People don’t fail diets. Diets fail people. Diets simply don’t work. Worse yet, diets usually have the exact opposite effect you’re seeking. As a matter of fact, over 90% of people who go on a diet end up gaining the weight they lost — and often, more — within three years. But you knew that already, didn’t you? Because […]
I’m fat, and the fear of getting fat is no longer viable. I grew up in a fatphobic household — one that was created by my mother’s fear of getting and staying fat. Her fatphobia, often directed at me, was then reinforced by my brother, and unconsciously supported by my father. My parents were extremely […]
Do we really want our daughters to grow up thinking they’re not good enough because of their size? Fatphobia, or the bizarre fixation a good chunk of our society has on being terrified of becoming/being/seeing/touching anyone or anything that has to do with fatness, hurts everyone. As someone who identifies as being a fat woman, […]
As much as the conversation about body image has spread to men, society saves its most vicious scorn for women. I think it was sixth grade when a tougher kid made me do the “truffle shuffle,” in the gym locker room. The shuffle originates from The Goonies movie where a chubby kid shakes his belly for […]
No one else has accompanied you through every excruciating moment of your life; your body has served as witness to it all. It has taken me my entire life to realize I should be ashamed of how ungrateful I’ve been to my body, how wrong it was that I did not appreciate all of the […]
When you focus on dieting and weight loss, you’re feeding the cultural nonsense. I’ve sat with hundreds of clients who are breaking out of the diet/binge trap and developing a healthy relationship with food and their body. But then they have to go out into a fatphobic, food-obsessed world where their friends, family, colleagues, acquaintances, healthcare providers, and […]
Girls don’t simply decide not to have a voice. We teach them. I think I was 12 years old when I set my first one. My first New Year’s resolution. Always being a bit heavier as a kid, losing weight was at the top of my list when January 1 rolled around. My resolutions would […]
I will keep in mind that the goal of body positivity shouldn’t make me feel pressured. And if it does, then maybe I should go for body neutrality instead. To be honest, I’ve yet to solidify a New Year’s tradition that feels good deep in my bones. For most of my life, the holiday was […]
A wise friend once told me “The story of your weight is boring to everyone but you.” This morning my almost 6-year-old son watched as I tried to manipulate my digital scale to do what I want. “Can I get on?” he asked. “Yes, but just a minute,” I said grumpily, as I tilted a little […]
Aside from a small amount of teasing in school, most of the insults I’d gotten about my body had come from my own brain. Like many women, weight has been an issue for me for most of my life. I can’t say it’s been on my mind for as long as I can remember, because I […]
If we—as women with diverse body types, skin tones, and abilities—get to define for ourselves what beauty and sexiness look like, then the power will no longer rest with those who pad their fortunes with our self-loathing. I’m one of those women who has spent most of my life in and out of cycles of […]
