Health At Every Size

May 12, 2008 food-positive Health At Every Size radio show

Today's Fat & Happy Music: "Happy Being Fat" (Big Dee Irwin), "Big Rock Candy Mountain" (Harry McLintock), "Dinner at Aunt Stella's" (Les Kerr), "Funeral Food" & "Jesus & Tomatoes" (Kate Campbell), "Cheeseburger in Paradise" (Jimmy Buffett), "Beans & Cornbread" (Louis Jordan & His Tympany Five). "Homegrown Tomatoes" (Guy Clark) & "Chicken Cordon Bleus" (Steve Goodman).

Food for Thought: I've had food- and eating-themed shows before, but today's show was prompted by the Women's National Book Association Nashville chapter's upcoming summer reading/discussion series, whose theme this year is "Food for Thought: Reading and Writing About Food."

Each 1 1/2 hour Monday night book discussion session (starting June 9, with no class on June 30) is free and open to the public. You don't have to be a WNBA member to attend. You don't even have to be a woman to attend.

The June 9 book is Home Cooking: A Writer in the Kitchen by Laurie Colwin. June 16 it's The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals by Michael Pollan. On June 23 participants will discuss Like Water for Chocolate by Laura Esquivel; July 7, My Life in France by Julia Child & Alex Prud'homme; July 14, The Measure of Her Powers: An M.F.K. Fisher Reader edited by Dominique Gioloa; and July 21, The Debt to Pleasure by John Lanchester.

Each session will be facilitated by a literary expert, from Andrea Lindsey of Blackman High School to Ed & Janey Gleaves (retired from the Tennessee State Library & Archives) and Steve Prewitt of Lipscomb University.The sessions will be held from 7 to 8:30p.m. in Room 136 of the Ezell Center at Lipscomb University on the respective nights.

I haven't read any of the books in the series, so can't recommend them personally....although I've seen the movie version of Like Water for Chocolate and enjoyed its magical realism. But if contemporary orthorexic health pronouncements about food -- or chronic dieting -- have taken the joy out of your eating or cooking, these books might be worth sampling. (A caveat, though: I've skimmed the book description and some reviews of The Omnivore's Dilemma at Amazon.com, and that book appears to present some "obesity epidemic" hype as if it is fact, as well as perpetuate "good food/bad food" dichotomizing. For a balanced perspective, you might also read The Gospel of Food: Everything You Think You Know About Food is Wrong by Barry Glassner, as well as J. Eric Oliver's Fat Politics: The Real Story Behind America's Obesity Epidemic if you believe "obesity" is raging out of control in the U.S.)

If dieting culture has so alienated you from your appetites that you aren't sure what "normal" or natural eating is, consider this definition of "normal eating" by Ellyn Satter which I heartily recommend. It's from her 1987 book How to Get Your Kid to Eat...But Not Too Much.

Normal eating is being able to eat when you are hungry and continue eating until you are satisfied. It is being able to choose food you like and eat it and truly get enough of it -- not just stop eating because you think you should. Normal eating is being able to use some moderate constraint on your food selection to get the right food, but not being so restrictive that you miss out on pleasurable foods. Normal eating is giving yourself permission to eat sometimes because you are happy, sad, or bored, or just because it feels good. Normal eating is three meals a day, or it can be choosing to munch along. It is leaving some cookies on the plate because you know you can have some again tomorrow, or it is eating more now because they taste so wonderful when they are fresh. Normal eating is overeating at times; feeling stuffed and uncomfortable. It is also undereating at times and wishing you have more. Normal eating is trusting your body to make up for your mistakes in eating. Normal eating takes up some of your time and attention, but keeps its place as only one important area in your life.

In short, normal eating is flexible. It varies in response to your emotions, your schedule, your hunger, and your proximity to food.

Bon appetit!

Audio: Listen to and/or download the mp3 recording of today's show here. (Right click on the link and "save as" to download.)

A Fat Woman's Manifesto

Judy Bagshaw, author of romantic fiction with full-figured heroines (including At Long Last, Love, published by my company, Pearlsong Press), has A Fat Woman's Manifesto that I love. I'm posting it here with her permission.

