Hello! This is the third in a four-part series exploring common myths and misunderstandings about the Health at Every Size (HAES)® approach to health and wellness. The introductory post to the series is here, and the second post can be found here.
Today we will delve into another myth or misunderstanding that often arises when people learn about Health At Every Size®. This is the mistaken belief that following a HAES® approach to weight and health means we don’t need to consider nutrition when making food choices, and we don’t need to worry about engaging in any kind of physical activity. In other words, HAES gives us permission to eat junk food and not move our body. This is not the case! There is no doubt our eating and exercise habits are important factors in our health and wellbeing. The thing is, weight is not.
The radical message of HAES® is that weight is less important to health than fitness and nutrition. We do better when we focus more on eating as well as we can and moving our bodies in ways we enjoy and focus less on how our body may or may not change as a result of these activities. Because, whether or not our efforts to eat healthy foods and get active make us thinner, they are still doing our body good.
When it comes to eating, HAES® encourages a varied diet and a mindful approach to eating. The goal is to obtain many different nutrients and to experience joy in eating by learning how to respond to internal cues like hunger, fullness, and cravings. When we cue into our body and respond to what our body is asking for, we learn that certain foods make us feel good and others don’t. What our body truly craves is a balanced diet.
It is the same with exercise and movement. When we become more tuned into our body’s need for exercise and engage in physical activity we actually enjoy, we will find ourselves more able to consistently be active. And that can only benefit our health and wellbeing.
I hope this has been helpful to you. Do you have more questions about Health at Every Size®? Leave a comment or drop me a line! And be sure to watch for the next post in this series, where we will look at the final myth in this series: “People who eat based on cravings will eat junk food all the time.”
Sydney’s approach to healing body shame is grounded in compassion-focused therapy, where we work to tap into the deep healing that occurs when we develop acceptance and compassion for ourselves and others. Compassion-focused therapy is about soothing our soul, healing our deep hurts and building our strengths. We become more fully present in our body, and are more able to face the many ups and downs of life.