Sorry, you must be a member of the group to do that. Join this group.
Golda Poretsky's Blog, page 28
March 11, 2011
Tell Your Senators To Protect Fat Kids From Bullying Too (Form Letter Included)
The Safe Schools Improvement Act (SSIA) is a bipartisan bill that was recently introduced to help prevent bullying schools.
Though the bill seeks to protect children from bullying due to their actual or perceived race, color, national origin, sex, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity or religion, one huge category of children have been excluded– fat kids. Also, there's no protection with respect to short or tall kids either.
So please go to http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm and search the listing by State to find the names of your U.S. Senators. Then complete the form and ask them to amend the Safe Schools Improvement Act to include weight and height as a protected class.
Here's a form letter to help you out!
Dear Senator ____________:
As you know, The Safe Schools Improvement Act (SSIA) is a bipartisan bill introduced in the Senate by Senators Bob Casey and Mark Kirk to help prevent bullying in schools. The Safe Schools Improvement Act would require schools and districts receiving designated federal funds to adopt codes of conduct specifically prohibiting bullying and harassment, including conduct based on a student's actual or perceived race, color, national origin, sex, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity or religion.
While I support the intent of this legislation, there is an entire segment of children that would not be covered in this legislation as currently written, children who are fat or perceived to be fat.
There are numerous studies that outline the effects of bullying on children because of their size and/or body image. Here are just a few links to articles on these studies (http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/05/03/health/main615159.shtml and http://www.reuters.com/article/2010/05/03/us-obese-s-idUSTRE6421XQ20100503).
Along with fat children, short children are often bullying victims due to their size.
Therefore, I ask that you to submit an amendment to the Safe Schools Improvement Act to include weight and height as a prohibited basis for bullying.
Thank you in advance for your time and consideration.
______________________
Fat Activist
Tell Your Senators To Protect Fat Kids From Bullying Too (Form Letter Included) originally appeared on on March 11, 2011.
March 10, 2011
Female Empowerment Via The Fat Hatred Paradigm
Beth Ditto -- Example #4,304,890 of Gorgeous, But Not Slim
It's really hard for me to write this post, because I'm writing it about women who, at one time, I saw as figures of female empowerment. I saw them as crusaders for a new kind of female embodiment that combined the goddesshood of 5,000 years ago with the badassness of the feminist movement.
I didn't know that they'd sell us all out if a weight loss message meant extra sales.
Then, today, I was scrolling through Facebook and saw a bunch of links to the Sane, Slim & Gorgeous Teleconference. I couldn't help myself. I clicked the link. And what I saw was a bit mindboggling.
The conference includes 34(!) women who are considered leaders in women's empowerment. Look at their pictures for just a second and you'll notice something — all of them are thin (natch! fatties can't be empowered) and, perhaps even more startling, not one of them is a woman of color.
Just reading the page for a few seconds and you get the message loud and clear — if you want to be an empowered woman, then all you have to do is become thin (and white). If you want to be empowered, just be more like us. Thin privilege and white privilege had nothing to do with us getting to where we are today. It's because we're empowered!
The site invites me to learn from my "sister sages." And though I would have, at one time, counted women like Mama Gena and Barbara Stanny as my sister sages, I no longer can. I can no longer see myself as part of a group that would promote weight loss or how to "turn weight loss into permanent fat removal".
Although, they've definitely succeeded in fat removal, since they've removed the ability for anyone fat to be part of this group. Events like this continue to reinforce the message that says that if you're fat, you're excluded. So why don't you just get thin? We'll show you how if you pay us!
I find it interesting that the conference is promoting sanity, along with slimness and gorgeousness. Maybe that's because studies have shown that weight loss efforts result in lower appearance evaluation and self esteem. In other words, efforts at slimness and mental health don't go hand in hand.
If you want to empower women to feel sane and gorgeous, we need to drop the worries over slimness. Slimness, fatness and everything in between should be recognized as part of the community of women, should be allowed to feel empowered, should have the right to feel gorgeous no matter what their size. That is true empowerment. And that is what all of us, thin, fat or in between, should be fighting for.
