Health at Every Size

Health at Every Size by Linda Bacon

As I mentioned in my first post, I love to read. I love fiction and fantasy and memoirs. I also love to read non fiction books. I recently finished "Health at Every Size" by Linda Bacon. I loved this book. It also took me over five months to finish it. Let me explain...

Dieting doesn't work. Try telling an adult that and you'll probably be met with skepticism. Tell me that and I still doubt it. Even after almost 20 years of diets that didn't work, I'm still skeptical.

As far back as I can remember, I've learned that fat people are lazy and skinny people work out and eat better. I've learned that you're only one successful diet away from having all your dreams come true. I've learned that being fat means you're unhealthy and will die from a weight related disease.

Another thing I'm starting to learn is that none of that is true.

Linda Bacon breaks down how our bodies react to food and exercise and points out the many reasons that losing weight is difficult for some people.

She shows why diets don't work. Starving your body makes it panic and go into survival mode. A diet heavy on fat, sugar, and salt changes the way food tastes. Restricting your calories often leads to gaining all the weight back (and more). Ultimately, our body runs the show and our mind is fighting a losing battle.

Michael Pollan has very simple instructions for maintaining a healthy diet, and Bacon supports it in "Health at Every Size". He says, "Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants." It almost sounds too easy.

What Pollan doesn't mention, and Bacon does, is this formula doesn't mean weight loss. It may improve your overall health, but it won't necessarily make your jeans fit better. And if it doesn't make my butt look better, is it really worth it?

Yes, of course it's worth it.

I read the first half of this book in a few days and really enjoyed it. Then Bacon switched from an argument supported by lots of research and started making suggestions on how to live life with these realities.

A few days later I realized I hadn't picked the book up and didn't want to. It sat, half read, on my end table for months. I told myself that I liked the science portion, but hated the self help tone of the second half. I started the book in February and didn't finish it until July. I guess I needed some time to process the information.

When I finally picked it back up and finished it, I found that I was more comfortable with the self help half of the book.That's probably because I had already made a lot of the changes she suggested.

In March I had hip replacement therapy. I know. I'm only 30! What happened? The short answer is it's hard to explain. The slightly longer answer is that I have avascular necrosis. And my doctors can't tell me why. Some bones in my body have been deprived of blood flow, died, and basically I now have some zombie bones. Except for my hip, that's brand new now.

The hip surgery, along with some other positive life changes, have allowed me to be active again. I'm not running any marathons. Or running at all for that matter. But I can take my dog for a walk. And bend over without being in excruciating pain. And do a lot of other simple things I couldn't do before.

I have also overhauled my diet. I'm on the Michael Pollan/Linda Bacon plan of eating. My tastes have changed, just like Bacon said they would. I'm starting to get hunger cues from my body again. Just like Bacon said I would. I was being active because it felt good.

By the way, I'm not eating any actual bacon, even on the "Pollan/Bacon Plan." I still can't get over the fact that her last name is Bacon. Is is just too perfect.

Anyway I finished the book easily because I was starting to agree with her. I wasn't fighting my body as much.

I don't want to sound too preachy but you need to read this book. Even if you've always been thin and can eat whatever you want. Everyone should read this book. It makes you question what you really know about food and diet and weight. Which we should all be doing. It teaches you to listen to your body and trust your instincts. It teaches you that health is a separate concept from weight.

I wish I had read this many years ago. "Health at Every Size" might have saved me from years of self-induced torture. I might have a much healthier relationship with food. Either way, I'm glad I read it at this point in my life. I'm far from being comfortable at any size, but I'm on the journey there.