Being healthy isn’t about weight or eating a salad, University Nutritionist Annie Buffington said Monday night. Instead, students should listen to their bodies — and in listening, they can figure out what they need, rather than what society thinks they need.
“It’s so sad that we live in a culture where restrained eating is normal eating, and I just want to tell you it’s not. It’s not normal,” Buffington said. “You should not feel deprived when you’re not eating.”
Buffington spoke to around 20 students on Monday night in Salomon 001 about honoring their bodies as part of Celebrate Every Body Week, sponsored by Brown Health Education. The week coincides with National Eating Disorders Awareness Week and was created to “raise awareness about eating disorders and promote positive body image on campus,” according to the University’s Health Education website.
According to the National Eating Disorder Association, 70 percent of women between the ages of 18 and 30 do not like their bodies. Eating disorders in males are a “silent epidemic,” according to the site, with 10 million men in the United States suffering from an eating disorder in their lifetimes.
This is Buffington’s third year planning the Celebrate Every Body Week. “My goal is just to make it bigger or better than the year before. It’s really great working with students and getting their organizations involved,” she said.
Buffington’s presentation, “The Art Inside: Health at Every Size,” touched on disordered eating but focused mostly on empowerment and self-acceptance. The belief of Health at Every Size is that “the best way to improve health is to honor” the body, according to the program’s website.
People misinterpret the idea to mean all people are healthy no matter their size, Buffington said prior to the event. In actuality, the emphasis lies in taking the focus off of weight, she said.
“People can be healthy at all sizes by focusing on other factors in their life and not just the number on a scale,” Buffington said.
Tonight, the Student Volunteers for the Samaritans of Rhode Island will team up with Brown Health Services to facilitate a panel discussion on disordered eating. At Brown-RISD Hillel this week, the Brown Yoga and Mindfulness Club plans to hold Celebrate-Every-Body-themed classes with a free class Thursday and 305 Fitness of Providence will offer a free class Wednesday night.
“This isn’t just about eating disorders. This is also for people who don’t suffer from them to take a step back and realize how incredible this body is and how much beauty every single person has,” said Shira Atkins ’14, a YAM coordinator.
“What I want to do in my classes is to realize (the body) is amazing and have people just be in awe of it,” she said. Buffington contacted Atkins to help her reach people already interested in wellness, she added.
Atkins is also participating in Operation Beautiful, an ongoing event for the week that allows students to write anonymous notes with positive messages — like “You’re amazing,” “True beauty is in the heart” and “You’re already perfect,” she said — and put them in public places for others to find.
Other ongoing events include the Great Jeans Giveaway, which allows students to donate gently used clothing to designated boxes in either J. Walter Wilson or the Sharpe Refectory. The donations will be given to Rhode Island-based charities.
“I’m really interested in how people perceive their body image. My mom had body image problems when she was a young girl and … so I grew up with a negative perception of my own body,” said Lauren Galvan ’16. She attended Monday night’s event as part of her training to become a Sexual Health Awareness Group peer educator.
Workout towels with “Celebrate Your Body” on them were offered to guests, along with snacks. Buffington started off the presentation by dimming the lights and playing music before asking audience members how it made them feel. Throughout the one-hour talk, Buffington compared the body to a musical instrument. Similar to an instrument, the body needs to be in-tune, have value, be in the best condition and have a purpose, she said.
Buffington emphasized listening to the body. “Your body is the best dietitian,” she said. Guests were presented with a hunger and fullness scale, which Buffington compared to a music scale. The scale ranged from “famished and feeling faint” to “uncomfortably full.”
“You eat food, but you don’t really think you have a relationship with it,” Galvan said.
Buffington listed dieting, restrained eating, food rules and counting calories as contributing factors that lead to guilt, shame and unhappiness.
“A lot of times people tend to overcorrect. … If you just recognize your fullness at a place that’s comfortable, that’s a nice place to start,” she said.
Buffington displayed body outlines of different Olympic athletes, ranging from weightlifting champion Holley Mangold to gymnastics champion Gabby Douglas. Their body mass indexes ranged from 51.7 to 18.2, respectively.
“They are using their instruments in phenomenal ways,” Buffington said. “BMI might not always describe an individual appropriately.”
Adele Ruppert ’16 said she was drawn to the event as a member of the equestrian team. “I always think it’s an interesting conflict between the two groups. … People who are trying to work out to be athletes or to be healthy. I always think that’s interesting.”
At the end of the presentation, Buffington passed out guitar picks with words such as “health,” “trust” and “freedom” to remind people what to work on.
“Find your groove. Find ways to accept your body, appreciate your body and take care of the instrument you have,” she said.
Buffington tied what she called her passions for music and health together when she performed a song on her ukelele to the tune of the song “Price Tag” about “making a change” and “loving one’s body.”
“It was a cool presentation. I think the idea of not putting labels on food, good or bad, was an awesome point,” Lauren Colwell ’15 said. “It’s okay to do it as long as you listen to your body and ask, ‘How do I feel after that?’”
Galvan also said she took away the importance of hearing what your body has to say.
“I realized it’s important to listen to your body because it does tell you a lot of things. Granted it doesn’t speak to you, but you can tell when your body is hungry or full. I think that’s one change that I’ll definitely start making,” she said.
Even if people disagree with what she says, Buffington said she believes she has done her job if the events of this week start up a conversation.
“Your body has value simply because it houses you. I just want you to hear that,” Buffington said. “There will never be another you. You all have value … because you possess this beautiful instrument and it’s capable of producing incredibly music if you honor it,” Buffington said.
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