterol levels, but this significantly decreased by the end of the study, as did their levels of LDL cholesterol or "bad" cholesterol. The dieters showed no significant change in total or LDL cholesterol levels at any time.
-- Both groups significantly lowered their systolic blood pressure during the first 52 weeks of the study. By the end of the study at 104 weeks, however, the non-dieters had sustained this improvement, while the diet group had not.
-- By the end of the two-year study, the non-dieters had almost quadrupled their moderate physical activity. The dieting group had a significant increase in physical activity right after the treatment period ended but had slipped back to their initial levels by the end of the study.
-- The non-dieters demonstrated significant improvements in self-esteem and depression at the end of the study, while the diet group demonstrated a worsening in self-esteem. The dieters' depression levels initially improved but then returned to baseline.
In summary, while the non-dieters did not lose weight, they succeeded in improving their overall health, as measured by cholesterol levels, blood pressure, physical activity and self-esteem. The dieters, on the other hand, were not able to sustain any of the short-term improvements they experienced and worsened in terms of their self-esteem.
So the Health At Every Size approach can be healthy. While it may seem that dieting to lose weight is healthier, for many people the HAES approach results in better health in the long run. And that's the most important thing, after all. As Kelly Bliss (author and exercise maven) suggests:
I propose that we END the War on Obese People and BEGIN A Campaign for Healthy Eating and Fitness for ALL People, ofALL Sizes.http://www.pearlsong.com/kellybliss.htm
12 Steps to Health At Every Size --- by Peggy Elam, Ph.D.www.peggyelam.com/12StepstoHAES.htm
1. Stop weighing yourself. Shift your focus from weight & body fat to healthy behaviors & fitness.
2. Fire the food & body police.
3. Stop critical self-talk. Would you speak to a friend or loved one the way you do to your body?
4. Increase positive talk. Talk to & treat yourself & your body the way you would a cherished friend, loved one, or child.
5. Clean out your closets. Give or throw away everything that doesnt fit, is uncomfortable, or that you havent worn in years. Fill your closets with beautiful, comfortable clothing in your present size.
6. Eat well & mindfully. Enjoy your food. Let nothing be off-limits. There are no forbidden foods. Dont restrict what you eat in order to lose weight, as those behaviors and attitudes have negative physical and emotional consequences. Focus instead on eating & living well.
7. Be active. Find, create, or discover activities that you enjoy, and engage in them regularly.
8. Listen to your body. It is the means by which your subconscious communicates with you. No one can discern your bodys messages better than you can, although you may need to re-learn its language. Pay attention to gut feelings.
9. Respect your body. It is a manifestation of and a conduit for your soul. Ensure that others respect it, too.
10. Reconnect mind & body. Increase your body awareness through yoga, walking meditation, Tai Chi, Qi Gong, massage & bodywork, and/or movement therapy (such as Feldenkrais). Focus on what your body can do and how good it can feel.
11. Address any emotional eating independent of weight change.
12. Invest in and support yourselfrather than the weight loss, pharmaceutical, healthcare, fashion or beauty industries.
Other links to HAES resources (see below for many other HAES links):
Making the Paradigm Shift -believe that everyone has a right to dignity, respect, and self-love, and that jokes that denigrate fat people are just as offensive as those that denigrate women or ethnic groups.
You'd be amazed athttp://www.healthyweight.net/guides.htmlmaking
Jon Robinson, PhD, writes about shifting to the HAES paradigm athttp://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/506299
He also has an extensive website for medical professionals, comparing the old view of fitness and weight loss versus the new Health At Every Size approach.
Quotes about Size Acceptance
Fat acceptance covers several fronts but generally can be described as attempting to change societal, internal, and medical attitudes about fat people, despite a great deal of criticism.
I support the radically simple idea that people should not be discriminated against, made fun of, restricted, or oppressed because of the size and shape of their bodies. Moreover, Iow difficult this idea is to convey, here in the Puritan '90s, when the great sin is no longer murder or kinky sex, but cheesecake. Fat is the last great acceptable prejudice.
Well, no more, not for me nor any of mine. I do not want to hear about your latest weight-loss scheme; I will not make self-deprecating jokes about my size, nor tolerate them being played out in my presence; I will not live on salad forever as penance for my shape; you should NOT assume I would rather be thin and am "just fooling myself", nor should you assume that I consume large quantities of junk food and never exercise (you'd be wrong in all three cases); I will challenge the assumption that fat people are stupid, clumsy, lacking in personal hygeine, and bad in bed (you'd REALLY be wrong there); and you definitely better make sure I get equal access to everything life has to offer, or there will be hell to pay.
