HQ lands 'enlightening' guide against diet culture by Light

HQ has landed an "enlightening and empowering" guide to disavowing diet culture and learning to make peace with our bodies, from body confidence and anti-diet advocate Alex Light.

Zoe Berville, commissioning editor, acquired world all language rights to You Are Not A Before Picture from Will Prior at 84 World. It will publish in June 2022. 

The publisher said: "When we look in the mirror, so many of us see a ‘before’ picture: the miserable person in the side-by-side shot waiting for the ‘glow-up’ (read: weight loss) that will bring true happiness. But it’s not our fault that we see our bodies as projects in need of constant work: this is just one of the beliefs that has been ingrained in us by diet culture. We have been taught to view ourselves as a collection of ‘problem’ areas for which the billion-dollar diet industry holds the solutions.

"You Are Not A Before Picture provides a framework for changing the way we view ourselves and the world around us. Working with experts in the fields of psychotherapy, fitness and nutrition, Alex empowers readers to interrogate their underlying beliefs, challenge the external and internal forces that are holding us back, and finally find freedom in our bodies, for good."

Light said: "I'm beyond delighted to be publishing my first book – it’s an absolute dream come true. After such a long battle with eating disorders and body image issues personally, I am incredibly passionate about this subject matter. Since I started discussing body image on Instagram, I have been committed to helping people become more comfortable in their own skin, and this book is an amalgamation of everything that I know can and will make a difference. I hope it helps readers to see their bodies in a different light – it's about time."

Berville added: "Alex is a force to be reckoned with. Through her work and her wonderfully honest and empowering content, she has already inspired so many people to challenge diet culture and to interrogate the negative beliefs they hold about themselves and their bodies. You Are Not A Before Picture is enlightening and emboldening in equal measure, and we are incredibly proud to be publishing it."