A woman has taken to Facebook to urge young women to stop obsessing over their weight, explaining that being thin doesn’t make your life better.
Shelby was recently clothes shopping, when she overhead two teenagers in the changing room.
One of the girls started talking about how envious she was of the others’ slim figure, concluding that she wouldn’t eat that night in a bid to lose weight.
Shelby had an eating disorder as a teenager, so when she overheard the conversation, she had to say something.
“It was so normal in their lives it wasn’t even second guessed. It was as easy as saying: ‘I’ll have fries with that.’”
Drawing on her own experiences of having eating disorder, she wrote: “I spent most of those precious years meant for first dates and driver’s licenses consumed in depression, hating my body, and deflecting all my shortcomings onto others.
“I didn’t care about myself, so I destroyed others. I’d do anything it took at the expense of anyone or anything to be one pound less.”
She wanted desperately to speak to the girls, but she felt unable to. So instead she went home and decided to pen the powerful Facebook post that has since gone viral.
Shelby, who has a daughter, explained in that being skinny doesn’t help you achieve your life goals, such as going to university, making friends or being a better person.
And your worth certainly isn’t determined by not being able to fit into a pair of jeggings.
Well said, Shelby.