Female Empowerment Via The Fat Hatred Paradigm originally appeared on on March 10, 2011.
March 7, 2011
What To Wear For Plus Sized Body Confidence
by Golda Poretsky, HHC
http://www.bodylovewellness.com
Listen to the podcast here:
Last week, I wrote about why it's so important to wear clothes that you like AND how to get a new wardrobe with little or no clothing budget.
So this week, I want to talk about how to figure out what you like (if you're not sure) and what to do if you're in a clothing rut.
As I mentioned last week, until about 5 years ago, I never wore a dress unless I felt like I had to. Never. Ever. Nevuh. I thought that I didn't look good in dresses, had the wrong body type for them, etc.
It was only when I started experimenting and trying them on that I realized that certain dresses looked good on me and certain dresses didn't.
The thing is that it's all pretty subjective, right? I have kind of an apple/upside down triangle shape (the apple turnover, perhaps?) and I tend to like things that create a waist. To my eyes, that "looks good." However, I see women with my shape wear more shapeless dresses, even stuff with drop waists, and I think they look great because (a) they think they look great, (b) they have body confidence, and (c) they like what they're wearing.
In other words, wearing clothes that you feel good in can help with body confidence and body confidence can help you look great in your clothes.
But here's the key — if you don't know what kind of clothes you like or what looks good on you or you're just sick of wearing the same stuff, you must try clothes that are outside of your "comfort zone."
If you have sort of a clothing uniform, like I mentioned in the last post, it's important to experiment with clothes you don't usually wear. If you always wear black, try bright colors. If you always wear jeans, try leggings. If you never wear dresses, try 'em out.
Trying on clothes that you never considered before can feel really weird, and you might feel like dismissing these clothes outright just because you're not used to seeing yourself in them. That's why it's important to treat trying on these clothes as an interesting experiment, as research, and, if possible, bring along a body positive friend to support you.
Even if you try some new styles and you're not really into it, don't keep hanging out in the clothing comfort zone if you're feeling bored or stuck. Clothes are about experimentation and fun and ownership of your unique beauty. So keep trying, keep looking, and use the tips I mentioned last week.
As always, let me know how it goes and share your experiences in the comments section below!
By the way, today is THE LAST DAY to sign up for my How To Heal From Emotional Eating In-Depth Teleseries. Will I see you in class? Click here for more info: http://www.healfromemotionaleating.com.
Golda Poretsky, H.H.C. is a certified holistic health counselor who specializes in transforming your relationship with food and your body. Go to http://www.bodylovewellness.com/stay-in-touch/ to sign up for her newsletter and get your free download — Golda's Top Ten Tips For Divine Dining!
© Golda Poretsky 2011
What To Wear For Plus Sized Body Confidence originally appeared on on March 7, 2011.
February 28, 2011
How To Buy Clothes For A Better Body Image!
by Golda Poretsky, HHC
http://www.bodylovewellness.com
Listen to the podcast here:
Image From Full Figure Fashion Week (from CBS NY web site)
I had a really awesome day yesterday. I had brunch with a friend, then was interviewed for a really cool blog (more on that to come) and then I returned 3 of the 4 things I had ordered from Macy's and got a dress that I actually liked.
I probably spend as much time returning as I do shopping. And that's because I won't settle for clothes that are just okay. I'd rather have a nearly bare closet with a few clothes that I really love than a closet filled with stuff that's okay or acceptable.
Acceptable, when it comes to clothes, is just not good enough.
I used to just buy stuff that fit and was appropriate for whatever I was doing. When I was a student, I pretty much wore jeans and black tops all the time. For work I'd just wear pants and sweater sets. I just wanted to be appropriate, to blend in, to not stand out.
I never really thought about wearing clothes that made me feel really good, and I had a limited notion of what I could wear. Then, in 2006, I just decided to try dresses. Maybe it was because I saw someone with my shape do it on What Not To Wear, or maybe I just got sick of my "work uniform" as I called it. But I started to experiment with dresses, and I found that I actually liked wearing them. I had worried that I would either look too frumpy or too sexy, I worried about not being appropriate, I worried that my legs were the wrong shape, that I didn't have enough hips to pull it off, etc. etc.