A Fat Woman's Manifesto
by Judy Bagshaw (copyright 2001)
(this big girl will NOT be pushed around any more!)

1. Diets will no longer factor at all in my life. A healthy lifestyle will!
2. Life is a banquet. I intend to get my money's worth.
3. My weight is not open for discussion -- period!
4. I'll eat anything I damn well please!
5. I will not settle for second best.
6. I will greet the world with my head up.
7. Fear will no longer rule my actions.
8. I won't put up with put-downs.
9. I won't base my self-esteem on other people's opinions.
10. I'm Fat. Get over it!

The American Heritage Dictionary defines "manifesto" as "A public declaration of principles, policies, or intentions, especially of a political nature." Since war has been declared on "obesity," I'd say manifestos  from the targeted population are particularly apt.

I'm reminded of Pattie Thomas, Ph.D.'s "Declaration of Taking Up Space," another manifesto that calls for warriors of all sizes to stand for the freedom to control one's body and help end the war on fat people.

So....what's YOUR manifesto?

May 5, 2008 Health At Every Size radio show celebrating International No Diet Day (May 6)

Today's Fat & Happy Music: "Happy Being Fat" (Big Dee Irwin), "Women's Bodies" (Rebecca Riots), "Even Free" (Kristi Martel), "The Losing Game" (Cosy Sheridan), "The Bathing Suit Song" (The Bathing Suit Song), "More to Love" (Robin Mink), "Let My People Go-Go" (The Rainmakers) & "Fit, Fat & Fine" (Candye Kane).

Food for Thought: The Association for Size Diversity and Health calls on people to celebrate International No Diet Day May 6. Among the reasons to stop dieting that I share during the show is the Council on Size and Weight Discrimination's "Top Ten Reasons To Give Up Dieting" (posted online at Largesse, the Network for Size Esteem). I also talk about bariatric surgery as the surgical creation of eating disorders (and other health problems) in the name of weight loss, and journalist Shannon Brownlee's identification of bariatric surgery centers as one of the "refuges of profit" (aka cash cows) in American hospitals in her book Overtreated: Why Too Much Medicine is Making Us Sicker and Poorer.

Audio: Listen to and/or download the mp3 recording of today's show here. (Right click on the link and "save as" to download.)

April 28, 2008 Health At Every Size radio show with guest Pat Ballard, Queen of Rubenesque Romances

Today's Fat & Happy Music: "Happy Being Fat" (Big Dee Irwin) & "Barbie," "The Losing Game," & "Iphigenia" (Cosy Sheridan, from her musicalogue soundtrack CD The Pomegranate Seed (An Exploration of Appetite, Body-Image And Myth in Modern Culture).

Food for Thought: Guest Pat Ballard (the Queen of Rubenesque Romances) and I discussed a new survey by SELF Magazine and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in which 65% of women aged 25-45 reported engaging in disordered eating behaviors.

I want to note, though, that despite some ways in which this research is being presented by the media, "disordered eating" is not the same thing as "eating disorder." All people who have eating disorders engage in disordered eating, but not all people whose eating patterns are disordered would fit diagnostic criteria for eating disorders. Still, the research does shine a light on the prevalence of self-reported disturbance in body image and eating among a certain group of American women. And as Pat and I mention, many of the disordered eating patterns, such as limiting caloric intake and/or eliminating entire food groups, are common to diet programs--and frequently encouraged by women's magazines like SELF.

In fact, SELF's own website and reporting of the survey demonstrates the schizophrenogenic nature typical of contemporary media reports related to eating disorders and body image disturbance. Their website is rife with ads and articles cheering girls and women to "drop pounds" and "get healthy" -- equating "health" with the no-doubt-Photoshopped sleekness of scantily clad young models, with occasional token nods to size (and self) acceptance that still promote the idea that only certain sizes are acceptable or healthy. Their article on the survey even praises a woman for getting "on the road to a healthy weight" by having her gastrointestinal tract mutilated to create a surgically induced eating disorder! (AKA "gastric bypass surgery.")

Audio: Listen to and/or download the mp3 recording of today's show here. (Right click on the link and "save as" to download.)

