I bet you’re wondering how I got here.
8th grade was a rough year! All I wanted to do was fit in…and the best way I knew how to try & get friends was to “get skinny”. I gave up meat and started a very restrictive way of eating. My mom was so mad — I affected family dinners but nothing was stopping me in my quest to get thin. She eventually gave in and helped support my diet.
In a few short months I had lost 25 lbs! I started getting more attention from boys & girls asked me to hang out more.
My confidence grew. Wow - I surely found the secret to acceptance! And thus began my lifelong journey with associating my self worth related to my body. Yikes…it took a LONG TIME to unpack all of this … more diets, more restrictive eating patterns. Bringing my own food to parties. Being ‘scared’ of going to events because there would be nothing I could eat. If I broke my food rules I would fail and therefore gain all my weight back. Don’t even get me started on the gym/exercise piece. This took up SO MUCH SPACE in my head.