Realize Your Radiance

09/30/2023

05/08/2022

"Here’s a good follower comment- echoing a few others," Porizkova wrote. "A woman of 57 is 'too old' to pose in a bikini - no matter what she looks like. Because 'Old' is 'Ugly.' I get comments like these every time I post a photo of my body. This is the ageist shaming that sets my teeth on edge. ...

09/01/2021

07/30/2021

Love her for this . . . .

"I find it wrong that women absorb the idea that faces need to be fixed. That it's being treated as a matter of fact."

03/08/2021

powerful and empowering, well worth the 20:36

Throughout centuries, women have been trained to give up their power. With a simple communicational hack, they can reclaim their power when facing gender ine...

02/04/2021

https://www.upworthy.com/new-uk-law-bans-influencers-from-using-misleading-filters-in-paid-beauty-ads

Now, that's beautiful.

08/14/2019

This is a long and passionate response to KURBO (Weight Watchers for kids) from Rebecca Scritchfield, author of Body Kindness. Well worth the read . . .
Here's why Kurbo is anything but healthy for kids....

Before and after pic of a child with "results not typical" centering weight loss and "I feel like I could run a million laps!" (hello, over exercise and valuing a result the child isn't likely to achieve!) Hook 'em early on diets and body shame... (find this on my IG and IG stories!)
Movement education features a round red raisin sweating, running on a hamster wheel, chasing a carrot. (not even joking)
A game that asks you to compare foods, erasing "bad food" (including one where you had to choose between a fresh apple and UNSWEETENED apple sauce) -- what?! My girls get both of these -- usually fresh apple slices at home when it's convenient to cut, share, and enjoy in one sitting at meal or snack time, and applesauce at school or after school care gymnastics, ballet, piano etc. You know, because they need ENERGY to move and play. Some of the other game comparisons included knowing that 1% milk was a "yellow light" food (despite that calcium remains a nutrient of concern for girls over 4 and boys 9-18 year per our national health and nutrition examination survey -- America's most robust assessment of meeting our nutrition needs). Almonds were another "yellow light" -- despite their plant based vitamins and minerals. Baked beans were a red light! Seriously? Beans are one of the most affordable, plant-based protein, fiber, and heart healthy foods recommended by pretty much everyone. They say this because baked beans are sweetened.
Policing individual foods as good or bad depending on their criteria (e.g. a hamburger). Just in case it isn't clear why this is unhelpful (I get that...) Healthy eating patterns are important, but labeling individual FOODS for anyone, especially KIDS, is really bad news. It goes against even what the American Academy of Pediatrics advises to prevent eating disorders (and "obesity") in kids. It's much more helpful to focus on "add in" and balance. A cheeseburger has nourishment -- protein, carbs, vitamins and there are options to add in fruits and veggies and milk to complete this meal. My girls love chicken nuggets and burgers and LOTS of foods. They LOVE candy and chocolate. It's my job to teach them positive eating habits and connection to foods they like -- not an app based on shame.
Kurbo even claims to reduce risk of eating disorders and yet, the American Academy of Pediatrics has a thorough position on preventing eating disorders in kids, including the evidence based links to dieting and eating disorders. Many of the "features" in this app are red flags when you compare to AAP guidelines.

I wrote about this for Washington Post last year when they were going to do a free teen weight loss program (they cancelled it after all!)

WW is a tech company, not a health company. They are not trying to help your kids, they are trying to hoodwink you into fee based coaching that upholds fat phobia and puts your kids at risk for poor body image, disordered eating, and eating disorders.

For good advice see a HAES informed health provider and listen to my podcast themes for helping parents model body kindness with their kids at any size. Episodes: 37, 91, 92, and 115 (links below)!

Podcast 37: Bringing Body Kindness in the Family with Leslie Schilling
Podcast 42: Intuitive Eating For Families, With Elyse Resch, Co-Author Of Intuitive Eating
Episode 91: Raising HAES – Body Kindness for families with Kristy Fassio
Episode 92: Talking About Food and Bodies in the Home with Anna Lutz, RDN
Podcast 115: Please Don’t Screw Up Our Kids! Part 1: A Conversation About Food, Weight and Body Image with Virginia Sole-Smith of Comfort Food Podcast
I also recommend the Intuitive Eating Workbook or teens! And of course, the guidance in body kindness can be modeled for kids in age appropriate ways. If you have questions about this or body kindness for kids and families, reply to let me know.

There are plenty of helpful health resources out there that don’t center weight loss as a desired and “healthy” outcome in your kids. Mental health **IS** health and lasting positive habits will grow from body kindness and strong mental health. THANK YOU for coming to my TED talk.

I'll be in touch soon, hopefully with better news and more positive resources for you! It's what you deserve. Remember, there are lots of very good reasons to care about your family's health and well-being. We should live in a world where all kids' mental health is enhanced through compassion and care. While we work to change our culture. There is so much you can do at home to support your family and inoculate kids from diet culture. You got this!

