Is it true that anorexia/eating disorders are passed on from generation to generation? I don’t think so and I’m going to brake the chain. You see I grew up with a verbally abusive father. He never thought my Mom was skinny enough so he kept on telling her she was fat and needed to lose weight. The end result was my Mom back anorexic and balemic.
I grew up taking care of both my parents. Mom had fibromyalgia and Dad was very hard of sight and had diabetes. I was raised to take care of both of them (oh did I mention they were divorced too). When I went to high school my father was putting pressure on me to be popular and join clubs and be active. This put some much stress on me I ate and ate way too much. I’m 5’3″ and went up to 136 lbs in my freshmen year. Now I know that’s not huge but when your father tells you your fat and will never be a super model it certainly feels huge.
In my Jr year I started to cut meals and watch what I eat. I started to stay late at school to workout and lose weight. When I entered my Senior year I was down to 111lbs and by the time I graduated I was 93 lbs. I would binge a day then not eat the next. Soon after losing my Grammy I realized I was miserable, I started to gain weight and went up to 105. I still workout and did so in excess. Meeting my soon to husband changed my outlook on life.
He has helped stay on track and maintain being healthy at 112 lbs. I plan on teaching this path to Sam and make sure she never has to live through an eating disorder. I plan on educating her with the documentary Thin which Charlotte from The Great Fitness Experiment brought to my attention! I hope you my ED friends will fight with me in making sure our children will not follow our painful pasts!
