project brEAThe presents Silver's Light Tuesday June 26, 2012 8:00 PM - 9:30 PM  Riverside Park Picnic area

This is a candle lighting event for everyone to come and remember those who have lost their battles with an Eating Disorder, to think of those who are struggling, and to honour those who are in Recovery!

There will be a band playing for a period of time while you arrive.... Lindsay Gemmell will be speaking around 8:30pm, and the candle lighting will take place when it gets dark around 9pm.

Bring yourself a blanket or a towel to sit on, as well as a small candle to light.

Donations to Project BrEAThe will be welcomed to support eating disorder treatment and other related initiatives. Please contribute what you can!

http://projectbreathe.webs.com/

Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph Eating Disorders Coalition
Celebrates International No Diet Day

No diet is the best diet.

That’s the message of International No Diet Day, which is now celebrated worldwide.

Established in 1992 by anti-diet campaigner Mary Evans Young, International No Diet Day challenges cultural attitudes and values that contribute to chronic dieting, weight and size preoccupation, eating disorders and size discrimination.

The Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph Eating Disorders Coalition celebrates International No Diet Day on Sunday, May 6, 2012.

“On International No Diet Day we ask everyone to put aside their preoccupation with dieting and weight loss, to celebrate diversity of body shapes and sizes and to reject society’s narrow standards of beauty,” says April Gates, Program Co-ordinator of Homewood’s Eating Disorders Program.

This year, for the fourth consecutive year, downtown businesses in Guelph will join the Eating Disorders Coalition in celebrating International No Diet Day. From April 30 to May 6, a number of local downtown businesses have agreed to host window displays that promote healthy body image and acceptance of our natural body shapes and sizes. 

Here are 10 suggestions of ways to participate in International No Diet Day:

• Take a break from dieting. Eat when you are hungry and stop when you are full. Listen to your body’s signals.
• Stop thinking about foods as “good,” “bad” or “junk food.” Taste, savour and enjoy all foods to the fullest!
• Make health, not weight loss, your lifestyle goal.
• Give up, or better still, smash the weigh scales.
• Clean out your closet and get rid of all your “thin” clothes. Donate these items to a charitable organization.
• Ask local bookstores to display anti-diet and “Health at Every Size” books this week.
• Stop focusing on appearance. Don’t make comments like “You look great! Have you lost weight?” Look for other praise-worthy qualities to highlight, other than personal appearance.
• Engage in physical activities for pleasure and health benefits, rather than regimented exercise for the primary purpose of weight loss.
• End weight discrimination by celebrating size diversity. Beauty, health and fitness come in all sizes.
• Check out downtown Guelph store windows, particularly those hosting slogans that promote positive body image and size acceptance.

The Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph Eating Disorders Coalition
works to increase public awareness of eating disorders and unhealthy body images
and to provide eating disorder resources to the community.

For more information about the coalition, visit www.eatingdisorderscoalition.ca.

For more information about the treatment and prevention of eating disorders,
visit www.nedic.ca and www.whatseatingyou.com.

April Gates, Program Co-ordinator, Eating Disorders Program
Telephone: 519-824-1010, ext. 2292

-30-

 Eating Disorders Awareness Coalition

a service of

 

 Presents the 17th Annual
Professional Development Conference

ACTivities to Treat Body Image Dissatisfaction:

Acceptance & Commitment Therapy
For Clients With & WithoutEating Disorders
                                 
with

   Dr. Michelle Heffner Macera, PhD

Author, The Anorexia Workbook and
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy for Body Image Dissatisfaction.

  FRIDAY, October 28, 2011
 Kitchener Holiday Inn
30 Fairway Road South
Kitchener, Ontario,N2A 2N2

dowload the brocure [rtf format]

International No Diet Day is May 6, 2011

The Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph Eating Disorders Coalition is taking this year’s International No Diet Day celebrations downtown and to Stone Road Mall.

Several stores will host affirmation slogans in their windows during the first week of May.  These signs challenge societal pressures to diet and change our bodies and encourage the acceptance of our natural shapes and sizes.

The Coalition will also sponsor a screening of Jean Kilbourne’s film, Killing Us Softly 4, on Saturday, May 7 from 3 to 4 p.m. at the Bookshelf Cinema.  This film analyzes current media advertisements, revealing damaging images and messages that reinforce unrealistic and unhealthy perceptions of beauty, perfection and sexuality.

Established in 1992 by British anti-diet campaigner Mary Evans Young, International No Diet Day is now recognized world-wide as a day to raise awareness about the dangers and futility of dieting and to proclaim independence from society’s narrow standards of beauty.

The Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph Eating Disorders Coalition works to increase public awareness of eating disorders and unhealthy body images and to provide resources to professional care providers.  For more information about the Coalition, visit www.eatingdisorderscoalition.ca.

Some of the ways you can participate in International No Diet Day include:

1. Take a break from dieting.  Eat when you are hungry and stop when you are full.  Listen to your body’s signals.
2. Take food off the “good” and “bad” or “junk food” lists.  Taste, savour and enjoy all foods to the fullest!
3. Affirm that weight loss is unnecessary to obtain health and happiness.  Reclaim health - not weight loss - as a lifestyle change goal.
4. Give up, or better still, smash your weigh scales.  They do nothing for your self-esteem!
5. Cleanse your closet of everything you’ve been saving until you “get thin,” and donate items to a charitable organization.
6. Ask local bookstores to display anti-diet and size acceptance books this week. 
7. Refrain from focussing on appearance.  Stop saying “You look great!  Have you lost weight?”  Each of us possesses many praise-worthy qualities that are unrelated to personal appearance.
8. End weight discrimination by celebrating size diversity.  Beauty, health and fitness come in all sizes.
9. Put the lid on diet products.  Save your time and money.  Diets don’t work!
10. Reclaim health – not weight loss – as a lifestyle change goal.

Contact: April Gates
Tel: 519-824-1010 Ext. 2292
Email: gateapri@homewood.org

Download a Printable Acrobat Poster

Download a Printable Acrobat Poster
.

Download a Printable Acrobat Poster

Health at Every Size Workshop Details

A professional development workshop featuring
Jonathan Robison, Ph.D., MS

September 23, 2010

An Effective, Science-Based Alternative for Helping People with Weight-Related Concerns Governments and health organizations around the world have declared a war on the “epidemic” of obesity. Acceptable body weight standards have been repeatedly lowered so that more than 60% of the North American population is now considered to be overweight and in need of treatment, yet there is no evidence that these treatments are effective. As a result, women of all sizes, and increasing numbers of men. suffer from an intense fear of fat. This fear plays havoc with self-esteem and promotes disordered eating and exercising behavior.| In this workshop, Dr. Jonathan Robison explores the social, political, economic and scientific foundations of traditional approaches to the issue of weight and health. The philosophical and scientific basis of an effective, alternative approach for helping people with weight-related concerns will be described, and practical applications for the workplace, private practice and public health policy will be presented. Workshop Details Date: Thursday, September 23, 2010 Time: 8:30 to 9:00 a.m. - Registration 9:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. - Workshop Venue: Italian Canadian Club (135 Ferguson Street, Guelph) Cost: $65.00 per person Objectives Upon completion, participants will be able to: 1) Critique the scientific foundations and efficacy of current approaches to helping people with weight-related concerns. 2) Discuss the economic, social, political and health consequences of the “war on obesity.” 3) Describe the philosophical foundations and major components of an alternative approach for helping people with weight-related concerns. 4) Begin to implement the “Health At Every Size” approach in clinical, public health, recreational, academic and worksite settings. EDC Brochure and Registration form (Right click to save, left click to view in browser) Workshop Poster (Right click to save, left click to view in browser) "Health At Every Size" from Jon's website (Right click to save, left click to view in browser)

