“Valentines Day past brought me to a night I wish had never happened. It was the night my eating disorder started; I was alone and had no dates lined up, not even going out with my girlfriends. Next thing I know I was eating a whole cookie cake in bed, and unfortunately threw it up moments later. I wish I had reached out and made other plans because that night has impacted my life to this day.”
As someone who has suffered from destructive eating habits, this submission was incredibly heart-wrenching. I also have had moments where I consume unimaginable amounts of food just to force my toothbrush down my throat and throw it all back up later. I, too, have constricted my calorie intake to unsafe numbers for days at a time, only eating when it became too hard to get out of bed. Many of you know that this week is National Eating Disorder Awareness week, and all of us here at Her Campus Boise State found it important to honor that. It’s important to honor the person who takes five bites of food and pushes their plate away. It’s important to honor the person who sits on the bathroom floor, feeling completely alone, after binging the entire contents of their stomach after a comment about how a specific outfit hugs their body. It’s important to honor that each of us have different struggles and obstacles in our lives, but we are not alone in that we do struggle. Many of us may never understand what it’s like to have an eating disorder, but plenty of us do; this post is a show of support from our staff and so many others who identify with these struggles. We see you, we feel for you, and we are proud of you for whatever small steps you may be taking to get healthy — mentally, emotionally, and physically. Eating Disorders are a constant battle, but we have faith that you can win the war. You are more than this disorder.
#HCLove and all of mine,
Your sister in the fight for a healthy life