Health at Every Size: An Overview

Health at Every Size

In short-Health at Every Size is an approach that evaluates a person's health, based on behaviors and lifestyle factors rather than weight. That's not to say everyone at any weight is automatically healthy. We are simply taking the focus off of weight to assess people from a truly holistic perspective. 

We know that for the vast majority of people, long term, sustained weight loss is not possible. Yet, we're all still encouraged to diet and lose weight, at any cost. A fundamental aspect of HAES is that we all stop the pursuit of weight loss. Some may hear that and wonder: "if we're not trying to lose weight, how do we prevent chronic diseases?" Well, the research shows us that changing health behaviors (like movement, sleep, and stress management) can improve physiological outcomes (like blood pressure, cholesterol levels, etc) even without weight loss. So its's possible to improve our risk factors for disease, without sacrificing our health in the process. 

The basic components of Health at Every Size are respect, critical awareness and compassionate self care. Each is an encouragement to reject our culture's widely held assumptions about weight and forge a new path. 

Respect

Celebrate the differences in our bodies; all shapes and sizes. Acknowledge your own weight bias and discrimination and begin working through that. Know that all bodies are good bodies and we are not able to tell how healthy or unhealthy someone is simply by looking at them. A smaller body size does not equate to better health. 

Critical Awareness

To fully embrace HAES, we need to challenge many common cultural beliefs. This includes scientific assumptions about the role that weight plays in health. The research only shows a correlation, not a causation of weight's role in chronic issues. We should seek to support health policies that provide fair accurate information, as well as necessary services for all people regardless of physical, economic or social status. 

Compassionate Self-Care

We can cultivate better self-care in several ways. We can find the joy in moving our bodies, eating intuitively, appropriately managing stress and improving sleep habits. When we begin taking care of our body in these ways, it will have the opportunity to settle into it's natural set point range. Your personal set point weight may be above or below where it currently is but once our body reaches that cozy range, we won't have to fight to stay there. This is a good thing.  We can learn to truly take care of ourselves, and support our health, rather than striving for a smaller body. 

If you're interested in learning more about Health at Every Size and applying it to your own life, schedule a free discovery call with me to start diving in.

5 Things More Important than Nutrition

We live in a world that values perfection and an unreachable standard of beauty. Unfortunately, it's perpetuated everywhere and I know how easy it can be to get obsessed with food and nutrition when striving for that. It's consuming. But when we take a step back, it's easier to see that there's more to health (and life!) than our diet. Research is showing us how connected our mind and emotions are to the rest of the body. When we make any choice regarding our health, whether that be what we eat, how we move or the information we consume, it has an effect on us and contributes positively or negatively to our overall health. So there is just no way that nutrition, or a "perfect" diet could solve everything. 

Below are 5 things more important than nutrition. They might surprise you because on the surface they aren't "health things." If we look a little deeper, I think you'll agree that each can have a major impact on our health and spirit. Each of these things helps cultivate better self care-leading to better health. 

Relationships. Whether we tend to be more introverted or extroverted, we all need meaningful relationships. Research done in orphanages have shown that if a baby is fed and has its physical needs taken care of, but not shown love, or held, the infant is far more likely to suffer from emotional and physical problems. We need to be with others, it's a need that we're born with. Seeking perfection through nutrition is isolating. We will end up avoiding social situations and we miss out on forming the relationships that help us thrive. 

Gratitude. A lack of gratitude opens the door for negativity, the comparison trap, and never ending striving for perfection. Practicing gratefulness can help us appreciate the simplest things. Savoring ice cream and conversation with a friend, having the ability to take a walk outdoors on a nice day, having a bed to sleep in, on and on it goes. If we started writing down all the things we're grateful for, I think we'd be surprised at how long the list gets!

Forgiveness. This one can be messy and really difficult. Holding on to negative emotions and anger do nothing to the person they're against. The person it really hurts is you. Forgiveness doesn't need to happen over night (and probably won't), just taking baby steps in that direction over time makes a difference. Many times the person we're refusing to forgive is ourselves. We spend so much time beating ourselves up for not being perfect, or getting it wrong. We just need to take a step back and give ourselves a break. 

Grace. This goes right along with forgiveness. We need to show ourselves (and others) grace when we get it wrong. Making changes can be hard, especially when we've been doing things a certain way for years and years. Messing up is ok, mistakes are ok. We learn from them and get better. We are never going to be perfect. Even people who are super normal eaters will overeat from time to time and miss fullness or hunger cues. It's more helpful and important to show yourself grace and compassion in that moment than beating yourself down for not getting it right. 

Joy. If we ignore the 4 things listed above, it's nearly impossible to find and experience joy. We won't find it when we're obsessing over food in the name of health. We won't find it when we're spending hours at the gym doing exercise because we feel obligated. We can eat and move joyfully, but if we're focused on the wrong things, we'll never find it. So cultivate relationships, be thankful for what you have, forgive others and yourself, show endless amounts grace and then begin to know joy.