HOW YOU CAN BEST SUPPORT ME IN GOOD HEALTH

To My Friends and Family:

I understand that you care about me and that you are concerned about my health and well-being. I’ve learned a lot about issues related to weight, and I’ve come to believe that I can be healthy and happy at my current weight. I have also learned, both from personal experience and studying the physiology of weight regulation, that dieting and trying to lose weight typically cause more problems than they solve and are usually unsuccessful, despite strong determination and willpower.

As a result, I’ve switched my focus to feeling better about the body I currently have and improving my lifestyle habits for health and well-being, rather than weight change. I am not giving up—I am moving on.

I’d like your support. What I need from you is to accept and appreciate me as I am and to stop commenting on my weight, weight loss, or the food I eat. Being nagged about what I weigh or how I eat has never been helpful and has only made me feel worse.

If you are interested, I’d be happy to share what I am learning.

Thanks for your love and concern.

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Excerpt from Health at Every Size: The Surprising Truth About Your Weight © 2008 by Linda Bacon.
May be freely distributed, provided that it remains in its entirety
and this copyright message appears. More info at http://www.LindaBacon.org.