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Linda Bacon 
Thu Jun 24, 2010 at 12:35:39 PM PDT
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A few months ago, I had dinner with Linda Bacon, author of the book Health at Every Size. The talk turned to our kids (or step kids in my case) and pretty soon we were laughing over the funny - and sometimes amazing - things our kids did. Among my favorites was her son's response when a friend's mom asked him what his favorite thing about McDonald's was. Her son has never eaten at McDonald's. He replied: "They have nice bathrooms."
One of the stories about her son was so wonderful that I asked if I could share it here. She kindly obliged me, writing up the story in her own words, below. I realize in our food movement, there's a lot of talk about "obesity" as a code word for the sum total of the problems in our food system expressed in their most visible form. Linda's work goes against this conventional wisdom, instead encouraging everybody to work towards health instead of a pre-defined notion of an "acceptable" body size that some people are genetically never destined to achieve in a healthy way. And, as we work towards health for everyone, shaming those whose bodies leave them out of our society's idea of an acceptable body size is not the way to go. Obviously, her son has learned her lesson of acceptance, as you can see in the story below.
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There's More...
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Comments, 437 words in story)
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Wed Apr 14, 2010 at 06:43:00 AM PDT
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Below, I've posted a piece I wrote for Alternet.org. It is based on an interview I did with Linda Bacon and it was first posted on Alternet yesterday. Linda Bacon's the author of Health at Every Size, a book that makes the case that it's healthy habits that are important - NOT BODY SIZE. Furthermore, Linda says it's counterproductive and harmful to focus on obesity as our society's problem when the real problem is poor eating habits and lack of exercise. It took me a while to understand Linda's point of view with all of the nuances but now that I get it, I'm totally with her.
So, please, take a read and see what you think. Then help change the discussion so that instead of talking about obesity we can talk about health.
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There's More...
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Sat Apr 11, 2009 at 09:29:37 AM PDT
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To be more exact, the LAST weight loss book you'll ever buy was the one you bought BEFORE you picked up a copy of Linda Bacon's Health at Every Size. And perhaps, as you read her book, a cynic would say to you what my mom once said to me, "What, so you're just going to be fat and happy about it?" YUP - THAT'S THE POINT. Summed up very briefly, the point of the book is to be healthy. And if you adopt healthy habits and you're fat, so you're fat. Learn to love your body and reject the fat-phobia of our culture. Or perhaps you'll adopt healthy habits and you'll end up losing a few pounds. But that's not the point. The point is health and happiness. You work on those two goals and your body will figure out what size it's supposed to be.
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There's More...
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Comments, 1171 words in story)
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