This week, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) charged several weight-loss companies with fraud and, to be honest, it’s about time. The products in question – Sensa Products, L’Occitane, HCG Diet Direct and Lean Spa – are just a handful of the hundreds of these types of companies that are peddling products that can contribute to the development of an eating disorder. 

“We delight in the beauty of the butterfly, but rarely admit the changes it has gone through to achieve that beauty.” — Maya Angelou

Merriam-Webster defines resolution as determination or a course of active decidedness. When struggling with an eating disorder, self-destructive behaviors can sometimes be mistaken for resolve. However, once you decide to turn toward recovery, resolution and determination shine like brilliant stars, illuminating steps worth taking and the truest form of existing beauty: the authentic, empowered you.

The phrase, “Needs Improvement” seems like a fair way to assess the spelling or cursive handwriting skills of an elementary school student. But the body composition of an adolescent child? Perhaps not.

“Dream on it. Let your mind take you places you would like to go, and then think about it and plan it and celebrate possibilities. And don’t listen to anyone who doesn’t know how to dream.” — Liza Minnelli

“I’m Beautiful the Way I Am.” That’s the message at the center of a public education campaign launched by the city of New York this week. The #ImAGirl campaign features NYC girls—not professional models—in a PSA as well as print ads that will appear on subways, buses and kiosks throughout the city.

Open the September issue of Vogue and you’ll find an in depth feature on Yahoo! CEO, Marissa Mayer.

The Boy Scouts of America recently announced that it would be banning the participation of scouts and leaders from the 2013 Jamboree based on their Body Mass Index (BMI). NEDA's President and CEO, Lynn Grefe, explains why this is a dangerous idea and urges the Boy Scouts to reconsider this policy in the future in an open letter to their Chief Scouting Officer. If you feel similarly, we encourage you to write to the Boy Scouts and share your concerns.

I was five when a relative explained to me how babies were made. If a couple prayed about it, she said, presto! The proverbial bun in the oven. Throughout the rest of kindergarten, I feared that God would confuse any infant related thought I had with prayer and insert a wee one in me. For years, my “privates” were areas “down there” no one spoke of, and sexuality was an enigmatic, hush-hush topic reserved for moms and dads. Not until taking a college sexuality course in my early twenties did I truly grasp the details of my sexual anatomy and just how valuable such understanding is.

“I believe that what we become depends on what our fathers teach us at odd moments, when they aren't trying to teach us. We are formed by little scraps of wisdom.”  — Umberto Eco, Foucault’s Pendulum

Since I began speaking publicly about my personal eating disorder battle, I’ve encountered many individuals enduring similar challenges. One of the first was a man whose 22-year-old daughter, Katherine, was severely ill with anorexia. “She won’t eat,” he wrote me in an email. “Her mother and I feel helpless.”

[This post first appeared on Proud2Bme.org]

When I began my petition against Abercrombie & Fitch just over two weeks ago, I had no idea what it would become. I had no idea that it would inspire a movement.