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That’s a question that Amy Pershing gets asked a lot! Clearly, it’s a testament to the insidious impact of the weight-loss and diet industries. Below Amy offers an eloquent answer.

If you remember, I recently interviewed Amy about binge eating disorder. Check out what she had to say about binge eating myths and challenges of recovery and her own struggles and recovery.

Amy is the executive director at PershingTurner Centers and clinical director for The Center for Eating Disorders in Ann Arbor, MI. She’s also an advocate of Health At Every Size.

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!

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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!

Today, I’m thrilled to present my interview with Golda Poretsky. If you remember, Golda owns and operates Body Love Wellness and she helps people love their bodies and ditch the diet mentality.

I think she’s a wonderful person who’s doing fantastic work. I’ve referred to her work countless times here on Weightless (umm, just this week!). And her free teleclasses are awesome.

Golda’s book, Stop Dieting Now: 25 Reasons To Stop, 25 Ways To Heal, was recently published (I actually talked about it here), and below we talked all about that, the myths about dieting and intuitive eating and letting go of the diet mentality. I think the book provides tons of great insight – reasons that I would’ve never even thought of – and very valuable tips.

I still have a hard time “justifying” a workout that isn’t grueling. Don’t get me wrong, I love challenging my body and getting a heart-pumping, strength-training workout. It’s an elixir for my anxiety. And many times, it’s fun.

But it’s not always what my body requests.

If I’m stretching or doing something else less rigorous, I wonder if I should be pushing myself more. I wonder if I’m making the best use of my time. Am I truly being efficient?

I can also hear women’s fitness magazines in my mind, scolding me.

Today, I’m pleased to present my interview with Jeanne Courtney, MFT, a Health at Every Size SM practitioner, who helps women of all sizes learn to love their bodies.

Below, Jeanne talks about everything from the grief process of giving up weight-loss goals to her favorite body image tips to finding fun ways to move your body.

This is the last part of our interview series with the incredible Judith Matz and Ellen Frankel, therapists and authors of The Diet Survivor’s Handbook: 60 Lessons in Eating, Acceptance and Self-Care.

If you haven’t already, be sure to check out part one and part two of our interviews. And take a look at their website, which has tons of great information.

Below, Judith and Ellen talk more about attuned eating, how to handle weight worries and their favorite tips for improving body image. You might want to make a list of their tips and have them handy. I think their advice is very practical and inspiring. I really can’t say enough how thrilled I am to be able to share their wise words with you — I’ve definitely learned a lot, and I hope you have, too.

As I’ve already mentioned, I’m a huge fan of the book The Diet Survivor’s Handbook: 60 Lessons in Eating, Acceptance and Self-Care and its authors Judith Matz and Ellen Frankel, who are both therapists specializing in eating problems.

Today, I’m thrilled to present part one (of three!) of our interview. Below, Judith and Ellen talk about what it means to be a diet survivor, the many misconceptions about being healthy and the surprising dangers of dieting. I found their interview to be incredibly eye-opening and thought-provoking. And I think you will, too!