Marty Hale-Evans
http://www.martynet.org/size.html
Treat yourself as you wish others to treat you. You may not be able to change them but you can change yourself...Self-acceptance is a dream each and every one of us can realise but it will take time and perseverance. Start now. You're worth it.
Lynda Finn, NZ size-acceptance activist and author,www.sizenet.com
Size Acceptance Terminology
"It isn't the word. It's the intention behind it." --Judy Sullivan, Size Wise
Terminology can be a hot-button point for many issues. This is true in size acceptance too. Writers have to walk a fine line between being "overly PC" with their terms, yet recognizing the negative power and associations with many of the commonly accepted terms. And different people are comfortable with different terms, of course. So it can be a real balancing act in deciding what terminology to use when writing about size.
"Fat" is the trendy term in the size-acceptance movement (also known as the fat acceptance movement). "Obese" and "morbidly obese" are the terms most used by the medical community. "Overweight" is the term many larger women choose, seeing it as less offensive than "fat," although size acceptance activists would disagree. "Chubby," "zaftig," "large," "plus-sized," "Rubenesque," and many other words are commonly used too. So there are many choices for terminology.
Kmom usually uses a variety of terms on her website and in person. Although she strongly prefers some terms over others, she mostly uses them interchangeably. As a person of size herself, she has the right to choose the terminology she uses about herself and other people of size.
But, of course, whatever term is used carries a lot of emotional baggage for some people. Kmom periodically gets hate mail---some of it quite unpleasant---from women of size who object to the use of the term "fat" on her website. Occasionally she gets challenged by size-acceptance activists over the use of "obese"or other similar terms. It's difficult to please everyone. This section of the website is to discuss why she uses the terms that she does.
Why Use "Fat"
The term "fat" is the term that is accepted in the size-acceptance movement. In the size acceptance movement, which promotes better health at every size, there has been a big movement to reclaim the word "fat." They feel it is part of empowering yourselfto see that word simply as a physical description instead of moral judgment or character assassination.
Unfortunately, many people have had the word "fat" used only negatively against them and so they carry very negative connotations with it. People with some eating disorders would literally rather die than have someone use the word "fat" about them. So of course, some people have a hard time hearing the word "fat" as simply a neutral term that is descriptive in nature. However, that is what it is----simply an adjective, not a moral judgment. Or at least, that is what it should be.
Other Possible Terms
Terminology is always your prerogative; of course you can call yourself whatever you prefer. But some people dislike certain terms because of the underlying assumptions behind them.
The term "overweight" assumes that there is a proper weight that you MUST adhere to or you are abnormal, yet the standards for determining what is normal are very skewed. "Overweight? Over whose weight?" is the reply. What is considered a "normal" weight for some people may be completely unachievable for them. How "normal" is that? If you are eating reasonably and getting reasonable and regular exercise, then you are at the "normal" weight for your body. "Overweight" judges your weight by others' standards, which may or may not be realistic for your body. Thus, most size acceptance activists reject the use of the word "overweight" as a better term than "fat," because it demands that you adhere to other people's rigid norms (and norms that change over time, too).
As for the term "obese," it implies a medical pathology. If you are "obese," then something is wrong with you. It doesn't matter if you have normal eating and exercise habits and this is just how your body is; your normal state is pathological and abnormal and dangerous. In other words, you are diseased.
Furthermore, "obese" is an ugly word to hear or to say. Kmom has rarely run into a person of size who prefers the term "obese." This is very telling. Most hate the term "obese" (and especially "morbidly obese") with a passion. Some say they hear the words, "Oh, Beast" whenever they hear "obese." Others can't say quite why they dislike it so, but they have a very negative reaction to it. Most feel it is an ugly word, inherently full of bias and discrimination.
Although "obese" can sometimes be simply a medical description for fatness, its usual medical use implies disease and pathology and abnormality. It is an ugly word, often one used to demonize people of size in research. Most people of size strongly prefer any term other than "obese." So this is why the size acceptance community has adopted the word "fat" instead of "overweight" or "obese." They find it more neutral.