April 21, 2008 Health At Every Size radio show with interview of Lisa Sarasohn, author of The Woman's Belly Book

Today's Fat & Happy Music: "Happy Being Fat" (Big Dee Irwin), "Demeter's Lost Daughter" & "Iphigenia" (Cosy Sheridan), & "Homegrown Tomatoes" (Guy Clark).

Food for Thought: Interview with  Lisa Sarasohn, author of The Woman's Belly Book: Finding Your True Center for More Energy, Confidence, & Pleasure. Lisa and I talk bellies and she takes me (and listeners who choose to participate through a belly awareness exercise.

Lisa will lead a Gutsy Women! workshop in Ashville, NC June 22, 2008 as part of that weekend's Time For Our Power: Women Bringing Change to the World conference.

Audio: Listen to and/or download the mp3 recording of today's show here. (Right click on the link and "save as" to download.)

Announcement: Next week Pat Ballard, the Queen of Rubenesque Romances, will be my guest live in the studio. Join us for the fun.

April 14, 2008 Health At Every Size radio show -- 20 Ways to Love Your Body

Today's Fat & Happy Music: "Happy Being Fat" (Big Dee Irwin), "Somewhere Over the Rainbow/What A Wonderful World" (Israel Kamakawiwo'ole), "Dorothy & Eve" & "All Alone With A Bathingsuit" (Cosy Sheridan), "Phenomenal Woman" (Ruthie Foster), "Women's Bodies" (Rebecca Riots), "Fat Girl" (Creamy Goodness), "The Bathing Suit Song" (The Bathing Suit Song), "How Could Anyone" (Shaina Noll) & "Unconditional Love" (Tom Benjamin).

Food for Thought: The "20 Ways to Love Your Body!!" compiled by Margo Maine, Ph.D. (author of Body Wars, The Body Myth, & Father Hunger) for the National Eating Disorders Association:

1. Think of your body as the vehicle to your dreams. Honor it. Respect it. Fuel it.
2. Create a list of all the things your body lets you do. Read it and add to it often.
3. Become aware of what your body can do each day. Remember it is the instrument of your life, not just an ornament.
4. Create a list of people you admire: people who have contributed to your life, your community, or the world. Consider whether their appearance was important to their success and accomplishments.
5. Walk with your head held high, supported by pride and confidence in yourself as a person.
6. Don't let your weight or shape keep you from activities that you enjoy.
7. Wear comfortable clothes that you like, that express your personal style, and that feel good to your body.
8. Count your blessings, not your blemishes.
9. Think about all the things you could accomplish with the time and energy you currently spend worrying about your body and appearance. Try one!
10. Be your body's friend and supporter, not its enemy.
11. Consider this: your skin replenishes itself once a month, your stomach lining every five days, your liver every six weeks, and your skeleton every three months. Your body is extraordinary--begin to respect and appreciate it.
12. Every morning when you wake up, thank your body for resting and rejuvenating itself so you can enjoy the day.
13. Every evening when you go to bed, tell your body how much you appreciate what it has allowed you to do throughout the day.
14. Find a method of exercise that you enjoy and do it regularly. Don't exercise to lose weight or to fight your body. Do it to make your body healthy and strong and because it makes you feel good. Exercise for the Three F's: Fun, Fitness, and Friendship.
15. Think back to a time in your life when you felt good about your body. Tell yourself you can feel like that again, even in this body at this age.
16. Keep a list of 10 positive things about yourself--without mentioning your appearance. Add to it!
17. Put a sign on each of your mirrors saying, "I'm beautiful inside and out."
18. Choose to find the beauty in the world and in yourself."
19. Start saying to yourself, "Life is too short to waste my time hating my body this way."
20. Eat when you are hungry. Rest when you are tired. Surround yourself with people that remind you of your inner strength and beauty.

Next week on the Health At Every Size show: Tune in for my interview of Lisa Sarasohn, author of The Woman's Belly Book: Finding Your True Center for More Energy, Confidence, & Pleasure.

Audio: Listen to and/or download the mp3 recording of today's show here. (Right click on the link and "save as" to download.)

