Ta-Nehisi Coates hits it out of the park

This is a stunning, heartbreaking, beautiful article about the intersections of race, fatness, shame, and inspiration. One of the most gorgeous and honest things I've ever read on this subject. Astonishing. Grateful thanks to Ta-Nehisi Coates for this.

No more fat talk!

It's Fat Talk free week (hopefully forever, but you gotta start somewhere). Read this lovely article over at Shapely Prose for more.

Also, here's an awesome video to help you and yours end fat talk.

Fat, Fit, and Healthy!

Who says people cannot be fat, fit, and healthy? Newsweek has such a wonderful slide show of happy healthy people here.

Why we exercise for health -- not weight loss

John Cloud has an astounding article in Time about the new science proving that exercise may not actually make you thin.

If evolution didn't program us to lose weight through exercise, what did it program us to do? Doesn't exercise do anything?

Sure. It does plenty. In addition to enhancing heart health and helping prevent disease, exercise improves your mental health and cognitive ability. A study published in June in the journal Neurology found that older people who exercise at least once a week are 30% more likely to maintain cognitive function than those who exercise less. Another study, released by the University of Alberta a few weeks ago, found that people with chronic back pain who exercise four days a week have 36% less disability than those who exercise only two or three days a week.

Don't break your heart and make yourself sick trying to lose weight -- exercise for fun, strength, and health.

Your inspiration for the day

Watch this fantastic video to get inspired! You are better than you know -- and never forget it.

The Obesity Myth

Please, please read Paul Campos's book: The Obesity Myth: Why America's Obsession with Weight is Hazardous to Your Health. It explains that dieting does not work and is unhealthy. You need to read this book today! Buy a copy for your mom!

Great article at Pandagon about diet myths

Amanda Marcotte at Pandagon has an excellent, well-thought-out, and useful article up about the horrors of shaming and punishing -- and how these methods do not make people healthier.

In the real world, fat people are subject to so much social disapproval and punishment that it’s traumatizing for some. The high levels of punishment for fatness now haven’t done a damn thing to reverse the trend of growing waistlines for Americans. You can believe that obesity has no relationship to diet and exercise, or you can believe, as a scientist in this article states, that the law of conservation of matter is the relevant one when talking about weight gain and loss, but everyone in this discussion thinks Americans would do well to eat better and exercise more. And since we’ve seen that the punitive approach doesn’t work, then it’s time to shift gears, no matter where you stand on the science issues...

Read the whole thing -- and the comments are interesting as well.

Medical and health information resources

Sloan Kettering has the best information about herbal, botanical, and alternative supplements and treatments here. A must for everyone who takes supplements or is concerned about their own or their loved ones' health.

While many herbs, supplements, and treatments may be of some benefit, or at least not actively harmful, many are both dangerous and toxic. Please look up your vitamins, supplement, or alternative treatments and medicines here before you do anything that may injure you. For a direct search, click here.

One of our other favorite resources is the Mayo Clinic's wonderful online resource here where you can check symptoms.

The Politics of Thinking Thin

Marc Ambinder, in The Atlantic, has a interesting look at the whole "won't someone think of the children" aspect of body size, self-segregation, and fat issues. Read the whole thing here. A simple way of looking at this, also, is that of course stigmatized people tend to self-segregate: being in a group that hates you is at best exhausting and dispiriting.

it's Heatstroke Weather!

Tara Parker-Pope in the Health section of the NYTimes has an excellent article on how to avoid heatstroke here.

Body Positive?

Kate Harding at Shapely Prose has an excellent discussion of TV shows "More to Love" and "Drop Dead Diva" -- I wonder how much size bigotry is changing in popular culture, and how this might help people be more self-accepting (and therefore more successful) in their training?

Welcome (and books!)

Hi, and welcome to Element Fitness's new blog.

I want to start out with a book list -- some of my favorites about body image, especially Health At Every Size, and also food. Because we love good food!

Health At Every Size -- books to help you learn about HAES:

Lessons from the Fat-o-sphere: Quit Dieting and Declare a Truce with Your Body

Health at Every Size: The Surprising Truth about Your Weight

Rethinking Thin: The New Science of Weight Loss--and the Myths and Realities of Dieting

Big Fat Lies: The Truth about Your Weight and Your Health

Just the Weigh You Are: How to Be Fit and Healthy, Whatever Your Size

Reviving Ophelia: Saving the Selves of Adolescent Girls

Good food and nutrition:

Eat, Drink, and Be Healthy: The Harvard Medical School Guide to Healthy Eating

The Moosewood Cookbook

In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto

The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals

Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life

Enjoy in good health -- and please leave your favorites in the comments, we'd love to hear from you.