"People/Women of size" is a term that Kmom has come to use more and more. At first, she felt it was overly "politically correct" and a bit stilted, but the more she heard it, the more she liked it. It's physically descriptive without the emotional baggage some people have around the word "fat," so she often uses it when speaking to mixed audiences who may not be comfortable with "fat."
"Plus-sized" is another fairly neutral term that seems to be well-accepted among most women. It gets the message across without being so judgmental about size, and includes a perceptible cut-off for what is considered "plus-sized" (size 14 and larger). Although again it forces a group of people to be measured against an arbitrary "norm," it seems less judgmental than "overweight." Because of the relative neutrality of the term to a wide spectrum of people and the alliteration it presented, Kmom chose this as the title of her website, www.plus-size-pregnancy.org.
There are many other lovely and creative terms for women of size. Kmom's personal favorite euphemisms are "BBW," "zaftig" and "Rubenesque." "BBW" stands for Big Beautiful Woman, while "zaftig" literally means "juicy" and "Rubenesque" refers to thebountiful womanly physique memorialized by the painter Ruben. It is good to remember that fashions change and that the curvy and bountiful physique of times past was considered much sexier and womanly than the boyish stick-figure-with-artificial-boobs that you see in the media today. REAL women have curves, indeed! But unfortunately, many people do not know what these terms mean, so they are not effective as common terminology.
Other terms may include things like "large," "chubby," "ample," "portly," "hefty," "big," "stout," "plump," "heavy-set," "pudgy," "voluptuous," "big-boned," "curvaceous," "bountiful," "fluffy," etc. Some people love these, but some people find them condescending euphemisms. Of course, context is everything. How the word is spoken and meant by the speaker, plus the inherent judgments behind its use become more important than the actual word that is used. As Judy Sullivan notes, "It isn't the word. It's the intention behind it."
Supersize It?
Another situation that can cause many ill feelings among people of size is when we try to describe someone who is "extra" large. Not just fat but "morbidly obese" (in medical terminology). Some people object to defining people by levels of fatness at all, but sometimes this can be useful and needed when discussing research about differing levels of fatness. Similarly, many "morbidly obese" women wrote to Kmom, asking for a special section of birth stories just about them, because so many stories they were reading were about women who were mildly "overweight" as opposed to truly fat. So it became apparent that a term for "extra big" people was needed, but what? Nearly everyone loathes "morbidly obese" and "extra big" was just too ambiguous and judgmental.
So the size acceptance communitycame up with the term "supersized" to describe this group. (The term came out long before junkfood restaurants used it to describe extra-large portions of food.) The size acceptance community felt supersized was empowering because they came up with the term themselves, and it was descriptive without being truly demeaning. However, sometimes it engenders ill feelings, especially among those new to size acceptance. Exact definitions differ, but it most often is used to mean people above 300 lbs., or above a size 26/28 or so.
Medical researchers have gone beyond "morbidly obese" to invent the term "super obese" to describe people who havean extremely high BMIs. This may be marginally better than "morbidly obese" but not by much. Again, any term that uses "obese" (morbidly- or super- or whatever) is seen as condescending and pathologizing to people in the size-acceptance movement. They far prefer their own term, supersized, which they feel is more neutral. It is not a perfect term, but it seems better than the alternatives.
Kmom's Choice of Terminology On This Website
You can feel free to call yourself whatever you prefer, but Kmom does not feel constrained by other people's biases. Sooner or later, she uses nearly all of these terms on her website, just to reflect common usage by other people. However, she does prefer some terms over others and you will see these used more often on this site.
Kmom personally prefers "fat," "woman of size," "plus-sized,""big," or "large," and so that is what she mostly chooses to use on her website. She sometimes uses "obese" because she reads a lot of medical research; it becomes appropriate to use their terminology when discussing this research. Also, many women type "obesity +pregnancy" or ("overweight +pregnancy" etc.) into their search engine; using a wide variety of terms helps this website be found sooner. So even though she does not care for the terms "obese" and "overweight," she does sometimes use them for practical purposes, just to reflect common usage by other women and to create keywords that make the website easier to find.
Some people find it difficult to read the word "fat" on Kmom's website because they simply cannot hear it without all the judgment and venom attached to it----the voices of the past echo too strongly in their ears. Use whatever term you prefer, but don't be offended when Kmom chooses to use the physically most descriptive word, which is "fat." Remember that shemeans it in a neutral way.