But in the end, I liked wearing dresses. I liked that if I went out after work that I liked what I was wearing. I felt sexier, I felt more attractive, and I started to like my body more.
I think it's a mistake to divorce body image from clothing. It's true that the more you like your body, the more you're going to like more kinds of clothes on your body, but it works the other way around too. The more you like your clothes, the more excited you are to step out your door in the morning, and the more you're going to enjoy having the body that you have right now.
If you're waiting to lose X number of pounds before you buy clothes, stop waiting. If you're waiting to love your body more before you buy new clothes, stop waiting.
Even if you have only a small budget or no budget for clothes, you can start to change your wardrobe and get pieces that you like. Here are my top 8 suggestions for creating a wardrobe you love!
1) Go Through Your Closet – Pull out everything that doesn't fit, doesn't look good, doesn't turn you on. Make 3 piles — (1) things that are falling apart, (2) clothes that are still in good shape but probably don't have much resale value, (3) anything that still has tags, was only worn once, or was more expensive to start with. Throw out pile #1, donate pile #2, and as for pile #3…
2) Sell Stuff With Resale Value – If you have a consignment shop like Re/Dress NYC near you, you're golden. Go there and get your store credit! If not, you'd be surprised at what sells well on Ebay. Start the bidding low and see what happens. Even if you sell something for $20 that you bought for $80, that $20 will do you more good than having that item taking up real estate in your closet.
3) Have, Go To, Or Create A Clothing Swap — If you have similarly sized friends, have a clothing swap party. Bring pile #3, get down to your skivvies and try on each other's clothes. This is a fun and free way to get new clothes and have the satisfaction of seeing your clothes go to someone who will love them!
4) Return Stuff You're Not In Love With – If it still has tags and you still have the receipt, certain stores will take that stuff back even a year later. Most stores will give you store credit for items with tags even if you don't have the receipt. (And again, even if it's less than what you paid for it, you're still getting credit that you can use for new stuff!)
5) Buy Off Season – I've bought winter coats in August and and sandals in November. I just bought a spring/summer dress on clearance at the Avenue for about $10, and I'm already wearing it with sweaters. It's true that you don"t always get the satisfaction of wearing these things right away, but if you love them when you buy them you will likely love them later.
6) Coupons Are Your Friend — I may be preaching to the choir here, but before you order anything online, always google the store and "coupon code" or "promo code." Free shipping, percentages off… it's all there to be googled!
7) If You Don't Like Shopping, Shop With A Body Positive Friend – Shopping is so much more fun when you have a friend who is supportive and loves to shop. If you have one of these friends, don't be afraid to ask him/her for advice and bring him/her with you!
8) You Need A Shopping Mantra — You must use a body positive mantra when you shop. Here are some of my favorites:
When Nothing Is Fitting Correctly: "It's not me, it's the clothes!"
When You're Feeling Disapproving Of Your Body: "I have a gorgeous, fabulous body!"
When You're Shopping For A Particular Event: "I always find the most perfect outfit no matter what the occasion."
If you try these tips, you will start feeling better about your body. So let me know what you tried, or share some of your favorite tips in the comments!
By the way, today is THE LAST DAY to sign up for my How To Heal From Emotional Eating In-Depth Teleseries at a special low rate. Will I see you in class? Click here for more info: http://www.healfromemotionaleating.com.
Golda Poretsky, H.H.C. is a certified holistic health counselor who specializes in transforming your relationship with food and your body. Go to http://www.bodylovewellness.com/stay-in-touch/ to sign up for her newsletter and get your free download — Golda's Top Ten Tips For Divine Dining!
© Golda Poretsky 2011
How To Buy Clothes For A Better Body Image! originally appeared on on February 28, 2011.
February 26, 2011
Why You Should Register For The Body Love Revolutionaries Telesummit If You Haven't Yet…
Hello, my dears!
I cannot believe that our 7th and final call of the Body Love Revolutionaries Telesummit is happening this Tuesday with none other than Dr. Linda Bacon, author of Health At Every Size: The Surprising Truth About Your Weight. This is your chance to hear her speak and ask her your questions!
