This was me a while ago. I was always told I was too chubby, too fat, too this or too that. I started starving myself: throwing away my lunch at school, “forgetting” to eat breakfast, even triggering my gag reflex. I thought that it would make me pretty.
It wasn’t until one of my check-ups that my mom realized something was wrong. I had dropped from the 40th percentile to the 5th in terms of weight. In other words, where I had previously been at a weight that 40% of other girls my age/height were, there was now only 5% of girls in my weight range.
I’m a lot healthier now; I’ve reached a more normal weight. But I’m not going to lie, it wasn’t easy. I still get upset with myself. I still ignore the pangs of hunger and shun food. I still get upset sometimes at how I look. I still have to remind myself that I’m not fat, that I’m beautiful no matter how much I weigh.
But I’m getting better.