From the Guelph Mercury: Body image concepts need rethink, health adviser tells Guelph audience GUELPH — People need to rethink their concepts of body image and obesity, educator Jonathan Robison told local health care professionals Thursday. “We know people can be fit and fat,” he told those attending a Health At Every Size forum organized by the Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph Eating Disorders Coalition. The keys to a healthy weight is “normal eating,” described as natural, relaxed, appropriate consumption that avoids overeating; as well as an active lifestyle and a self-acceptance of the body a person has by rejecting seductive idealized images of skinny models in the media, said Robison, a Michigan professor with expertise in health education, exercise physiology and human nutrition. Among the 55 people attending the forum was University of Guelph honours psychology student Ashley Skinner, 26, who struggled with anorexia from six to 20 years of age and today runs the campus Acceptance Without Limits group focused on body awareness and eating disorders. Skinner, raised in Newfoundland, said in an interview it was vital for her to improve her attitude toward her body and build self-esteem to overcome anorexia. “I really wish I had heard messages like this when I was growing up,” she said, relating to much of what Robison addressed in a lengthy presentation at the Italian Canadian Club. Robison, using projected images of sickly thin magazine models, called for a “new peace movement” to make a societal shift from weight-centred to health-focused, where “thin is not in” and fat is not seen invariably as leading to an early grave. People, he stressed, come in all weights and sizes and need not spend their lives struggling unsuccessfully to lose pounds and keep them off. (Ninety-five per cent of dieting people gain the weight back within five years, he reported.) Robison described a healthy weight as where the body settles when people transition into active, fulfilling and meaningful lives where they feel comfortable with their fitness and eating habits. He termed society’s obsession with thin bodies as “weightism,” and put it “on the same level” as racism, sexism and homophobia. “There’s a lot of body dissatisfaction,” coalition chair April Gates said in an interview. “It gets to an unhealthy level.” It’s an issue not only for the public, but health professionals seeking what’s best for people, said Gates, who works at the Homewood health centre. Along with Robison, she brushed aside public concern about an ‘obesity epidemic.’ “There’s no reliable research to support it,” said Gates, whose organization is now celebrating its 10th year. Fear, she said, merely energizes the dieting industry. Robison dispelled common myths like obesity leads to adult-onset diabetes, also known as Type 2. “Eighty per cent of fat people don’t have Type 2 diabetes.” He also warned against making a link between overweight conditions and illnesses, saying that’s proven elusive to assess. Further, someone may tip the scale above a perceived ideal weight and still be healthy. “Don’t judge a book by its cover,” Robison advised. He attacked Hollywood’s obscenely idealized image of a female model with a 23-inch waist, which he said is the same circumference as a soccer ball. As to losing weight to improve health and longevity, Robison was succinct. “This is an unsubstantiated hypothesis.” Robison, warmly received by the coalition, was also slated to give a free public address Thursday evening at the University Centre, titled Weight, Health & Culture: Exposing the Myths; Exploring the Realities. vkirsch@guelphmercury.com

Coalition Celebrates Eating Disorder Awareness Week
2009

CLICK TITLE TO PRINT ADOBE PDF-=- FACES OF RECOVERY LECTURE

To celebrate National Eating Disorder Awareness Week, the Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph Eating Disorders Coalition hosts the ever-popular annual event Faces of Recovery. This panel of women and family members in recovery from an eating disorder takes place on Wednesday, February 4 at Guelph’s Italian Canadian Club, 135 Ferguson Street, from 7 to 9 p.m. This event includes a body activism event, No Fat Talk!, which will challenge the damaging impact of fat talk and society’s thin ideal.

The University of Guelph also celebrates Eating Disorder Awareness Week with the following activities:

All events are free of charge.

For additional information on these events, contact April Gates at 519-824-1010 ext. 2292. 
For more information on National Eating Disorder Awareness Week,
which runs from February 1–7, 2009, visit www.nedic.ca.

The Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph Eating Disorders Coalition celebrates International No Diet Day on Tuesday, May 6. Established in 1992 by British anti-diet campaigner Mary Evans Young, International No Diet Day is now recognized around the world.

International No Diet Day was created to challenge the cultural attitudes and values that contribute to chronic dieting, weight and size preoccupation, eating disorders and size discrimination. It is a day to intentionally stop obsessing about dieting and weight loss, to celebrate the diversity of body shapes and sizes and to proclaim our independence from society's narrow standards of beauty.

Some of the ways you can participate in International No Diet Day include:

1. Take a break from dieting. Eat when you are hungry and stop when you are full. Listen to your body's signals.
2. Put the lid on diet products. Take food off the "good" and "bad" or "junk food" lists. Taste, savour and enjoy all foods to the fullest!
3. Affirm that weight loss is unnecessary to obtain health and happiness. Reclaim health - not weight loss - as a lifestyle change goal.
4. Give up, or better still, smash your weigh scales. They do nothing for your self-esteem!
5. Cleanse your closet of everything you've been saving until you "get thin," and donate items to a charitable organization.
6. Ask local bookstores to display anti-diet and size acceptance books this week.
7. Refrain from focussing on appearance. Stop saying "You look great! Have you lost weight?" Each of us possesses many praise-worthy qualities that are unrelated to personal appearance.
8. End weight discrimination by celebrating size diversity. Beauty, health and fitness come in all sizes.
9. 
   

Coalition Sponsored Events Raising Awareness
About Eating Disorders
2008

     

CLICK IMAGE TO ENLARGE.

FACES OF RECOVERY -=- CLICK TITLE TO PRINT ADOBE PDF-=- JENNI SCHAEFER LECTURE

For more information on
National Eating Disorder Awareness Week
visit the National Eating Disorder Information Centre


www.nedic.ca.