Even though the telesummit is coming to a close, there are still many, many good reasons to register. Here are my top 4.
1) Ask Dr. Bacon your questions about Health At Every Size on Tuesday.
2) Get a special IGIGI coupon that Yuliya Raquel specifically created just for us Body Love Revolutionaries.
3) Get access to the recordings of all of the Body Love Revolution Interviews, and listen to them at your leisure. (Check out the full list here.)
4) Experiences like Queen Justine's: "I subscribed to the Summit when the notice first came out, but due to my work schedule, was not free to be in on the calls when they happened in real time. I also had been in a low place emotionally for a little while there. I knew down deep that when I was ready to take it in, I would really be glad for the opportunity to hear the recordings. . . . This morning I woke up extra early and decided to start listening to the first one. I got less than 20 min into it before having to get ready for work, but within that time was moved to tears, had a couple of big "a-ha" moments about myself and food issues, and got a huge boost of inspiration about moving forward in my life with self-love and positivity, as well as putting energy into modeling that for others. "
Go here to register. Don't miss out!
xoxo,
Golda
Why You Should Register For The Body Love Revolutionaries Telesummit If You Haven't Yet… originally appeared on on February 26, 2011.
February 21, 2011
Intuitive Eating And Weight Loss
by Golda Poretsky, HHC
http://www.bodylovewellness.com
Listen to the podcast here:
I want to make something really, really clear.
If you've been practicing intuitive eating, and it hasn't resulted in weight loss, it is not your fault and it doesn't mean that you're doing it wrong.
When I first heard about intuitive eating as an alternative to dieting, I read everything that Geneen Roth ever wrote. And although she has a lot of good things to say, she also implies, again and again in each of her books, that if you eat intuitively you will lose weight. She even uses that trick that every diet marketer in the history of diets uses, writing things like:
"By May I had gained 15 pounds. From May through September, my weight stabilized. In October, still eating what I wanted, I began to lose weight, and over the next two years, I lost 30 pounds. That was five years ago." [1]
What Ms. Roth doesn't tell you is that she is an anomaly. There's no "results not typical" even though they are. There's no mention of the fact, in any of her books, that dieting wreaks havoc on your metabolism such that intuitive eating may not have much of an effect on your weight at all.[2]
And, perhaps most perturbing, is the fact that practicing intuitive eating with the expectation of weight loss really screws up your ability to eat intuitively.
The truth is that you can't be intuitive when you're looking for a particular result.
It's like reading tarot cards to find out if someone who you want to date likes you back. If you're feeling desperate enough, you will read all manner of loveliness into cards that say that this person has no interest in you.
It's the same with intuitive eating. If you're doing it to lose weight, you will convince yourself that you just want to eat celery sticks when you're body is jonesing for some protein. You'll convince yourself that you're not hungry when you are. You'll keep yourself in the dieting framework of punishment and reward and restriction. You'll be reading the cards all wrong because you don't want to believe what you see.
Intuitive eating is not about control, it's about trust. It's about trusting your body's signals of hunger and fullness, desire and satisfaction. It's about trusting your body enough to know that it needn't be so controlled.
When you allow yourself to eat intuitively, you will get results. Those results may or may not include weight loss, but they will definitely include something more. They will include a letting go of the daily stress of worrying about food and weight. They will include feeling at peace with your body and it's needs. They will include a new spaciousness in your life for joy, an openness to possibilities, a willingness to love and approve of yourself and be the fully-embodied person you were born to be.
If you're ready to experience these beautiful, tangible results, I invite you to join me for How To Heal From Emotional Eating, a 3 class teleseries which starts in just a few days. Click here for more info: http://www.healfromemotionaleating.com.
Golda Poretsky, H.H.C. is a certified holistic health counselor who specializes in transforming your relationship with food and your body. Go to http://www.bodylovewellness.com/stay-in-touch/ to sign up for her newsletter and get your free download — Golda's Top Ten Tips For Divine Dining!
