From Head to Tummy: The Simple Truth about Food, Media Messages, Self-worth, and True Beauty.
Blurb:
Give your daughter the peace and freedom that come from knowing the truth about food, self-assurance, and real beauty.
It’s never too early to help your child build a healthy body image.
According to the National Eating Disorders Association
- 42% of 1st–3rd grade girls want to be thinner
- 81% of 10-year-olds are afraid of being fat
Your daughter will journey with the adorable Ashley as she’s faced with life’s unavoidable moments that create confusion about food and her body. But soon she will discover the truth and find happiness in learning how to listen to her tummy’s signals, use tools to deal with social pressures, and focus on her true beauty.
From Head to Tummy provides vital tips and assignments for mothers to help build a strong foundation of worth for themselves and their daughters, as well as help them create a healthy relationship with food in their families.
Author Haley Hatch Freeman
Illustrator Lori Nawyn
Per-order
books sold at www.haleyhfreeman.com
Oct 10th
Amazon link:
Here is the official trailer on youtube Click Here to see it! http://youtu.be/rE5szwvMfHI
About the Author:
Haley Hatch Freeman is the author of A Future for Tomorrow which tells her remarkable true story of enduring and overcoming anorexia and detailed miracles along the way which including a unique near death experience.
Because of her incredible story she has been interviewed on radio shows both in the US and Canada. She’s been on TV including an appearance on the Good Things Utah show. Her story has been featured in newspapers, national publications, and her book is available worldwide. Entire retreat programs have been developed because of Haley’s book and she mentors women all over the world.
Haley not only studied Eating Behaviors in college, but since she defeated anorexia she provides valuable insight on both professional and personal levels. She has been professional trained in public speaking and is a member of the Mountain West National Speaking Association. She is a keynote speaker presenting at women’s conferences, schools, church groups, and more. To schedule her for your event contact her at haleyshearttoheart@gmail.com
Haley founded the company Haley’s Heart to Heart in 2012. Haley’s Heart to Heart is a resource of truth for women and children about eating disorders, media messages, and social pressures. Haley’s Heart to Heart encourages others to creating a healthy relationship with food, develop self-acceptance, and internalizing their divine-worth.
After seeing a great need of children in these areas Haley wrote her next book From Head to Tummy: The Simple Truth about Food, Media Messages, Self-worth, and True Beauty.
Haley delights in raising her three children in Utah with her eternal companion, best friend, and true soul mate: Brandon.
Social Media Links:
@Haleyhf https://twitter.com/Haleyhf
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/haleyhf
About the Illustrator:
Lori Nawyn’s essays, articles, and short stories have appeared in regional and national online and print publications including KSL.com and Deseret News. She is the author of My Gift to You (2010), Fill Your Day with Hope (2013), Simple Things (2014), The Great American Family Reunion Cookbook (2014), and The Pear Aficionado (2014).
An artist and graphic designer, Lori is the illustrator of What are you Thinking? (2010), Love, Hugs, and Hope: When Scary Things Happen (2013), and the author/illustrator of the forthcoming children’s series Abbie & Jack (2015). She is also the creator and founder of Hearts and Hands Dolls, a company that creates dolls to donate to the elderly, and to homeless and abuse children.
The wife of a fireman, mother of four, and grandmother of four, she loves to find the miracles in each new day.
Links:
Website - www.lorinawyn.com
Twitter - www.twitter.com/LoriNawyn
Author Interview – Haley Hatch Freeman
Q1. Tell us a little about what made you write “From Head to Tummy”
A. While speaking professionally, I found mother after mother confiding in me with their concerns, not only for their teens, which my book A Future for Tomorrow helps, but for their younger, elementary-aged daughters. As society’s confused messages about dieting and beauty increase, I agree there is a great need to address these issues for a younger audience. My hope is that this book will be a tool for parents in helping them build a stronger foundation of truth for their young girls, giving them a shield of defense when faced with potentially damaging life situations.
Q2. I noticed while reading “From Head to Tummy” that one of the issues you bring to the forefront was commercial advertisement, what are your thoughts about what today’s society and the ads young girls see?
I wrote about how personally these things affected me as a teenager in my first book, A Future for Tomorrow: Surviving Anorexia, My Spiritual Journey. And how it lead to my near fatal eating disorder. Media can be absolute poison if we don’t build a stronger foundation of truth and debunk the lies we see in the media with our children. I understand why some parents completely don’t allow tv, I personally am not that extreme but I do discuss anything I don’t like. I feel it is impossible to completely shield our children from all media between computers, magazines, movies, tv, or just going to the store, so I would rather empower my children with knowledge and give them ammunition of their own internalized worth and stability to fight against societies pressures to be a certain way. (Of course I’m not saying don’t protect them from spiritually harmful material I’m speaking about media messages in general that they will be exposed to throughout their life even while just watching a children’s channel during a commercial break or walking through a mall.)
