Hi, my name is Anne Poirier.

Having overcome a lifetime of eating, food, weight, and body image challenges including an eating disorder, I wrote ‘The Body Joyful’ …My journey from self-loathing to self-acceptance, to share my story. My true mission is to help the next generation see their bodies and selves differently. To help them reject diet culture and "society's thin ideal" so that they can live a life full of joy, freedom and impact, regardless of the size of their bodies.

I have just completed a chapter book (for kids ages 7/8-12) called 'NOT A FAT ANNIE'

Synopsis:

Aly Rose just started 5th grade. She is stuck in a class full of ‘perfect, popular kids’ and is NOT fitting in. When her class decides to put on her favorite musical ANNIE, she is dying to try-out. Unfortunately, there is a problem. She is the biggest kid, or in the words of her classmates, the ‘fattest’ kid in the class, and has been enduring continuous bullying, teasing and name calling from the ‘cool’ girls. They have made it clear there will be NO WAY she will try out...

"Hey there Blubber Gut, didn't you know that NO ONE wants to see a fat Annie!"

Yet, her best friend has a completely different thought. She knows that Aly is the perfect person for the role, and is on a mission to get her to try out.

Aly Rose discovers that she has, and can call upon a strong inner confident voice, to help her quiet the doubting, critical, and mean inner voice that has just quickly been exaggerated by the nasty, critical and judgmental voices of her classmates.

-This book tackles body image stereotypes and biases, along with challenging diet culture and the norms of society, in hopes to result in a shift of perspective and a bigger understanding of our own abilities.

I am raising money to print, publish and market this book to schools, children's organizations, libraries and bookstores. The book includes an online educational 'Playbook' that includes activities about body neutrality, body confidence, weight bias, bullying, diet culture and self-talk.