When I turned 13, the year I figured I’d finally rule my junior high school (i.e., not be totally unpopular), my parents decided to move to Florida.

Part of me was devastated. I was leaving my close family, my amazing friends (who I’m still close with!) and the opportunity to finally be a senior.

But the other part was ecstatic. I dreamed about the magic of starting fresh.

I’d be beautiful, popular, confident. I could be anyone I wanted to be.

Not surprisingly, the reality was sobering.

Here’s part two of my interview with Anna Guest-Jelley, a certified yoga instructor and founder of Curvy Yoga. (Check out part one here.)

Anna believes in being healthy at every size. (Me too!) She’s dedicated to promoting the messages of joyous movement and self-acceptance at every shape.

Instead of focusing on shame and self-loathing – which we see promoted all-too often by the media and even some health professionals – Anna helps people challenge such negative ideas and feel safe and truly happy moving their bodies.

To me, this is a great gift to give to others.

She also writes a fantastic blog on her website. It’s wise, well-written and most importantly honest and genuine – which are just some of the qualities, among many, that I admire about Anna.

Below, Anna talks about what a positive body image means to her, what helps her stay positive, how to practice yoga at home and so much more!

How many of you have ever felt uncomfortable, too big or just not good enough when going to the gym or trying out a new fitness class?

What if the instructor made you feel like you didn’t belong in the class or didn’t even know how to provide you with safe ways to practice?

So many of us can relate to feeling out of place. In fact, many people don’t pursue physical activities because of such feelings.

But there are amazing people out there who are working to change that!

Anna Guest-Jelley is a certified yoga instructor and founder of Curvy Yoga. And I think a true inspiration!

As she writes on her about page, “One of the primary goals of Curvy Yoga is to give fat people a safe space in which to move their bodies—for the first time in a long time, for many people.”

Plus, “Curvy Yoga also strives to give people quiet space for introspection and reflection to start challenging the ways in which they care for themselves and creating a life built on happiness rather than self-loathing.”

Below, Anna talks about why she started Curvy Yoga and her own struggles with self-acceptance, the diet mentality and body image.

Mondays can be rough for many of us, and this doesn’t create the ideal environment for building a better body image. To help you turn that around, every Monday features a tip, activity, inspiring quote or some other tidbit to help boost your body image – and kick-start the week on a positive note.

Got a tip for improving body image? Email me at mtartakovsky at gmail dot com, and I’ll be happy to feature it. I’d love to hear from you!

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Years ago, when my body image was in the dumps, I would’ve never thought of getting flowers for myself.

And if I had thought of it, I would’ve viewed it as a waste. Sure, I had no problem buying a new shirt or a good book.

But something like flowers?

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Many people think that Health At Every Size (HAES) eschews health, that it promotes sitting on the couch, eating a bag of potato chips, day in, day out. Of course, I’m slightly exaggerating, but many people do hold similarly erroneous views of HAES.

Below, Linda Bacon, Ph.D, author of Health At Every Size: The Surprising Truth About Your Weight and a physiologist specializing in nutrition and weight regulation, shares several other myths. She also talks about how your attitudes about being healthy are important.

Also, if you’d like to learn about the research behind HAES, read Linda and Lucy Aphramor’s article in Nutrition Journal.

If you haven’t yet, please check out part one and part two of our interview.

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Yesterday, in part one of our interview, Linda Bacon, Ph.D, author of Health At Every Size: The Surprising Truth About Your Weight, recounted the various reactions she encountered on her speaking tour.

I was thrilled to learn that people were generally welcoming, open to and excited about Health At Every Size (HAES).

Even though there’s still a great hysteria about the obesity epidemic and a ballooning focus on dieting, it’s reassuring to know that many people aren’t buying into the idea that one’s weight (or their BMI) is indicative of their health.

People are starting to abandon dieting and engage in enjoyable physical activities. And that’s great news!

Below, Linda addresses one of the most common cited dangers of obesity. Plus, she talks about where we can actually find reputable information on food (hint: the answer isn’t what you think).

Please stay tuned tomorrow for the last part of our interview. Linda discusses HAES myths and more!

Linda Bacon, Ph.D, is the author of the must-read book Health At Every Size: The Surprising Truth About Your Weight. She’s also a nutrition professor in the Biology Department at City College of San Francisco and serves as an associate nutritionist at the University of California, Davis.

Last year, I had  the great pleasure of speaking to Linda about Health At Every Size (HAES) and her book (part 1 and part 2). It was truly an eye-opening interview that has forever changed my opinion on the importance of weight in health.

It’s affected me personally in how I live my life – with a focus on healthy habits, listening to my body and engaging in physical activities that make me happy – and the message I choose to spread.

As a reminder, here’s what HAES is all about (taken from Linda’s website):

“Health at Every Size is based on the simple premise that the best way to improve health is to honor your body. It supports people in adopting good health habits for the sake of health and well-being (rather than weight control). Health at Every Size encourages:

• Accepting and respecting the natural diversity of body sizes and shapes.
• Eating in a flexible manner that values pleasure and honors internal cues of hunger, satiety and appetite.
• Finding the joy in moving one’s body and becoming more physically vital.“

In 2010, Linda went on a speaking tour around the country, talking about HAES and debunking the research that shows weight is a critical factor in health.

I was curious to see what reactions she encountered during her talks. So below Linda talks about her presentations to the public, health professionals and researchers.

Be sure to come back tomorrow for part two!