04/12/2019

When girls at a high school in Maryland discovered that their male classmates had made a list rating their appearances, they came together to demand disciplinary action for those responsible and a school-wide reckoning about the school's toxic culture of misogyny. "It was the last straw, for us girls, of this 'boys will be boys' culture,” asserts Yasmin Behbehani, one of the seniors whose name appeared on the list. "We’re the generation that is going to make a change."

The list included the names of 18 girls in the Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School’s International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme, with the girls rated and ranked numerically. When word spread about the list, the girls in the class were furious. "I was their friend, but I guess also a number," says Lee Schwartz. But when they complained to the administration, the investigation resulted in just a single day of in-school detention for one student. Unsatisfied with the administrative response, forty senior girls showed up in the main office during lunch the next day. "We want to know what the school is doing to ensure our safety and security," Nancy Schmidt told an assistant principal. "We should be able to learn in an environment without the constant presence of objectification and misogyny."

The girls and administrators agreed to hold a program-wide meeting, including the boys who created the list. The planned 45-minute meeting with eighty students lasted two and a half hours as many girls shared personal experiences with harassment, abuse, and objectification, both within school and outside of it. The discussion opened the eyes of many boys, including the list's creator who stood up during the meeting to apologize for the hurt it had caused. The 18-year old senior later told the Washington Post: “When you have a culture where it’s just normal to talk about that, I guess making a list about it doesn’t seem like such a terrible thing to do." He added that he was glad that the girls spoke up, noting that “it’s just a different time and things really do need to change."

Since that meeting, a co-ed group, including boys who were involved in creating and circulating the list, has been gathering at lunch times to discuss ways to prevent a similar incident from happening again in the future. They have already planning a day this month when pairs of seniors -- one girl and one boy -- will speak to younger classes about s*xism and toxic masculinity. They are also organizing a pop-up museum focused on the theme of cultural toxicity. Gabriella Capizzi, one of the students leading efforts to explore these issues at the school, says that the seniors hope they can make a lasting impact on younger students before they graduate. "I wasn’t surprised by the list," she says frankly. "The kids like the kid who made the list aren’t the outliers. It’s the people who speak up about it that are. And that culture needs to change."

To read more in the Washington Post, visit https://wapo.st/2HQgOYO

For parents seeking advice on how to tackle challenging topics like s*x, respect, and consent with teens, we highly recommend "For Goodness S*x: Changing the Way We Talk to Teens About S*xuality, Values, and Health" at https://www.amightygirl.com/for-goodness-s*x

For a thoughtful parenting book that explores the hypers*xualization of society and how it affects today’s kids, we also recommend “S*xploitation: Helping Kids Develop Healthy S*xuality in a Porn-Driven World" at https://www.amightygirl.com/s*xploitation

For two excellent resources to help tween and teen girls learn how to assert themselves with confidence and let their voices be heard, we recommend "Stand Up For Yourself and Your Friends” for age 7 to 12 (https://www.amightygirl.com/stand-up-for-yourself-and-your-friends) and “Express Yourself: A Teen Girl’s Guide to Speaking Up and Being Who You Are” for age 13 and up (https://www.amightygirl.com/express-yourself-guide)

And, to start teaching children -- girls and boys alike -- from a young age about the need to respect others and their personal boundaries, check out "My Body! What I Say Goes!" for ages 3 to 7 (https://www.amightygirl.com/my-body) and "I Said No! A Kid-to-kid Guide to Keeping Private Parts Private" for ages 4 to 7 (http://amzn.to/2pDSNH2)

12/16/2018

Join us for restorative yoga this week. Plus tea and cookies and chatting with yoga friends.

10/27/2018

Stories that connect us and sometimes even change the world.

09/21/2018

After losing 350 pounds and undergoing multiple skin removal surgeries, blogger Jacqueline Adan says she was body shamed on the beach — again. This year, says Adan, she chose to ignore the body shamers. In an Instagram post, she explained how her outlook has changed.

12/04/2017

"BECAUSE ONLY YOU HAVE THE POWER TO DECIDE HOW YOU FEEL ABOUT YOURSELF. All those parts you see as flaws whenever you look in the mirror? They are natural, beautiful parts of the human body. They only became flaws once someone realised they could make billions from selling us solutions to 'problem' areas we never had in the first place. We've been taught to hate our bodies for profit, and it's time we stopped buying it. Make today the day you decide that you're beautiful exactly as you are, and even more importantly? That it doesn't matter if you're beautiful at all, since you are so much more than what's on the outside."
--Bodyposipanda

12/04/2017

A mix of excitement and dread define the last week of the quarter as students anticipate break and cram for finals. Focusing on finding center during dead week and finals