Culture Wars: Body Shaming vs Fat Celebration
The conventional cultural “diet and exercise” model is the root of all pain, shame, drama and dysfunction surrounding food, exercise, your body and your weight – AND it is the source of the confusion and acrimony in the “culture wars” surrounding health, obesity and fat pride.
The diet and exercise model suggests that your body’s size and shape is simply a result of what you eat and what you do for exercise. But the fact that you are responsible for what you eat and what you do for exercise, does not mean that you can therefore control your body’s weight and shape through diet and exercise – that is a fallacy.
Both sides are using the diet and exercise model and a framework and both sides get stuck. One side gets tripped up on the control fallacy side of the coin. And the other side gets tripped up by not accepting the responsibility that they DO have to honor and respect their bodies by working to create optimized health and well-being. And this side gets all twisted by rejecting of the cultural standards of health – without rejecting the diet and exercise model. So everyone remains stuck.
The key to finding freedom from food and creating true healing and transformation is to reject the “diet and exercise” model and embrace a relationship-based, body-centered approach.
Time To Move & Shake with Zibby Owens
My guest episode for Zibby Owens’ podcast. In this podcast, I teach actionable strategies to create more time for busy moms who deal with food, exercise, and body-image issues. Sharing personal insights gleaned from my own painful and life-threatening struggles surrounding my body and my weight, I outline a path for optimizing health, vitality, well-being, joy — and time!
The Inspiration & Insanity of “Fat Pride”
It is my contention that all of the pain and dysfunction surround food, exercise, weight and well-being can be traced back to the core, conventional, cultural diet and exercise model.
This discussion illustrates that argument by comparing and contrasting Lizzo’s reality show “Watch Out For The Big Grrrrls” with a practical joke perpetrated by Steven Crowder. This episode also demonstrates the differences in responses to physical conditions society deems “medical” versus conditions popularly seen as a result of consequences of choice. True healing and transformation – both on an individual level – and collectively – is possible.
Health, Obesity and Happy Calories®
The inspiration for this episode was a video clip someone sent me of Bill Maher discussing American obesity with Ben Shapiro. Among the social, political, cultural issues at play regarding body positivity and weight – making a discussion of health a challenge – they also mentioned the idea of a “caloric deficit.”
I hate to break it to them, but a simple caloric deficit (or simple therapy to help one overcome obstacles to beginning and staying on a diet) is not the answer. Most of the contestants from the infamous “The Biggest Loser” show not only failed to keep the weight off – many gained more.
What is needed is a completely new paradigm for weight loss and well-being. This episode describes the unique challenges of obesity and how the Happy Calories Don’t Count® model can help.