Today I’m honored to be guest posting on my friend Jen’s website, weightlesschronicles.com. She asked me to share a story that people can relate to, and there are few things as relatable as feeling overweight.
I have felt fat my whole life.
Growing up, everyone would comment on how skinny my sister was. They would tell me I had a pretty smile, or nice hair… never that I was thin. Whenever this happened, I heard, “you’re fat.” Of course that’s not at all what my well-intentioned family meant, but that doesn’t matter, does it? In my mind it was settled; I was fat.
There’s one moment that sticks out in my mind to this day as an indicator of my unhealthy mindset. It was 25 years ago, but I remember it like it was yesterday. It was a couple of weeks before the 8th grade dance, the social event of the year. Even more important, I was going with a boy – my first boyfriend.
Me at 14 in my beautiful size 8 dress.
My step-mother had taken me shopping for a dress and I had amazingly found one that I loved. It was a taupe off the shoulder, A-line dress that fell to just above my knees. It had the most gorgeous muted jewel-toned flowers on it, and I loved it. Wearing it made me feel beautiful. But not because it was a pretty dress. Because it was a size 8. In fact, when I came home and told my dad that we had found a dress, I proudly added, “It’s a size 8!”
