I’m 21 years old and have always been a little overweight (5'3, 160 lbs). During my sophomore year of college, I started gaining some extra weight due to being stressed out about school and not having the time eat properly. By the end of the year I had put on an extra 35 lbs and when I went home for the summer my boyfriend of 2 ½ years was less than supportive. He had noticed and mentioned my weight gain to me over the course of the year when ever we visited each other (he goes to school in our hometown). Now that we were around each other all the time though, I could plainly see that he was disgusted with me. He was a little chubby himself but he felt entitled to point out my weight since he hadn’t gained any over the school year.

He started to encourage me to work out all the time and said that he would work out too to motivate me. Over the summer he began going to the gym 4 times a week on top of restricting his calories. I would sometimes go with him (at his unyielding demand) but when ever I did he would push me to the point where I would want to cry. He demanded I spend at least an hour on the treadmill before doing other workouts on top of the cardio. If he had it his way though, he would have had me at the gym every day for several hours. On top of it all he started to police my food and instruct me on how to lower my calorie intake to 1400-1600 calories a day. I was already trying to eat healthier now that school was over but it wasn’t enough for him. I finally told him I had it and I didn’t want to put up with his body-policing.

By the end of the summer he had lost a considerable amount of weight and I was still carrying around that extra 25 lbs. I had accepted my new weight despite his abuse but he never did. At the beginning of my junior year of college, we split. He said it was because we had both changed but I know it was because of his new found vanity from his weight loss and that he couldn’t stand the fact that I was fat. I thought he loved me enough to accept me however I looked.