Tune In For Healthy Weight Week: January 19-25

It is no coincidence that Healthy Weight Week falls on the 3rd week in January, around the same time people start to think that they’ve failed yet another diet. Healthy Weight Week is meant to intervene and help people understand that in trying to find their healthy weights, the best thing they can do is stop obsessing about their weights and pursuing quick-fix diets. Green Mountain at Fox Run is the first and oldest women-only weight and health management educational community. This year, the organization is sponsoring Healthy Weight Week, a week-long event in January to promote diet-free living habits that last a lifetime and prevent eating and weight problems, to educate that our bodies cannot be shaped at will, and promote acceptance of our natural, healthy weights. The event is highlighted by 3 awards: The Slim Chance awards (diet gimmicks), the Body Image awards, and the Healthy Weight blogger award (new). The end goal is to change the focus from weight to health and help people adopt sustainable healthy behaviors. Marsha Hudnall, MS, RDN, CD, president and co-owner of Green Mountain at Fox Run says,

“Started 25 years ago by Francie M. Berg, the Slim Chance Awards and Healthy Weight Week were created to help people, especially girls and women, move from chronic dieting to improving their lives in more positive and lasting ways. Francie offered Green Mountain at Fox Run the opportunity to take over sponsorship of the event in 2014, and we knew it was a perfect fit. Green Mountain is a pioneer in the non-diet approach to healthy weights and helping women understand that dieting typically ends up causing weight gain, eating disorders, and poor health. The pursuit of weight loss has become an obsession in this country, and that’s independent of whether a person could be considered fat. For example, studies repeatedly show young children and teens are afraid of becoming fat, and engage in restricted eating and other practices to prevent it. Unfortunately, these practices end up causing weight gain, eating disorders, and poor health. The solution is to change the focus from weight to health, and support people in living healthy, happy and fulfilled lives. Our mission is to change the conversation about weight and to educate women that in finding their healthy weight, the best thing they can do is STOP thinking and obsessing about their weight. Stop thinking about your weight, stop obsessing about an arbitrary number on the scale.”

Check out the HWW schedule!

JANUARY 20

Let Go of Dieting Day

– Change social media profile picture to “It’s Not About a Number” graphic

– Sign the “Declaration of Independence from Dieting”

– Take the “diet mentality” quiz

– Read the article “Why Worrying About Your Weight Only Makes it Worse”

JANUARY 21

Know Your Resources Day

– Look for our list of Healthy Weight Blogger award winners

– Download Healthy Weight Week discussion guide

JANUARY 22

Change the Conversation Day

– Host a discussion group to discuss what a healthy weight means and how to find a healthy weight without dieting

– Share our video to kick off the discussion

JANUARY 23

Do Away with the Weigh Day

– Send us a selfie to info@fitwoman.com with a sign that tell us why you want to “ditch the scale,” or “do away with the weigh.” We will post to our Facebook page.

JANUARY 24

Embrace Your Healthy Weight Day

– “That Moment When… I Knew I Needed to Stop Dieting” contest winner announced

– Check out our healthy weight affirmations on our blog

– Read our article “6 Ways to Find Your Healthy Weight”

2013 Slim Chance Award Winners

The Slim Chance Awards expose the most outlandish and misleading claims made each year in the weight loss field and build awareness around the dangers of chronic dieting. Worst Weight Loss Plan: The Special K Challenge Kellogg’s Special K Challenge claims that by replacing two meals a day with Special K products, including cereals, protein shakes and protein meal bars, a weight loss of up to 6 pounds in 14 days will occur. Most Overrated: Non-Invasive Body Contouring Procedures The latest technologies, from ultrasound to freezing fat, are marketed to treat “problem areas.” Also known as liposuction lasers, non-surgical fat reduction, or non-invasive fat removal, treatments can cost thousands of dollars per area, are recommended only for people who are at a “normal weight,” and produce incredibly varied results. Most Outrageous Diets: Cotton Ball Diet The Cotton Ball Diet started popping up on YouTube earlier in 2013, unveiling a disturbing fad diet most popular among young women. Dieters dip cotton balls in juice and ingest them so as to feel full without actually consuming real food. Risks include a blockage in the digestive system, which could result in surgery. Worst Gimmick: The Tongue Patch Diet In this reversible procedure a plastic mesh patch is fitted to the patient’s tongue. The purpose is to make chewing extremely painful, thus limiting the dieter to only liquid. Users have reported up to 20 lbs. of weight loss in a month. For more information on Healthy Weight Week, check out the press release or visit the Green Mountain at Fox Run info page! You can also see this article in our last digital magazine. Check it out!

About The Author

Patricia Colli, Editor of Beutiful Magazine, is a human rights activist, equality advocate, and promoter of health, acceptance and wellbeing. Having experienced disordered eating, unhealthy exercise patterns and poor body image, she is especially passionate about shedding light on eating disorders and the power of body acceptance.