Ruth's blog

We're really proud to launch the first of our series of Body Gossip films - written by real people about their real bodies, and performed by a cast of well-known actors and presenters.

Please check them out here:

THIS ONE IS FOR YOU: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qFa5JNfCvIU

WHAT ARE WE PROTECTING OUR CHILDREN FROM?: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PG0Jp1jrG8Y

And thank you to the lovely Nikki Grahame for mentioning this positive body image campaign live on Big Brother today - Nikki is so supportive of this campaign and we can't thank her enough.  She also stars in our 2 films, as you will see.

To help us make more films please visit www.buzzbank.org/bodygossip/sofa

And do forward the films link to all your friends so they can watch them too!

Ruth x

Fresh from our success at Clothes Show London, Body Gossip took its sofas to the Secret Garden Party festival last weekend!

And this time we didn't just ask people for their thoughts about body image - this time we asked them to write about their Mind and Soul too, to link in with the tent we were in - Limina Tent - which is all about doing things that make your Mind, Body and Soul happy.

Thank you to everyone at Limina tent, and thank you to Kieron who came and helped me Body Gossip - pics below, as you can see we got our Tshirts pimped up, and made sure that as many people as possible saw the Body Gossip logo!

Body Gossip - thanks to the National Osteoporosis Society - had a stand at the Clothes Show London last weekend.

We were collecting people's body comments - and by the last day we'd completed filled the 'official' body gossip walls, so we covered the whole stand in body gossip!

Actress Mikyla Dodd came along to say hello, and was filmed for a BBC documentary on our stand:

Clothes Show presenter and fashion legend Caryn Franklin also came along to the stand, and wrote a beautifully positive message:

We felt that we achieved everything we intended - got loads of comments, got loads of people videoing their own body thoughts, and hopefully loads of new facebook friends!

Thanks so much to Rob, Ross and Michael, and Lee and Lynsey for their amazing help and work!  And for Mikyla and Caryn for coming to say hello x

Body Gossip - thanks to the National Osteoporosis Society - had a stand at the Clothes Show London last weekend.

We were collecting people's body comments - and by the last day we'd completed filled the 'official' body gossip walls, so we covered the whole stand in body gossip!

Actress Mikyla Dodd came along to say hello, and was filmed for a BBC documentary on our stand:

Clothes Show presenter and fashion legend Caryn Franklin also came along to the stand, and wrote a beautifully positive message:

We felt that we achieved everything we intended - got loads of comments, got loads of people videoing their own body thoughts, and hopefully loads of new facebook friends!

Thanks so much to Rob, Ross and Michael, and Lee and Lynsey for their amazing help and work!  And for Mikyla and Caryn for coming to say hello x

Click on the link below to read about Body Gossip in the latest edition of Flavour magazine:

http://viewer.zmags.com/publication/54bf6b67#/54bf6b67/10

Thanks to Natasha Devon for her amazing words and for spreading Body Gossip's positive message.

Soul songstress Tamanda Walker joins Divine Unity and a host of TV and theatre personalities in the nationwide celebration of positive body image!

Tamanda Walker’s fresh sound is a swirl of rnb, soul and pop. She’s already
caused quite a stir in the industry, with radio and record label insiders
describing her as ‘a very talented young lady’ and ‘a genuine star’. A recent
winner of the Sibelius Songwriter of the Year Award, May 2010 sees the
release of her hotly anticipated EP.

Demonstrating that she has a heart as big as her voice, Tamanda is in the
process of setting up arts and education projects in Southern Africa and is
delighted to lend her support to the Body Gossip campaign, calling it
“inspiring stuff”.

Having battled with and conquered an eating disorder during her teens,
Tamanda is now determined to remain healthy and happy, despite the
pressures of modern celebrity. She is passionate about presenting a healthy
and realistic image to her fans - and we're so proud to have her on board with Body Gossip!

Super Size vs Super Skinny fans eagerly tuned in on Tuesday 23rd March to watch the first episode of series 3 and many were touched by Jade's story. Weighing just five-and-a-half stone, she arrived at Dr Christian's clinic desperate to regain her pre-pregnancy curves for the sake of her young son, Jake.