Q3. Another issue you bring up is bullying, in the book you can see Ashley being bullied, they approach you used was great, but what is your advice if a young girl does not feel comfortable talking to her parents about the mixed signals and being bullied?
The first draft of my book didn’t have the bullying incident in it. I added it after a close friend came to me searching for help for her seven year old daughter. Her sweet second grader was told she “had too much fat on her body” to be friends with a girl at school and the bullying continued. It broke my heart and to hear the details of the bullying blew me away that this kind of fat phobia was being strewn from a seven year old’s mouth –so young, yet so judgmental and aware of body size already. It inspired me to add this issue in my book.
My advice for a girl obviously would to be to go to someone if not her parents then a teacher or other trusted adult at first if necessary, but hopefully eventually she would be comfortable to go to her parents. I would tell her and hope she could understand that no one else on earth loves her more or is more invested in her happiness than her parents. Perhaps more important advice would be for how parents can recognize when their child is hiding being bullied?
According to Dr. Joel Haber, bullying expert and author of Bullyproof Your Child for Life, your child could be a victim of bullying if he/she:
- Is reluctant or refuses to go to school
- Clams up when you try to discuss school
- Demands some sort of change in a long-standing routine, like riding the bus to school or going to the park on Saturdays
- Does not want to participate in after-school activities or play with old friends
- Seems hungrier than usual after school - it might be a sign that someone is stealing his lunch money or that he is unwilling to brave the cafeteria at lunchtime
- Shows signs of physical distress such as headaches, stomach-aches, or nausea
- Goes to the nurse in order to avoid going to class
- Performance in school (grades, homework, attendance) suddenly declines
- Acts sullen, angry, and frequently wants to be left alone
- Uncharacteristically uses bad language
- Shows marked behavior change after computer time or a phone call
- Starts asking for more lunch or transportation money without a clear explanation of why it is needed
- Has unexplained bruises or injuries
Q4. From learning about your story, I feel that you are a very inspirational person for young girls to look up to as someone that has been through the war of peer pressures, mixed social signals and emotional barriers, my question is; do you ever do public speeches about your journey with anorexia and the emotional barriers that kept you from loving yourself? Also what is the one thing you always tell your audience about your journey?
YES! I am a trained professional speaker. I am a keynote speaker for women’s conferences as well as a presenter for schools, church groups, treatment centers, and many more events. To learn more about booking me for your event please visit www.haleyhfreeman.com or email me at www.haleyshearttoheart.com Here’s a little info from my website to answer you follow up question:
Haley’s unique presentation will make your event unforgettable. Your audience will realize the destruction of anorexia, and will be filled with hope to overcome their own obstacles after hearing Haley’s extraordinary recovery. They will leave with a desire to love and take care of their bodies as well as gain a new appreciation for their own. With tools in hand to debunk media’s falsehoods and appreciate real beauty your audience will be edified and ready to face the world with a new strength.
Q5. In your book, little Ashley learns that it is okay to love yourself and offer the same advice to everyone around her, but sometimes in life it is not that simple, what should someone do if they know someone is fighting these battles within? How can the “outside” crowd learn to accept and deal with the negative thoughts and pressure their loved ones is putting their selves though?
There is power in our thoughts, often it truly is about choosing that you are not going to beat yourself up anymore and deciding you are going to be kinder to yourself. One of my tips in the book helps with changing this type of inner dialog. After a prolonged, critical case of negative thoughts and even depression professional help is often needed. I am an advocate for seeking counseling and help if it is from a trusted and knowledgeable professional.
Far as your second question, we have to accept we can’t change the crowd, but we can work on ourselves and hopefully influence those around us. If we hold on to what is eternally true tight enough then the “outside crowd” will have less and no effect on us.
Q6. In your book, Ashley’s mom takes her to see the family doctor, the advice the doctor gives Ashley makes Ashley feel better about herself, what would your advice be if someone is fighting these same mixed signals and still are unsure what is right from what is wrong?
That’s why I wrote this book for this exact problem. I’m hoping parents can use my book as a tool. Reading this book and completing the assignments in the back is the perfect place to start!
Q7. At the end of your book, you offer parenting tips and guidance, what else would you have to offer parents of young girls that may be facing these same pressures?
