Health at every size/weight neutral care

When I found health at every size (HAES), I felt like I unlocked a front door I didn’t even know existed. It is possible to be healthy without a focus on weight. It’s also possible to move away from making a person’s body or health moral. As a health at every size provider, I acknowledge that our society has made it challenging to feel good about our bodies, and even more so for people in larger and marginalized bodies. The difference is that rather than promoting or applauding weight loss or weight control, HAES helps me stay focused on helping clients support health behaviors (eating, movement/exercise, sleep, etc), rather than getting caught up in the cyclical, oppressive and defeating nature of dieting.

What is health at every size (haes)?

HAES is a researched approach with the following principles:

• Healthcare is a human right for people of all sizes, including those at the highest end of the size spectrum.

• Wellbeing, care, and healing are resources that are both collective and deeply personal.

• Care is fully provided only when free from anti-fat bias, and offered with people of all sizes in mind.

Source: Association for Size Diversity & Health

haes every size support provided:

• Mental health counseling for body image issues

• Support for individuals struggling with size discrimination

• Health care and nutrition care oriented at treating the whole person, rather than weight centric care

• Eating disorder recovery care

Ok this sounds great, but what if I really do want to lose weight?

HAES understands that living in the society we live in means that we aren’t always going to feel awesome about our current bodies or weights. So, the short answer is, it’s ok! You can still practice HAES. And I would really encourage you to read my blog post on this exact topic.

Learn more about HAES with my Online Course:

Weight, What?!

• Short video presentation

• Overview of research

• Handouts including more research for the science nerds