Jade is now well on her way to reaching her target weight of seven-and-a-half stone and is feeling healthier and happier.

Jade knows the importance of speaking out about body image. Since appearing on the programme, she has been inundated with positive responses from the public and requests from young women who struggle to put on weight for the benefit of her advice.

She says "it is not always to do with fashion and wanting to be so tiny. Some people are poorly".

Now famous for her brave and forthright outbursts whilst in the clinic, Jade will make a fiesty new addition to the Body Gossip team.

Meet the beautiful ladies who are our latest Body Gossip supporters : DIVINE UNITY!

South London born trio Divine Unity are a girl group with a difference.

An eclectic blend of pop music sung with naturally soulful voices, their career began early and Sacha, Martina and Sharlene started off singing at church which included performances at the Brighton Convention Centre.

The award winning group have since performed at the National Exhibition Centre and The Drum Theatre in Birmingham as well as performing to a sold out crowd at the Royal Festival Hall and Symphony Hall.

The talented singer/songwriters have also graced the stage with the likes of Soul Legend Omar and two time MOBO Award Winning saxophonist, Yolanda Brown; as well as supporting Basement Jaxx vocalist, Sharlene Hector when she performed at the Hat Factory, Luton. The girls are currently playing an 8 week set at Charlotte Street Blues which will see them performing throughout February and March 2010.

Body Gossip's Natasha Devon of Winning Minds is in the current edition of Cosmopolitan Magazine (yes, Cosmo!!!) talking about her courageous battle with bulimia, and how Winning Minds helped her, and her connection to Body Gossip.

In Cosmopolitan Natasha talks about how years of bulimia pushed her body to its limit and reveals her astonishing fight back. Natasha also talks about how Winning Minds helped her,  and how she came to work for Winning Minds last august. Natasha now runs a workshop with Mark Newey a leading NLP practitioner and Eating Disorder Specialist in the UK. Together they have developed a workshop to help women with eating disorders which is endorsed by the charity B-eat.

You can read Natasha's article in Cosmopolitan Magazine here: Natasha's article in Cosmopolitan.

Natasha is also a regular blogger on positive and varied beauty, and you can read her superb blogs here: The Real Beauty Debate.

If you've heard the debate on Radio 5 Live on Saturday night, you'll know by now that Giles Coren had some rather strange and at times offensive opinions about body image, including stating that humans shouldn't eat every day, and that historically we have been skin and bone.  Ask any dietician, they'll tell you that Giles' views about food are dangerous and crazy. Ask any historian or art lover and they'll tell you that Giles was making up history to support his own argument.

Personally, I'm not blaming Kate Moss for believing what she says - in her industry she is under pressure to stay 'skinny'.  But as a fashion and beauty icon, she should realise by now how powerful she is and how influential she is - it is irresponsible of her to project this dangerous motto, where she must know how it would be received.  To anyone with a negative image of their own body, Kate's words say: "Don't eat anything, and you'll feel great because you'll be skinny".

Listening to that motto with the ears of a 16 year old girl, or boy, and suddenly it sounds very different.

Dangerously, Kate's motto ignores what food is there for - to give us energy, nutrients and to maintain a healthy body and mind.  She's demonising food, which is potentially deadly.  This just encourages obsession over eating and weight, when we should see food as a way to give our body energy.

What is it about not eating that is so brave and strong?  I think Kate Moss was a coward to use this already over-used statement (Steven Tyler coined the phrase years ago).  Talk about jumping on the tired old bandwagon of 'Thin is in'.  For so many years we've had the same message: 'Perfection is everything, don't show any flaws, wrinkles, cellulite, love handles'... But all these things are what makes us HUMAN and UNIQUE!  

Kate Moss would have been much BRAVER had she gone against the grain and said "I'm going to age naturally, I'm going to eat a healthy diet and exercise in moderation, and embrace my natural, healthy body."

Come on Kate, grow some balls and be the first to make NATURAL, HEALTHY BEAUTY the dish of the day!