"Bravo to the women brave enough to share their stories in this book. Doing so invites all of us to similarly share the experiences about our bodies. By telling our stories, we can unmask the damaging and unattainable images of beauty. Together, we can and must reject such a narrow definition of what is beautiful. We must challenge any definition of beauty that does not include ourselves not only because self-love and self-acceptance are fundamental to health and well-being, but simply because we deserve to enjoy and love our bodies unconditionally and to feel good about ourselves just as we are."

Barbara Harris
Editor in Chief, Shape Magazine

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"These stories clearly demonstrate how today’s rigid and unrealistic beauty standards inflict pain and health-threatening pressures on women and men of all ages. We must seek out a new, more inclusive definition of values to meet the psychological and emotional needs of women and the men who love them, making us all winners."

Dick Lyles, Ph.D.
President/COO, The Ken Blanchard
Companies Author, Winning Ways

•

"Never before have I read such poignant, truth-telling stories of what damage is done to girls and women by parents, family, so-called friends, and the media who promulgate the notion that ‘you are what you weigh and how you look.’ A Waist is a Terrible Thing to Mind is a real wake-up call to the world that such gross and distorted beliefs produce enormous sadness and lack of self-esteem at the very least, and illness and tragic consequences at the most. Surely this ground-breaking book will be a critical step in a healing process in which we all must participate."

Marjorie Hansen Shaevitz
Psychotherapist • Author
The Superwoman Syndrome
and The Confident Woman
Chair, National Advisory Panel
Stanford Institute For Research On Women And
Gender

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"A Waist is a Terrible Thing to Mind is a wake-up call for us all. It poignantly documents the insidious and negative influence the diet and fashion industries exert on women’s self-esteem. The book challenges all of us, men and women, to redefine beauty in a way that will promote self-acceptance and wellness. Let us accept the challenge!"

Mimi Guarneri, M.D. • Cardiologist
Medical Director, Scripps Center for Integrative
Medicine

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"This book exposes our cultural obsession with weight and the misogynistic toll it takes on women with a unique, heartfelt and articulate collection of personal stories. The compelling women’s voices on these pages expose our pervasive, ubiquitous psychic abuse around being thin, with an immediacy and urgency that we all need to understand. This is an important and necessary read."

Belleruth Naparstek
Author, Your Sixth Sense
Creator of The Health Journeys, a guided imagery audio series

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"A revelatory treasure of human experiences, opening the reader’s eyes to the torments imposed by the mindless worship of pop images of beauty."

Erving Polster Ph.D. • Miriam Polster, Ph.D.
Authors • Co-Directors, Gestalt Training Center
San Diego, California

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"This outstanding book gives a voice to countless women’s struggles with body image, revealing the magnitude of this crisis. These stories cannot be read without affecting the readers. This book challenges women to reclaim their bodies and create their own healthy, attainable beauty ideals."

Ann Kearney-Cooke, Ph.D.
Director, Cincinnati Psychotherapy Institute
Scholar, Partnership for Women’s Health
Columbia University, New York

•

"This book is a gold mine. As one who has always been awed by the marvelous complexity of the human body since I first began my medical training, I feel despair in the recognition that so many women are so unhappy with their miraculous bodies. Yet I also feel hope that this book will begin to change what has become a very real problem for over half of our population. Reading this book is something we all owe ourselves."

Lana Holstein, M.D.
Author • Director of Women's Health
Canyon Ranch, Tucson, Arizona

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