This empowering exercise guide is big on attitude, giving plus-size women the motivation and information they need to move their bodies and improve their health. Hanne Blank—a fellow plus-size girl who’s been there and has the worn-out sports bras to show for it—will help you discover activity that works for you no matter what your size or current fitness level. Whether you choose to do yoga, pump iron, walk your dog, play Wii Fit, hire a personal trainer, or just run errands by bicycle, Hanne will provide specifically tailored advice on: • Finding movement that feels great, physically and emotionally • Choosing a gym • Facing the trail, pool, park, or locker room • Overcoming fear and shame • Sourcing plus-size workout gear • Getting the nutrition you need and avoiding common injuries • Fighting fat prejudice and uninvited comments Featuring incendiary acts like “Flail proudly,” and “Claim the right to be unattractive (just like anybody else),” Hanne serves up years of hard-won fitness advice with humor and self-acceptance. With motivating lists like “30 Things to Love About Exercise (None of Which Have Anything to Do with Your Weight, Your Size, or What You Look Like),” this call to action will get you up and moving in no time!

This empowering exercise guide is big on attitude, giving plus-size women the motivation and information they need to move their bodies and improve their health. Hanne Blank, proud fat girl and personal trainer, understands the physical and emotional roadblocks that overweight women face in the word of exercise. In this one-of-a-kind guide that combines exercise advice with a refusal to fat-bash, Hanne shows readers how to choose workout options from WiiFit to extreme sports, avoid common sports injuries, get proper nutrition, source plus-size work out gear, and more.

A psychotherapist of 30 years, Nancy Ellis-Ordway explains how she helps people get off the weight loss roller coaster, make peace with food and their bodies, and improve their health to find happiness and a better quality of life. Widespread publicity about "the war on obesity" has led to pervasive anxiety, distress, and shame about eating, says psychotherapist Nancy Ellis-Ordway. Many people feel at war with their bodies rather than at home, in large part because of weight stigma and the unrelenting pursuit of thinness in America. This book offers a detailed approach for change, with a particular focus on "the message we give ourselves" when we eat, exercise, and interact with other people. This process incorporates operating from an internal locus of control as a way to improve self-esteem. Elllis-Ordway, in contrast to the "diet mentality" that is full of restrictions, first has clients focus on building self-esteem and growing a desire for self-care. She teaches clients to develop an ability to "listen to their own bodies" for guidance to eat for physical and mental health. The better we listen to and fulfill our body's needs, she explains, the better our self-esteem and health becomes, and the more we believe we are "worth it" and are able to meet our objectives.

“Finally—a fitness book for the rest of us! . . . [Big Fit Girl] is sure to usher in a new generation of tough, curvy athletes.” —Jessamyn Stanley, author of Every Body Yoga In Big Fit Girl, Louise Green describes how the fitness industry fails to meet the needs of plus-size women and thus prevents them from improving their health and fitness. By telling her own story of how she stopped dieting, got off the couch, and unleashed her inner athlete—as well as showcasing similar stories from other women—Green inspires other plus-size women to do the same. Green also provides concrete advice, based on the latest research, about how to get started, how to establish a support team, how to choose an activity, what kind of clothing and gear work best for the plus-size athlete, how to set goals, and how to improve one’s relationship with food. And she stresses the importance of paying it forward—for it is only by seeing plus-size women in leadership roles that other plus-size women will be motivated to stop trying to lose weight and get fit instead. “Big Fit Girl impressed me tremendously. Green combines compelling storytelling with practical tips—true to what we know about science—in a unique way that will get you moving.” —Linda Bacon, PhD, scientist, and author of Health at Every Size “Inspiring and empowering.” —Taryn Brumfitt, producer and director, founder of the Body Image Movement “I’m thrilled to live in a world where Big Fit Girl will be part of the health section. Thank you Louise—it’s time for every person of every size to have access to this information!” —Jes Baker, The Militant Baker

This three-part workbook offers a concise and forgiving research- based guide to clients’ diffi culties with sustained weight loss. Part 1 is a review of your client’s previous efforts at weight control and image change, as well as information and a review of research to help your client understand why weight loss might not have worked in the past. Part 2 contains information and exercises to help your client develop a new acceptance of their body and their relationship with food, as well as tools to develop mindfulness and self- compassion. Part 3 will help your client identify, experiment with, and commit to values related to food, appearance, and other important areas of life, tackling troublesome mental and practical barriers along the way.

From the two defining personalities of post-cyberpunk SF, a brilliant collaboration to rival 1987's The Difference Engine by William Gibson and Bruce Sterling

The first book to comprehensively discuss the function of the psoas in posture, movement, and exercise, The Psoas Solution identifies the functional anatomy, biomechanics, and motor control of the psoas and its role in core and hip stabilization. Integrating research with clinical experience, Evan Osar identifies the psoas's role on the hip, pelvis, and low back and demonstrates how to incorporate the psoas into functional movement patterns including squatting, lunging, and bending. The Psoas Solution includes corrective and functional exercise progressions for improving and integrating the psoas into daily activities. Health and fitness professionals will find this a valuable resource full of applicable strategies and exercises to incorporate into current rehabilitation or training programs. Abundantly illustrated with full-color images throughout, this book also provides most complete review on the relevant research on the psoas available. For years the psoas has been a muscle mired in controversy. It has been linked to common postural and movement dysfunction including anterior pelvic tilt, hyperlordosis of the lumbar spine, and low back pain. Strategies to improve posture and reduce pain have primarily involved stretching the psoas and strengthening its antagonist, the glutes. However, recent clinical research has revealed that the psoas is much more than a simple hip flexor and plays an integral role in both posture and movement. This professional treatment manual for health care practitioners and students gives an overview of the ways that non-optimal use of the psoas can affect breathing, posture, and movement. It outlines specific treatment strategies that enable patients to develop awareness and utilization of the psoas muscle to achieve three-dimensional breathing and improve balance and body mechanics.