"Fat" should be simply a physical description. It's a simple adjective, not a character judgment. Kmom feels that if more of us reclaimed the word in its original meaning, it would lose much of its negative power to hurt others, especially our vulnerable children as they grow up. Consider it as part of your empowerment journey.
Other Women Write About "Fat" Terminology
One mom wrote:
I'd much rather be called "fat" or "super-sized" or "woman of size" than "morbidly obese". That makes it sound like I already have one foot in the grave and the other on a banana peel.
Another mom wrote:
A crash course in fat acceptance...in my mind, Step #1 is accepting that you are fat and that being fat does NOT equal being bad, ugly, dumb, stupid, lazy, dirty, irresponsible, or one-foot-in-the-grave. This is why people object to being called "fat", you do understand? "Fat" has been used as an epithet so much, people forget that it's just a word to describe a person, no different from "tall" or "brunette."
A lot of people in the fat acceptance community feel strongly about reclaiming the word "fat." Part of that is because it's unfair to use it as a word that means "bad" in some way. Part of it (at least for me) is just to stop tip-toeing around the issue and confront it head-on, like, I'd rather someone call me "fat" than "big-boned" or "plump" or "heavy-set" or anything like that (although I kinda like "zaftig" because it means "juicy!"). On more than one occasion, my husband has tried to turn around the perceptions of people he'sin a group conversation with, when some topic about size comes up (I've trained him well), and when he says "Well, my wife is fat, and..." someone (usually a woman) will be shocked and appalled that he would *dare* to call his wife "fat". He will point out that it's the word I'd use for myself, but that seems to make people think I'm self-deprecating. My husband will ask if there's something wrong with *not* hating fat.
Various writers write about terminology athttp://www.bigfatblog.com/discussions/archives/001289.php
I ...really hate "overweight" because it does assume that there is a magical weight we can be "over" & "obese", because it is a made-up name for a made-up disease, used as an excuse to prescribe a cure which does not work.
I think it is important to use the word "fat" as a rule---that is the only way to take the taint and the stigma from the word (which reminds me of something Lenny Bruce said aboutusing certain words over and over again to divest them of power).
I looove the word 'fat'. It scares people. It's in-your-face. Imagine! A simple, descriptive word. People think when I describe myself as fat that I'm being self-deprecating. I have to tell them, no, I'm simply being descriptive.
Judy Sullivan says it so well in her book, Size Wise,www.sizewise.com
Overwhelmingly the descriptive word of choice among individuals who have come to terms with being a larger-than-"normal" person is the word fat. It is time to decriminalize this word. I have chosen to use it on occasion throughout the book and on this web site and mean no offense to anyone. Those of you who just don't care for the term should feel free to mentally change each occurrence of fat to whatever word you prefer. I won't be offended...[But] it isn't the word. It's the intention behind it.
Health At Every Size (HAES)is an approach to health and well-being that celebrates natural diversity in body size, encouraging people to stop focusing on weight (or any numbers on a scale, BMI, or calorie/fat/carbohydrate chart), dieting, or other weight loss efforts in favor of listening to and respecting their natural appetites for food, drink, sleep, rest, and recreation.
The basic principles of Health At Every Size as outlined by the Association for Size Diversity and Health (ASDAH)are:
Accepting and respecting the diversity of body shapes and sizes.
Recognizing that health and well-being are multi-dimensional and that they include physical, social, spiritual, occupational, emotional, and intellectual aspects.
Promoting all aspects of health and well-being for people of all sizes.
Promoting eating in a manner which balances individual nutritional needs, hunger, satiety, appetite, and pleasure.
Promoting individually appropriate, enjoyable, life-enhancing physical activity, rather than exercise that is focused on a goal of weight loss.
Health At Every Size (sometimes referred to as Health At Any Size, or Health For All Sizes) is a solution to health concerns that helps people live well without encouraging or reinforcing size/weight prejudices or phobias, poor body image, or eating disordersor the negative health consequences of dieting-related weight loss and regain.
Health At Every Size Resources & Links
Health At Every Sizeradio show on Radio Free Nashville
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Declaration of Taking Up Space
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Association for Size Diversity and Health (ASDAH)
Health At Every Size Professionals
Claudia Clark, Ph.D.
