While being obese is often touted as the worst thing in the world for your health, there are others out there that believe you can be healthy and active at any size. The following list of books is the basic beginner reading material for the health at every size movement.
Health At Every Size Books
Linda Bacon is the leader of the HAES movement and her book is the best read you can find about the subject!
Amazon book description: “Fat isn’t the problem. Dieting is the problem. A society that rejects anyone whose body shape or size doesn’t match an impossible ideal is the problem. A medical establishment that equates “thin” with “healthy” is the problem. Health at Every Size: The Surprising Truth About Your Weight by Linda Bacon, PhD, presents a well-researched, healthy-living manual that debunks the weight myths and translates the latest science into practical advice to help readers forever end their battle with weight.”
Lessons from the Fat-o-sphere: Quit Dieting and Declare a Truce with Your Body
Amazon book description: “When it comes to body image, women can be their own worst enemies, aided and abetted by society and the media. But Harding and Kirby, the leading bloggers in the “fatosphere,” the online community of the fat acceptance movement, have written a book to help readers achieve admiration for-or at least a truce with-their bodies. The authors believe in “health at every size”-the idea that weight does not necessarily determine well-being and that exercise and eating healthfully are beneficial, regardless of whether they cause weight loss. They point to errors in the media, misunderstood and ignored research, as well as stories from real women around the world to underscore their message. In the up-front and honest style that has become the trademark of their blogs, they share with readers twenty-seven ways to reframe notions of dieting and weight, including: accepting that diets don’t work, practicing intuitive eating, finding body-positive doctors, not judging other women, and finding a hobby that has nothing to do with one’s weight.”
Amazon book description: “Based on knowledge gleaned over a lifetime of getting her big butt in motion and decades of teaching people of all ages, shapes sizes and abilities, Jeanette DePatie AKA The Fat Chick helps you learn to love your body and love exercise. Filled with over 50 exercises, loads of practical advice, tons of pictures and hilarious and sometimes heartbreaking stories from The Fat Chick’s own journey, The Fat Chick Works Out! will not only help you get and stay fit, but also help you find peace with the skin you’re in.”
Amazon book description: “Enjoy entertaining stories and inspirational ideas that show how any body, any size, any age, CAN build a healthier lifestyle. You will find lifelong motivation for self-care.
Will power is exhausting. Don’t PUSH yourself with will power. PULL yourself toward a healthy lifestyle because it feels good!
Find pleasure in healthy choices:
* eat nutritious foods when hungry and enjoy your food more * stop eating when satisfied * feel better about your body * meet your emotional needs without always using food * find comfortable fun movement you CAN add to your life * (even if you have health problems or mobility issues).”
Amazon book description: “Fat? Chunky? Less than svelte? So what! In this hilarious and eye-opening book, fat and proud activist/zinester Marilyn Wann takes on Americas’ biggest fear—worse than the fear of public speaking or nuclear weapons—our fear of fat.Statistics tell us that about a third of Americans are fat, and common sense adds that just about everyone, fat or thin, male or female, has worried about their appearance. FAT!SO? weighs in with a more attractive alternative: feeling good about yourself at any weight—and having the style and attitude to back it up. Internationally recognized as a fat-positive spokesperson, Wann has learned that you can be absolutely happy, healthy, and successful…and fat. With its hilarious and insightful blend of essays, quizzes, facts, and reporting, FAT!SO? proves that you can be out-and-out fabulous at any size.”