It was extremely hard for me to limit myself to just the tips I did put in the book. I had to select the ones I thought were the most vital and most impactful, but there are many other tips that I share in my parenting presentations at my speaking events. Now days there are great resources out there, I would suggest not giving up and to keep searching for materials to aid in the fight.
Top Ten List
I made my Top Ten List about Top Ten Important Information. This is a compilation of parenting tips, self-esteem building exercises, warning signs, and my favorite inspirational quotes.
10. Warning Sign that you or your loved one has a low body image: You check yourself in the mirror constantly or obsess about a body part that isn’t perfect in your eyes.
9. Favorite Quote: “As daughters of God, you cannot imagine the divine potential within each of you, Being a daughter of God means that if you seek it, you can find your true identity. You will know who you are. This will make you free—not free from restraints, but free from doubts, anxieties, or peer pressure. You will not need to worry, “Do I look all right?” “Do I sound OK?” “What do people think of me?” A conviction that you are a daughter of God gives you a feeling of comfort in your self-worth. It means that you can find strength in the balm of Christ. It will help you meet the heartaches and challenges with faith and serenity.” - James. E. Faust
8. Self-esteem Tip: Smile: Sounds too easy? A smile can change chemicals in your mind and body, releasing endorphins that enhance your mood. Smiling to others can start a wave of kindness to others and making others feel good always makes me feel better.
7. Parenting Tip: Teach your daughter that weight gain is normal and a healthy part of development. Prepare her for the changes her body will make during puberty.
6. Favorite Quote: “Do you suppose it matters to our Heavenly Father whether your makeup, clothes, hair, and nails are perfect? Do you think your value to Him changes based on how many followers you have on Instagram or Pinterest? Do you think He wants you to worry or get depressed if some un-friend or un-follow you on Facebook or Twitter? Do you think outward attractiveness, your dress size, or popularity make the slightest difference in your worth to the One who created the universe? He loves you not only for who you are this very day, but also for the person of glory and light you have the potential and the desire to become.” – President Uchtdorf
5. Warning signs of an eating disorder:
* Changes in eating habits, such as avoiding eating with the family.
* Defensiveness when asked about their eating behavior or weight loss.
* A tendency toward being a perfectionist or not being satisfied with themselves.
* Panic when they can’t exercise as planned.
* Comments about how they feel fat or are not good enough.
* An obsession with food, excessive exercising, calorie-counting, and reading about dieting.
4. Self-worth tip: Words are powerful. Create four to five descriptive words you want to be and say this statement several times a day: “I am ___(fill in with your adjectives)___”
Example: “I am energetic, kind, beautiful, smart, and thoughtful.”
3. Favorite Quote: “Looking in the mirror, do you sometimes wish for a different reflection? Some of you may feel that you are not as attractive and beautiful and glamorous as you would like to be. Rise above any such feelings, cultivate the light you have within you, and it will shine through as a radiant expression that will be seen by others” -- Gordon B. Hinckley
2.This is my number one tip for mothers: Never put yourself down in front of your daughter. Daughters not only model your behavior, but their own self-talk leads her to believe that if Mom—who is perfect in her eyes—thinks she’s fat, ugly, and not good enough, how much worse must she be? Or she might look physically similar to you and when you put down a trait she also possesses, she will feel you are saying it about her as well.
Never let her hear you speak negatively about yourself, but go a step further. Stop and change any of your own damaging inner dialogue.
I always end my presentations with asking the audience to take a pledge with me. It is to stop negative self-talk. It is to end what is sometimes called “fat talk.” Fat Talk describes all of the statements made in everyday conversation that reinforce the thin ideal and contribute to women’s dissatisfaction with their bodies.
Examples of fat talk include: “I’m so fat,” “Do I look fat in this?” “I need to lose 10 pounds” “I hate my thighs” and “She’s too fat to be wearing that swimsuit.”
Statements that are considered fat talk don’t necessarily have to be negative; they can seem positive yet reinforce the need to be thin. “You look great! Have you lost weight?”
So I challenge you today to take the pledge to stop the “fat talk” and all other negative inner dialog. You can make a difference!!
Review
From Head to Tummy is a great kid book. Little girls of all age will enjoy the bright, colorful pages of this story book while learning. There are facts in the book that girls should know about because of the kind of world we live in. The fact that the author can take something that’s a touchy subject in todays world and make it easy for little kids to understand is great. The only bad thing I have to say about this book is that its was written for girls. I would love if the author would do one for boys too. The is a book girls should be reading and learning the lessons that’s inside!
Giveaway
Author Giveaway Haley Hatch Freeman
Thank you for posting and reviewing my book! You did a great job. I appreciate it. =)
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