Interview with Gina Kolata, author of Rethinking Thin

Kelly Brownell interviews New York Times science writer Gina Kolata, author of Rethinking Thin: The New Science of Weight Loss -- and the Myths and Realities of Dieting in an mp3 recording you can access here.

Brownell (a psychologist and co-founder and director of Yale University's Rudd Center for Food Policy & Obesity) discusses with Kolata the conflicts of interest in scientific research into "obesity," and the failure of any diet or treatment to make fat people permanently thin. Kolata even points out that no one even knows for sure if making fat people thin will make them healthier. They also discuss why people keep trying to lose weight despite such poor outcomes.

April 7, 2008 Health At Every Size show celebrating National Poetry Month

Today's Fat & Happy Music: "Happy Being Fat" (Big Dee Irwin), "Built for Luxury" (Abby Burke featuring the Manly Band), & "All Alone with a Bathingsuit," "Barbie," "The Losing Game" & "Dorothy & Eve" (Cosy Sheridan, from her CD The Pomegranate Seed).

Food for Thought: In celebration of National Poetry Month I read several body- and fat-positive poems (including two of my own) that were published in Radiance: The Magazine for Large Women, as well as Lucille Clifton's "Homage to My Hips."

The featured poems (and poets) were: "Rock Into Bone" & "Give Them This" by CB Follet, "The Fat Girl Rules the World" by July Siebecker, "Stomach" by Jennifer E. Whitten, "decision" by Cathy Drinkwater Better, "Dreams" by Jane Hufford Downes, "Landslip" by Olive L. Sullivan, "Why I'm Against Liposuction" by Dannye Romine Powell, "Fat" by Kay Lieberknecht, "Voyeuse" by Jean Besson, "Pledge" by Anna Balint, "Body Dance" by Alyssa Mann, "Dancing Again (for the first time)" by Gloria Cahill, "Eating" by Sheryl St. Germain, & "Illumination" & "Nothing Tastes As Good As Thin Feels* (*Line from a weight-loss industry ad) by Peggy Elam. (Read some of these poems--and more--online at the Radiance website.)

Audio: Listen to and/or download the mp3 recording of today's show here. (Right click on the link and "save as" to download.)

Weighty Issues on WNYC

WNYC On Demand has The Brian Lehrer Show interview with Anna Kirkland and Lara Frater available for listening online or downloading.

Kirkland is assistant professor of women's studies and political science at the University of Michigan and the author of Fat Rights: Dilemmas of Difference & Personhood. Frater is a fat activisit blogger and author of Fat Chicks Rule! How to Survive in a Thin-Centric World.

Click here and scroll down to "Weighty Issues" to listen to their interview.

Love Your Body: Healthy Living At Every Size Women's Therapy Group at Club Round in Loves Park, IL

Club Round: A Clubhouse for Round People is offering an 8-week "Love Your Body: Healthy Living At Every Size" women's therapy group on Saturday afternoons.

The psychoeducational therapy group addresses body image "from the perspective of positive, healthy living in any body--no matter your body size, weight, or health condition" and is open to women of any size from age 15 up.

The announcement of the group reports that participants "will be introduced to a non-diet, size accepting approach to a healthy lifestyle." Topics covered in the group include

• Introduction to the "Health At Every Size" philosophy
• Positive body image
• Sociocultural attitudes about shape and weight
• Evaluating the biological and medical research on weight
• Self-esteem enhancement
• Assertiveness training
• Non-diet normal healthy eating
• Hazards and frauds of dieting
• Active joyous movement
• Dealing with size discrimination and prejudice
• Sexuality and relationships
• Spiritual aspects of loving your body
• Size acceptance resources and more

This class will offer hope to the person who has struggled with their body image and weight; there are healthy options for changing your relationship with food and your body.

The group is led by licensed clinical psychotherapist Lisa Breisch, Psy.D., the director of Love Park, IL-based Club Round.

Club Round offers activities for plus-size adults, teens and children.

We are a size-friendly group of people where body size is accepted and appreciated. Our philosophy is based upon Health At Every Size. This means we believe in a non-diet, healthy living, size-accepting approach to living one's life fully in the body one already has.

For more on Club Round, check out their website. To pre-register for the Love Your Body women's therapy group, contact them at 815-639-0300.