Personal Narrative: I Had a Teenage Eating Disorder!

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I have always had issues with my body and my weight. This unfortunately started at a very young age for me. In grade school I was the girl who towered over everyone, and was a little more build than the typical girl my age. All the other kids in my grade looked basically the same from my point of view. There was one other girl who was the same height as me and the kids nicknamed us the “twin towers”. I remember wanting to look like anyone but me at that time. Today I am considered average height and can only wish for a pair of long legs. My paper is about my struggles with eating and exercise, and the importance of exercise and nutrition in my life. Ever since I was young I have been the athletic girl in my grade. I played every sport that was available to me. I was involved in basketball, volleyball, softball, track, gymnastics, and figure skating. Although, I was kept busy exercising daily with all my activities, I still felt fat around other kids my age. My mom and dad constantly reminded me how beautiful I was but I could not find beauty within myself no matter how hard I tried. My middle school years came around and my self-esteem only got worse. I went through an awkward stage as many kids did but, I felt like mine was worse than anyone else. Kids were more concerned with how they looked and acted than anything else. I felt a constant pressure to keep up with everyone. My two best friends were tiny and gorgeous, and every time we were together it was a constant reminder to me that I was not. My weight was constantly on my mind and drove me crazy during school hours. The end of my middle school years is when my friends started constantly talking about the diets and what they could and could not eat. I was excited for high s... ... middle of paper ... ...After my exhausting effort to recover, my bad eating habits came back to haunt me. I could not believe I was once again going through hell to satisfy something that was impossible to satisfy. I came to a point where I cut eating out of my diet completely and exercised for 3 hours a day. Sometimes standing up for long periods of time was impossible for me. I was constantly light headed and miserable with what I was doing to myself. At the end of my senior year I lost a total of 15 pounds. I was weak and not acting like myself. I did not want this anymore, and knew that it was time for me to take control of my eating disorder. I had to start eating every meal in order to become healthy again. I finally gained weight and kept body fat. I have been eating right since then. I still watch what I eat and exercise daily, but have not taking either activity to the extreme.

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