© Golda Poretsky 2011
[1] Geneen Roth, Breaking Free From Emotional Eating (New York: Plume, 2003) 19 ↩
[2] This is one of the many things I loved about Dr. Linda Bacon's book, Health At Every Size: The Surprising Truth About Your Weight. Linda disclaimed her own weight loss by writing the following. "You've heard this before. Every book about weight starts with the weight loss testimonial. It gets your hopes up and sells books. And when it doesn't work the same way for you, that's always your fault–you must have done something wrong, if you didn't get the same results. So let me be clear: My weight-loss results aren't typical, and I don't mean to use my experience to promote any weight loss technique." (Dallas: BenBella Books, 2008) xxii ↩
Intuitive Eating And Weight Loss originally appeared on on February 21, 2011.
February 14, 2011
Valentine's Day Inspiration — Eat Like "Diamond Lil"
Lillian "Diamond Lil" Russell
by Golda Poretsky, HHC
http://www.bodylovewellness.com
Listen to the podcast here:
Lillian "Diamond Lil" Russell is truly a source of inspiration and fatspiration. Back in the 1890′s and early 1900′s, Lillian Russell was uber-famous. She was a celebrated and beloved singer and actress, and a major sex symbol, and the fact that she was known for weighing over 200 pounds did not diminish her appeal.
Diamond Lil wasn't just gorgeous and talented. She was also really socially progressive. She was a feminist who fought for women's suffrage, she was married four times (often seeking a divorce when she felt the relationship was over), and for nearly forty years (often while married), she was also the lover of man named Diamond Jim.
Diamond Jim was known for his prodigious appetite. Just to give you an idea, a typical breakfast for him was supposed to consist of eggs, pancakes, pork chops, cornbread, fried potatoes, hominy, muffins, and a beefsteak. For refreshment, a gallon of orange juice—or "golden nectar," as he called it.
Lil and Jim would often have elaborate parties with lots of delicious food. And both of them were known to eat with gusto, with pleasure. Lillian was one of the few women that Jim had ever met who really enjoyed food as much as he did, and her love for food and her pleasure in eating was actually considered part of her appeal, not just for Jim but also for Lil's adoring fans.
In other words, Lillian's enjoyment of her food was really sexy.
But the truth is, the way Diamond Lil enjoyed her food was actually really good for her, too. The more you enjoy food, the more you savor food, the more your body recognizes that it's eating, and the more your body can recognize that it's being nourished, so that your mental hunger and physical hunger can be more aligned.
This is the science of how your awareness and enjoyment while eating aid digestion, assimilation, and metabolism when you eat. Scientists have determined that 30-40% of your ability to digest and assimilate food actually happens because of "cephalic phase digestive response" or CPDR. "Cephalic" just means of the head. So CPDR is just a scientific term for the way you use the senses located in your head when you eat. That is, the enjoyment and satisfaction that you get when you see, smell, and taste your food.
If 30-40% of digestion happens as a result of this CPDR, then what happens when we sidetrack it? What happens when our awareness is on the television and we miss the visual enjoyment of our food? What happens when we eat quickly and barely take a moment to enjoy the smell or taste of our food? What happens when our mind is focused on calories, fat, points, guilt over what we're eating, shame over what we're eating?
You guessed it. We miss the CPDR, we miss the pleasure, and our mind doesn't really understand that we've eaten. So we eat more and more, and feel full if we check in with our stomachs, even when our brain is saying it's still hungry.
When you eat with pleasure, you feel satisfied. You feel nourished. Your body and mind feel taken care of. And when you feel this pleasure and satisfaction, it's an invitation to anyone that you're eating with to enjoy their food too.
So this Valentine's Day, remember that enjoying your food is sexy and good for you! Just eat like Diamond Lil!
By the way, if you want help with healing from disordered eating, my new class starts in just a few weeks! Click here to check it out.
♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥
Golda Poretsky, H.H.C. is a certified holistic health counselor who specializes in transforming your relationship with food and your body. Go to http://www.bodylovewellness.com/stay-in-touch/ to sign up for her newsletter and get your free download — Golda's Top Ten Tips For Divine Dining!
© Golda Poretsky 2011
Valentine's Day Inspiration — Eat Like "Diamond Lil" originally appeared on on February 14, 2011.
