My Personal Struggle With Weight

I'm going to get personal here. Really personal. From the time I was 12 until I was about 19 I battled an eating disorder. They were some of the most confusing and miserable years of my entire life; but what it taught me about body image and health still sticks with me today.

My battle with anorexia started when I hit puberty. I started to develop hips and I couldn't understand why. I didn't view my curves as curves, I thought I was fat. To add to my mental struggle, I was not popular with the boys at all. I saw women around me dieting and I thought that was the secret to getting a boyfriend and becoming likeable.

I became completely fixated on taking in as few calories and fat grams as possible. I studied food, nutrition labels, and set completely unrealistic goals, like only eating 500 calories a day. Over the years I did lose some weight, but what I didn't understand is that I was already thin to begin with and my body started holding on to every calorie I consumed because I was starving myself. I scared my poor parents to death, and guess what... it didn't get me a boyfriend. In fact I lost several friends in the process.

It wasn't until I started taking small chances with food that I started to get better. When I came across this article on dieting this morning I thought to myself, this is so true! These healthy principles are exactly what I learned when I started to come out of my battle with anorexia.

1. You don't eat enough! Eating less doesn't necessarily do you favors when you are trying to shed pounds. If you consume very little calories, your metabolism slows down to conserve its fuel.

2. You treat fat like it's the devil! I remember I would only eat fat free everything, cream cheese, milk, yogurt, it all had to be fat free. What I didn't understand is that fat is an important component of your body for it to do its work. Studies have actually shown that substituting everything with its low-fat version is the worst way to lose weight and keep it off. Instead, you should opt for the good fat that is in avocados, nuts, and oil-based dressings.

3. You cut out carbs. Your body needs carbs. What you need to do is consider the kind you consume. Whole grains are the best. Try challenging yourself to eat oatmeal, whole grain toast, quinoa, brown rice, and whole wheat pastas.

4. You eat minimal breakfast for a "healthy" start. I remember not eating breakfast for years. The truth is your metabolism naturally works faster in the morning and slows down at night.

5. You worry more about mealtime than bedtime. One of the most violated rules of weight loss is not getting enough sleep. Studies show sleep deprivation can lead you to eating an average of 549 more calories per day.

If you know anyone struggling with an eating disorder, I encourage you to share these facts with them. Eating disorders are ugly beasts that have a mind all their own, but one big stepping stone for me was taking a chance on eating breakfast. I slowly discovered that eating breakfast didn't make me gain weight and it was the first step in me trusting food again.

Today, I am very grateful to say that I eat pretty much anything I want without too much worry. Many people who suffer with eating disorders struggle for a lifetime and I'm so grateful that today I can embrace my curves.