Why does it always need to be a fight?

lets talk about a different debate than the political ones right now...

Have you read HAES yet?


The book chronicles the study done to test the HAES method against traditional dieting.


This part of the book made me realize how many people are continuously profiting off of our body hate. The resistance to HAES is so powerful and strong and has deep pockets from our pain. But with dogged determination Linda finds modest funding and fellow scientists to work with despite initial resistance.


There is one group of women trained in traditional weight loss methods: food diary, exercise tracking and methods to reduce calories and increase exercise. 
The other group is introduced to Health at Every Size:  body acceptance, normalized eating and increased joyful movement.


But this concept scares the other nutritionists so much that they add one major caveat before the start... They make Linda Bacon promise that if the HAES group starts showing negative effects they will stop immediately.


Insert heavy eye roll. Because loving oneself, engaging in normalized/instinctive eating and moving more is so dang scary these people will have eaten half of the metroplex before the data can be compiled. eyes still rolling...  
Why such resistance? - Why are people so scared to tell fat people - Its ok to be you. Its ok to not stress about your weight. You can still be a good person and healthy if you never try to lose a pound again for the rest of your life.  


Here is synopsis of the result:


After two years, both groups weighed approximately the same. The women in the weight-loss group lost some weight after six months, but regained it after two years. The women in the Health at Every Size group had healthier blood pressure, lower cholesterol, and were more physically active than the dieting group.


The HAES movement is gaining steam - but its mostly a grassroots message. "TRUST YOURSELF" doesn't sell as easily as "GET THIS SURGERY, JENNY CRAIG HAS NEW DELISH MEALS, LOOK at what celebrity is going to weight watchers..."


But that hasn't stopped Linda Bacon from spreading the message. The big target this year was the American Dietetic Association's annual conference. They have actively dismissed Health at every size, but this year the demand was too strong so they agreed to have Linda Bacon as a presenter.... but and this is a big but...


ONLY if her message was presented as a point/counterpoint presentation against an "obesity" expert. aka.. someone from the diet industry. 


I do feel bad for the ADA in a way, they make significant money off of the diet industry and to have an anti-dieter's message at a conference where the lobby will be filled with booths of diet products is bold. 


But why does it always have to be a debate? I'd be so ticked off if I was Linda Bacon - an accomplished researcher, presenter, professor, and author... Only allowed to present if each of her points has a counter point from someone espousing a system completely at odds with HAES...


Its an interesting read to see all the presenters that turned down the opportunity to be the counter-point presenter:
from the HAES blog

Imagine how my excitement deflated, then, when I read the fine print. Unlike every other FNCE panel, mine was required to take the form of a point/counterpoint debate, with a speaker presenting the “other side.”

 I did appreciate the irony. As ASDAH member Deb Burgard expressed it, the full weight of ADA history, its years of voluminous presentations on obesity, and every other presenter on weight-related issues would not suffice to counterbalance my presentation. Deb advised me to take it as a compliment, and I do!

 If it was a debate they wanted, I figured the bigger the name I went up against, the better. But those in the anti-obesity camp proved less eager.

The ADA first approached a medical school professor who co-founded a weight control registry and helped develop NIH guidelines to “treat” obesity. His secretary said he was available. Then she said he wasn’t.

 TV personality and surgeon Mehmet (“Dr. Oz”) Oz was considered. His speaking fee? $75,000—not an option. And no nonprofit discounts, either.

In turn, the ADA also approached a prominent professor of medicine and public health at Harvard; another prominent professor who was co-founder of a weight control registry; and the director of a center for obesity research and education and former president of the Obesity Society. All routinely give talks at similar conferences. All declined.


I do understand that people are busy. Maybe busy enough to be booked six months out for a Sunday in September. But do I also detect a whiff of fear in the air?


Eventually they found Dr. Foreyt to counter point the debate and it was held yesterday.


I AM DYING TO KNOW HOW IT WENT!!


HAES methodology being taught to people in a position to help many, many people. To save people from the pain of dieting and body shame!


I told Kyle it would by like missing the super bowl with your favorite team against your biggest rival.