Anorexia and mental health.
Background: I was a dancer from ages 2 to 18 and it was treated like my life. It was more important than my social life, my school work, and even my mental health. I never really had any issues with my body until middle school. My gym teacher had told me I was overweight. At 5' 7" and 135 lbs I didnt really feel all that big. However I started to grow curves faster than the other dancers. I started to skip meals constantly. At one point i was eating only one small salad a day with only lettuce and ranch. It got to the point where teachers would have to watch me at lunch to make sure i ate. I admitted that i needed help and i eventually overcame my poor eating habits. However as i turned 16 i got a really bad kidney infection and missed a whole summers worth of training. This is also the time that my boobs decided to grow at epic proportions. In that summer i went from a B cup to a DD cups and my thighs and hips went up 2 sizes in jeans. Skip forward to regualr dance season and private lessons with my teacher. She would always tell me i need to lose weight and get in shape because i really let myself go during the summer. I didnt really have a large stomach or anything but she insisted i do excersise to make my boobs, thighs, and butt SMALLER. I didnt know what to think but all i knew is i was too big. She had even told me that the people making the costumes were getting tired of making everything bigger for me. Every other dancer was atleast 5 inches smaller than me or had a skinnier body type. I started struggling with eating again. No one knew because i was smarter about it. I went away for summer training again and ended up throwing up atleast one meal a day. With help from my friends i was able to get control of everything agaim. By the time i was reaching the end of mt dance career i had DDDs and i wore probably a 16-18 jean. At that point i was being told if i wanted to be a certain role in a ballet i had to lose weight to fit in the costume when in reality the only thing that didnt fit was my boobs. I no longer dance anymore because of how it affected me mentally but Here is where i am stuck: i hate my stomach and i want it to be flat but i am afraid to diet because i dont want to get caught up in my bad eating habits again. When it comes to working out i get discouraged because i hate my body so much. I dont know what to do anymore. I just want to love my body and be happy and confident. It just sucks because my brain is stuck with the thought that im too big no matter what.
Achieve your health goals from period to parenting.