February 8, 2011
New Teleseries–How To Heal From Emotional Eating
I've heard from many of you that emotional or compulsive eating is the number one issue that you want to solve.
And I totally understand why.
Emotional eating does not get "fixed" by traditional methods, like dieting and portion control. And though I've touched on how to heal it in my free teleclasses, I wanted to do a more in depth teleclass that would be accessible to lots of you as well as really healing.
So I've created "How To Heal From Emotional Eating–An In Depth Teleseries."
If you're tired of going numb when you eat, not enjoying your food, eating beyond your comfort levels (or not even knowing what your comfort levels are) this class is for you.
Please take a moment to check it out here, and feel free to take advantage of my special "early bird" rate: http://www.healfromemotionaleating.com.
Shifting your eating from stressful to peaceful will make a HUGE difference in your life. I've seen it in my own life, and I continue to see it, every day, in my clients' lives.
You deserve it.
So go to http://www.healfromemotionaleating.com and register now.
"See" you in class!
New Teleseries–How To Heal From Emotional Eating originally appeared on on February 8, 2011.
February 7, 2011
Feeling Deserving
by Golda Poretsky, HHC
http://www.bodylovewellness.com
Listen to the podcast here:
Take a moment to connect with one of your deepest desires. Really connect with that desire right now.
Now, take a moment to think or say aloud: "I deserve ____(that desire)____."
How did that feel? Did it feel like the truth? Did it feel okay to say that you really deserve one of your deepest desires?
If it felt right, if you felt aligned with that statement, then I am so happy for you. This article may not be for you then.
But if it felt funny, or weird, or wrong, or guilt-inducing to say "I deserve this deep desire" then you should definitely read on.
Most of us think of being deserving from a scarcity perspective. On some level we think, that if we find ourselves deserving, we're implying that others are not. But feeling that we're deserving has nothing to do with others not being deserving. Feeling deserving just means that we are willing to honor and take heed of our own needs and desires. When you don't feel deserving, you create your own self-imposed obstacle to creating positive change and having what you want.
Deciding that you're deserving can sometimes feel selfish. You may feel like, "Well, if I'm deserving of this, isn't everybody? Why should I have wonderful food while others go hungry? Why should I love my body and approve of it when so many people hate theirs?"
But thinking this way does not serve anyone. If you eat food that you don't really like because others are hungry, both you and those hungry folks are miserable, right? If you hate your body because other people don't know that it's possible to stop hating theirs, who are you serving? You are only serving your inner critic. You are only serving the belief in scarcity that keeps you afraid to change and follow your desires.
Feeling deserving is not selfish, it is self-empowering. Deciding that you're deserving of love, or good food, or joyous movement or a better job is self-empowering. When you find yourself worthy of what you want, when you become in alignment with what you want, you have the energy to take care of yourself, of your needs, of your wants. And that energy can change the world for the better. See for yourself how this small mindset shift can create big change.
♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥
There's still time to join me for the Body Love Revolutionaries Telesummit! Click here to learn more and register for FREE.
Also, my new emotional eating teleseries just opened up at the early bird rate! Check it out here.
Golda Poretsky, H.H.C. is a certified holistic health counselor who specializes in transforming your relationship with food and your body. Go to http://www.bodylovewellness.com/stay-in-touch/ to sign up for her newsletter and get your free download — Golda's Top Ten Tips For Divine Dining!
© Golda Poretsky 2011
Feeling Deserving originally appeared on on February 7, 2011.
December 27, 2010
Watching Videos Is A Holiday Tradition!
by Golda Poretsky, HHC
www.bodylovewellness.com
I hope you're all having a great holiday! I'm taking a little holiday break myself, but I couldn't let Monday roll by without giving you something to chew on. So here's an inspiring and thought-provoking (and fatshion-provoking) documentary of the visibility/invisibility or fat (and so much more) by Margitte of Riots Not Diets, featuring Jessica of Tangled Up in Lace and Keena of Buttah Love.
(You may have seen it by now, but it's fabulous enough to stand another viewing.)
the fat body (in)visible from Margitte Kristjansson on Vimeo.
No related posts.
Watching Videos Is A Holiday Tradition! originally appeared on on December 27, 2010.
