spain-bastard:

thisisthinprivilege:

There’s a triggering bulletin board with ways not to gain weight/eat too many calories over the holidays in my dorm. As someone who has an eating disorder/is in recovery, it was really bothersome. I (politely!) graffitied it and this is the response I got. Really irritating.

This is how sick this culture of thin/dieting has gotten. The fact that people are laughing at the OP’s message. People feel shame for eating like normal humans, and the less you manage to eat the more “controlled” you seem which is admired by others. I think that’s just awful. I am vegetarian and eat somewhat healthy, and people go on and on about how “good” I am and how much “willpower” I have. Bullshit. Whether I decide to eat a cookie or not is not a reflection on me as a person.

Please, eat, and don’t feel guilty about it. Eat when you’re hungry. Eat when you’re sad. Eat for fun. It’s okay, and it doesn’t make you a bad, lazy or fat person, or anything like that.

I wasted years believing that, partly because of a very insecure mother and partly because of…everyone else around me. I recorded my food obsessively, couldn’t skip a workout(daily, at least 2 hours long) without beating myself up over it for days. I’d make up excuses to miss family events or going out with friends because I had “already eaten too much” that week and/or I didn’t want to skip a workout. It is not fun and it isn’t a good way to live - and it won’t help anyway.

I’ve gotten a lot better and I feel a lot more relaxed and comfortable with myself. I can skip workouts without getting anxious, I can eat what I feel like without hating myself for it. And - I haven’t gained massive amounts of weight like I feared I would if I didn’t keep in strict control. (In fact, I haven’t gained any - but that doesn’t actually matter)

Sorry, I don’t usually post this stuff but this strikes a chord with me and I just want everyone to know and believe that it’s okay to eat for nutrition AND for pleasure, and that you don’t need to lose weight to be beautiful and healthy.