“I sent a message to the friend who had to deal with my food and weight issues up close and personal for years. ‘Thank you for all you did for me, and stickking with me.’ She simply responded, ‘Your weight has always been the least interesting thing about you.'”
‘You look great now, but you’d look even better at 102 lbs.’ I’m terrified of my sweet, innocent little girl hearing the lies I’ve heard.’: Woman reinvents 10-year challenge, ‘Your body is a gift’
‘I needed to relapse just ‘one more time’ so everyone would like me. The verbal abuse continued.’: Woman battles 7-year eating disorder, ‘I decided to put myself first’
“I needed to lose weight. I would have a ton of friends and finally be brave enough to go to the pool in a bikini. I would root for other people and tell them to eat abundantly, but would never do that myself without ‘getting rid of it’ afterward.”
‘Pregnant at 18, I heard, ‘You’re young, you’ll bounce back!’ It became etched in my mind. Stretch marks and loose skin? BAD.’: Mom learns to cherish postpartum body, ‘This body is my home’
“I tried all of the creams. For years, I wore only high-rise pants and would turn away from friends when we were getting dressed. I hated what I saw in the mirror. But one day, I looked down at my tummy and saw the ripples, the marks, the stretched belly button. And I smiled. This body is my home.”
‘Honey, can you come pick me up? I think something is really wrong with me.’ I felt strong vibrations all throughout my body.’: Woman shares tips for managing anxiety, ‘I used to think self-care was mani-pedis and face masks’
“I pulled over. I was sitting on the side of the road, shaking as I held my son’s little hand – completely unaware of what was happening. Cars sounded louder, the sunlight brighter. The back of my neck felt like a claw squeezing me. I could no longer take a deep breath. I was holding on for dear life.”
‘I don’t really like black people, but you’re different.’ I shrank inside myself. I couldn’t change my skin, but I could lose every identifiable piece of who I was to blend in.’: Woman recalls experiences with racism, ‘I’m no longer a scared little girl’
“After months of being teased about my accent, my clothes, my hair, my body, I had no wherewithal to speak up when the N-word came out of the mouth of someone I considered a friend. I froze. I spent the rest of the year working hard to drop my accent. I got quiet. I learned not to raise my hand, because the teacher would make it a point to humiliate me anyway.”
‘She told me I was ‘crazy’ for buying disposable diapers. The foods I fed my daughter were wrong. I told myself she was just strong-willed.’: Woman urges ‘if they don’t raise you up, they are NOT your people’
“She started screenshotting my texts and making fun of me. Our friendship went south. Then, her friends and family started contacting me. Looking back, I realize every time I ignored the red flags, I was setting myself up for how things ended between us.”
‘I watched more than a few of my friends commenting negatively on how they look now. Girl, stop glorifying your past self just for being skinnier.’: Woman reminds us ‘comparison is the thief of joy’
“Maybe your waistline grew this past decade (GUILTY, FRIEND), but so did your family. I fear for a time when my daughter would choose to comment only on her WEIGHT in her joyful photos. People preach about the importance of self-love and ignore the elephant in the room.”
‘Somewhere inside of you is a little girl who wonders at the grown-up you’ve become, someone who is fierce and ready to take on the world.’: Woman thankful for her daughter, ‘she is teaching me in the midst of raising her’
“There have been times you have said ‘no’ when you wanted to say ‘yes.’ I have seen this photo before and it always takes me back and makes me think.”
‘He’s old enough to be alone. Why do you always have to babysit your brother?’ No one understood. I promised to protect him.’: Older sister becomes advocate to brother with autism, ‘He is my biggest teacher’
“I felt this huge need to protect him. Children would laugh at him and call him stupid. I screamed at them and stood up for him. The older I got, the angrier I was and the more pain I felt. I didn’t know what to do.”
‘It’s like a virus,’ the counselor says. ‘It wants to keep living inside you.’ Nobody should have to experience it.’: Young woman details severe depression, ‘Show yourself some compassion’
“I think to myself, ‘It sounds nice to pick up my guitar again. I can pull out some of my watercolors. I can call a friend.’ But a few days later, I still haven’t done any of those things. It feels overwhelming and pointless.”
