Why It’s Time to Change Our Thinking About Weight: A Q&A with Linda Bacon
Margarita Tartakovsky, MS
Fat is vilified in our culture. That, unfortunately, is a fact. We think that weight loss will lead to many a splendid thing, including health and success. We think diet and lots of exercise will help us lose weight and maintain it. We’re always on the lookout for the next secret to weight loss, some pill, supplement, new workout craze, anything that’ll bring us closer to reaching our goal.
But there’s a reality that we rarely hear about that seems overshadowed by shows like The Biggest Loser, which illustrate big losses, and media attention, fear and unhelpful regulations about the obesity epidemic. Schools ban cupcakes while grocery stores reward thinner employees. Our assumption of larger bodies being unhealthy is deeply ingrained.
That’s why I’m so thrilled to present part one of my interview with Linda Bacon, Ph.D, author of Health At Every Size: The Surprising Truth About Your Weight, a book that reveals the reality behind weight loss and dieting. Linda is a nutrition professor and researcher in the Biology Department at City College of San Francisco. She’s also part of a movement called Health At Every Size, which emphasizes health, not weight. It doesn’t demonize fat and it doesn’t encourage weight loss. Instead, it encourages honoring and listening to our bodies, moving our bodies and eating in a flexible way.
Below is part one of my eye-opening interview with Linda, where she presents solid research about the many, many weight-loss misconceptions that we accept every day as facts.
1. Q: Can you talk about some of the biggest misconceptions about weight loss and the so-called obesity epidemic?
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Toxic Levels Of Self-Hate
Melissa Groman LCSW /Hope Forward
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Question #16: Forbidden Foods & What It's Really About
"In these years of anorexia, I've stopped eating a lot of different foods (most of them, except fruits, vegetables, yogurt and meat), and some of the foods I've stopped eating, they have become some kind of 'forbidden': I still can't eat some of them (such as pizza, ice-cream, hamburgers, wrustel, etc...), while I eat hardly some others... So, I wanted to ask you: have you lived something similar? If yes, have you solved the problem, or are there 'forbidden' food to you, right now? Moreover: how did you solve this problem? How can you resist to put out again some foods from your nutrition?" It may surprise you to know that I have no "forbidden" foods. I also have no "safe" foods. I eat everything, and I do mean everything. I'm not even a picky eater. There are a few foods I naturally dislike like creamed corn, french onion soup, and scallops, but I've disliked them since childhood. Other than those and a very few others, I eat anything and everything. When I was dealing with my anorexia...
Read in full here.
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What The Eating Disorder World Wants Mrs. Obama To Know
Laura Collins Lyster-Mensh /The Huffington Post
In the eating disorders world, putting any child on a diet is not only unacceptable but appalling.
In the eating disorders world, a father referring to his child as "chubby" and commenting on her eating habits is not only frowned upon it is reviled.
In the eating disorder world a mother who felt her children were "perfect" should not be corrected by a doctor who points to the children's weight as altering that.
In the eating disorders world it is well-known and embraced that healthy children rapidly gain weight as they approach puberty.
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Dove and Diversity: Not Just For Women
Ads for cars, beer, and action movies typically dominate the costly airtime during Super Bowl. But during The Big Game of 2006, it wasn’t another Bud Light commercial that captivated viewers. Instead, the Dove Campaign for Real Beauty reached an estimated 90.7 million football fans via a 45-second spot that promoted Dove’s Self-Esteem Fund. Dove's manufacturer, Unilever, created the hard-hitting video, True Colors, enlightening the audience—many of them parents—to the importance of fostering a positive body image in girls. And this year, they will do it again.
On Sunday, February 7th Super Bowl XLIV airs another spot that celebrates body diversity. This time, men are the focus:
Read Dove and Diversity in full here.
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Body fat- it's not a bad thing
Carrie Arnold/ ED Bites
A new study confirms previous research that a higher percent body fat is associated with better outcomes for anorexia, and that lower body fat percentages are associated with relapse (Bodell and Mayer, 2010). The research isn't exactly groundbreaking, nor is the science--it's a pretty straightforward statistical analysis--but the results bear repeating. For most of my treatment, I've had clinicians low-ball my weight. They'd use some sort of plug-n-chug formula and tell me what I needed to weigh. Only twice was I asked what I weighed before the eating disorder during these "What should healthy Carrie weigh?" conversations. The second time, I lied because that is what people with eating disorders do when they are terrified of gaining weight and want to avoid it at all costs. Nothing egregiously inaccurate, but still.
Read in full here
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February 26th will mark my 4th year in recovery from my eating disorder. Four YEARS! Can you believe it?
In anticipation of this four year mark, I’ve been very thoughtful lately about my past, where I’ve been, how I arrived there, and how I have come to the place where I am now. And where is this ‘place’ that I’m talking about?
The place is happiness.
The place is peace.
It is a place filled with the knowledge that I don’t need to obsess about every morsel that passes my lips, and the confidence to know the difference between hunger and pain (or hurt or boredom or anxiety).
It is also a place where I trust in my own body to tell me what it needs, and have the ability to forgive myself in advance for any over-indulgences that may occur on occasion.
I no longer live in a state of instability and chaos (inevitably dictated by the number on the scale each morning). Oh, what a total relief THAT is!
Above all, I’m coming from a place of love, kindness, and compassion.
This place was not discovered easily. It took a lot of work, self-doubt and determination. In all truth, much of the time, I faked it till I made it. It’s still not easy at times, and I have my own personal struggles just as anyone with past (or present) disordered eating does. However, the bottom line is this…
-------------------------------------------------Trimming The Budget-Not Just For The Arts & Music Anymore
Tracey Mere /The Givens That Are Our Graces
Albany's governor proposed budget eliminates funding for eating disorders in order to keep the focus on obesity and diseases related to obesity.
"In comparison to obesity and diabetes, eating disorders affect relatively few New Yorkers," said Claudia Hutton, spokeswoman for the state Department of Health.
The governor's budget will end the $1.7 million annual subsidies to the state's three eating disorder centers, including $500,000 to Albany Medical Center. The cut would eliminate Albany Med's entire budget and close the eating disorder program.
"It creates a huge void in the services we've been able to develop," said Dr. Sharon Alger-Mayer, medical director of the Northeast Comprehensive Care Center for Eating Disorders at Albany Med.
The program serves about 2,000 people through outpatient services and 50 people who need to be...
Read in full here.
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BEFORE SIZE ZERO: THE WAY WE WERE...
Medusa
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Unattainable Beauty: The Decades Most Egregious Retouching Scandals
Newsweek
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Girls' favorite cartoon characters get make-overs (not good ones)
feministing.com
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Mom Camps Out To Get Spot In Mental Ward For Son
Newsobserver.com
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