Director, Association for Size Diversity and Health
419-372-2081
caclark@bgnet.bgsu.edu
Counseling Center
320 Saddlemire Building
Bowling Green State University
Bowling Green, OH 43403
http://www.bgsu.edu/offices/sa/counseling/ASDAH.htm
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Healthy Weight Journal
Family Nutrition, Weight Loss Problems, Quackery
and Fraud
Francie M. Berg, MS, Licensed Nutritionist
Adjunct Professor,
University of North Dakota
School of Medicine
701-567-2646
fax 701-567-2602
fmberg@healthyweight.net
402 South 14th Street
Hettinger, ND 58639
http://www.healthyweight.net
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Council on Size & Weight Discrimination
Miriam Berg, President
Council on Size & Weight Discrimination
845-679-1209
info@cswd.org
PO Box 305
Mount Marion, NY 12456
http://www.cswd.org
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National Association to Advance Fat Acceptance
Peggy Howell, Public Relations Chairman
707-246-6116
pr@naafa.org
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International Size Acceptance Association
Allen Steadham, Director and Founder of ISAA
512-371-4307
Director@size-acceptance.org
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Fat Friendly Research Professionals
Heath at Every Size Research (Non-Dieting Approaches)
Linda Bacon, Ph.D.
Nutrition Professor
510-526-6343
lbacon@ccsf.edu
Box S-80
City College of San Francisco
50 Phelan Street
San Francisco, CA 94112
http://www.lindabacon.org
Laboratory Research on Fat and Health
Paul Ernsberger, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Nutrition
Case Western Reserve University
pre@cwru.edu
http://www.cwru.edu/med/nutrition/ernsberger.html
Holistic Health Promotion and Health At Every Size
Jon Robison, Ph.D.
517-347-6016
robisonj@msu.edu
Metabolic Fitness Research
Glenn A. Gaesser, Ph.D.
Professor and Director, Kinesiology Program
434-924-3543
Fax: 434-924-1389
gag2q@virginia.edu
University of Virginia
210 Emmet St., So.
P.O. Box 400407
Charlottesville, VA 22904-4407
http://curry.edschool.virginia.edu/exphys/gaesser.html
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FAT!SO?Fat Liberation
Marilyn Wann
marilyn@fatso.com
415-921-5967
cell: 415-516-1474
http://fatso.com
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Body Positive
Deb Burgard, Ph.D.
Eating Disorders/Body Image Specialist
650-321-2606
debburgard@aol.com
5050 El Camino Real, Suite 202
Los Altos, CA 94022
http://www.bodypositive.com
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Positive Body Image for Kids
Connie Sobczak, B.A. Executive Director
The Body Positive
510-548-0101
fax: 510-548-4224
connie@thebodypositive.org
2550 9th Street, Suite 204B
Berkeley, CA 94710
http://www.thebodypositive.org
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Recovery from Dieting & Fitness for Large People
Kelly Bliss, M.Ed.
610-394-2547
http://www.KellyBliss.com
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Social Inequalities and Moral Assumptions about Weight
Abigail C. Saguy, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor, UCLA Department of Sociology
310-794-4979
fax: 310-206 9838
Saguy@soc.ucla.edu
264 Haines Hall
Los Angeles, CA 90095-1551
http://www.soc.com
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Nourishing Connections Recovery from Diet Trauma; Disordered Eating; Eating Disorders
Karin Kratina, Ph.D.
352-371-8181
kratina@ufl.edu
5912 NW 29th Street
Gainesville, FL 32653
http://www.nourishingconnections.com/
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Politics of Obesity
Paul Campos, J.D.
Professor of Law
University of Colorado
303-492-6053
paul.campos@colorado.edu
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Size Matters Radio Show
Veronica Cook-Euell, M.A., P.H.R.
330-668-9778
veronica@sizematterstoo.com
Euell Consulting Group LLC
PO Box 8369
Akron, Ohio 44320-8369
http://www.theeuellconsultinggroup.com
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Size Acceptance and Medical Ethics
Lynn McAfee
610-970-8166
Lynn@cswd.org
986 Von Steuben Dr
Stowe, PA 19464
http://www.cswd.org/medlynn.html
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Law and Weight-Based Discrimination
Sondra Solovay, Esq.
510-839-8743
SondraSolovay@sbcglobal.net
2625 Alcatraz Avenue, #261
Berkeley, CA 94705
http://www.beyondbias.org/
Harmony Center for Holistic Psychotherapy
6625 N. 2nd Street
Loves Park, IL 61111
United States
ph: 815-639-0300
fax: 815-639-0303
LisaBrei
