HELLO MISINFORMED TEENAGE GIRLS, may I have a moment?

Caps for emphasis.  Can't sleep until I get this off my chest.

To all of you 12-18 year old girls prancing around in your size 3 jeans sipping skinny cappuccinos, I have a quick life lesson for you.  First of all, you are NEVER going to be the size you were last year.  Ever.  Why?  Because you're growing.  You gained weight over these last 2-8 years because you're supposed to.  Yes, I understand you didn't grow taller.  That's because most girls stop growing taller between 10-14 years old.  However, you don't stop growing.  You gain bone density, your brain develops, you gain fat around your stomach, boobs, butt and thighs-- because your body is meant to hold a frickin' baby and you gotta protect things like that, they're kinda fragile.

The most common opener I see on the YCC is "I ate a lot (of junk) over the last _____ months, and I gained ____ pounds.  I just want to get back to where I was."  Bull.  ****.   In a very, very small amount of cases, this is true.  But more often than not, this is just you succumbing to media and peer pressure to stay in a 10-year-old child's body forever.  You're better than that.

I'll say it again.  You are better than that.  You have no excuse not to be amazing.  So do it.  Be fabulous and healthy and intelligent, because you have as much time in a day as Einstein, Gandhi, and Helen Keller, and you have so many more opportunities.

Yes, you did eat more than usual.  That's how kids grow.  They get hungry, they eat, and subsequently, they grow.  You can't avoid it, not healthily.  If you ever find yourself saying, "I can't lose on more than 1,500kcal/day.", meaning you can't lose while consuming a healthy amount of calories a day: it is because you are trying to do something unhealthy.  You are not some magical waifcreature who can subsist on Coke Zero alone, don't fool yourself into that delusion.

At 13, a 5'5 girl is probably done growing taller.  Let's say she weighs 105lbs, and is happy.  At 14, she gains 5lbs, and doesn't like it, she decides to diet.  So for the next 4 years, she makes herself stay at her believed "happy weight", 105lbs, because it was healthy and wonderful, remember?  Her metabolism is now damaged, because she's had to restrict her calories.  The bone density that is supposed to develop during those years of her life hasn't, because she wasn't consuming enough energy, and now she's got fragile bones for the rest of her life. [source]  The best part?  She's now at the 4.8 BMI national percentile [source]: anorexics are defined as members of the fifth percentile or below.  Welcome to the hospital.

Be accountable to yourself.  Be educated, responsible, and aware of yourself and your surroundings.  Don't let yourself fall victim to pressure from ANYONE, not your parents, not your fakey highschool friends, not those weird fashion magazines.  You are your own person, act like it.

Grow up.

Inb4 doctor suggested I lose: obviously not talking to you, am I?

 well-said!! :D

oh noes another angry fat chick rant~ as if any teenager with skinny apparitions would listen to an overweight girl anyways. this post is pointless.

Original Post by darkylinky:

oh noes another angry fat chick rant~ as if any teenager with skinny apparitions would listen to an overweight girl anyways. this post is pointless.

Original Post by darkylinky:

oh noes another angry fat chick rant~ as if any teenager with skinny apparitions would listen to an overweight girl anyways. this post is pointless.

ouch you are a nasty piece of work aren't you. Reaching your skinny ASPirations won't go far toward repairing your nasty little attitude. yuck...

Oh noes, another hyperskinny flamer!

Haha, I haven't been called fat in a while.  Fun. :)

Original Post by sereneinsanity:

   I completely agree with Misty.  I know it's tough, but we need to be responsible for ourselve.  Whining and saying it's not your fault because you were "influenced," or that you have low self esteem and are teased is not a good answer.  I've felt enferior my whole life pretty much; I am obviously overweight, but instead of binging, anorexia or bulemia I am stepping it up and dealing with it the hard way.  I got myself in this mess, and it's noone's fault but my own.

Are you talking about eating disorders here? If so, I wonder if you would be as critical of other mental illnesses. We all need a bit of compassion here. Eating disorders are NOT the fault of the sufferer, just like other mental ilnesses are not the fault of the sufferer either. Yes, recovery from eating disorders is the responsibility of the sufferer, but responsibility for becoming ill is not.

Original Post by sereneinsanity:

   I completely agree with Misty.  I know it's tough, but we need to be responsible for ourselve.  Whining and saying it's not your fault because you were "influenced," or that you have low self esteem and are teased is not a good answer.  I've felt enferior my whole life pretty much; I am obviously overweight, but instead of binging, anorexia or bulemia I am stepping it up and dealing with it the hard way.  I got myself in this mess, and it's noone's fault but my own.

I do not like this.  I agree with what the OP is saying about some girls going crazy to get to a weight that just isn't possible, but I don't like how this is turning into a thread about girls being stupid and choosing EDs as an easy out.

Just a another quick reminder, this thread is not about eating disorders or the people who suffer from them.  It's meant as a comment/discussion on an entirely different group of people, and the overlap of the two groups shouldn't be the prime topic.  :)  Eating disorders are mental illnesses, and while I feel that some cases are illegitimate (not everyone who hyper-restricts for a time is anorexic, just like not everyone who keeps their home extremely clean is OCD), they're not something you can write off as the fault of anyone.  Illnesses happen, their causes are complex and don't lend themselves well to blanket statements, any discussion of them should be on a specific subject, or study-based, if it's to be of any use to anyone.

If you just stop one young teen from going down the ED rout, your rant will defo of been worth it.  Rock on girl.

Beautiful.  I wish I could have seen something like this when I was a teen.  I was fortunate enough to pull my head out of my *ss and not develop an ED, but I never appreciated the size I was and in retrospect wish I would have.

Original Post by jenny12386:

If you just stop one young teen from going down the ED rout, your rant will defo of been worth it.  Rock on girl.

Well, given the condescending tone "hello misinformed teens" I really don't see anyone at risk paying that much attention unfortunately.

Original Post by merylwhite1:

Well, given the condescending tone "hello misinformed teens" I really don't see anyone at risk paying that much attention unfortunately.

Actually, inflammatory topics normally garner the most attention.  So, if the metaphorical tone of my post really does strike that particular chord, it should reach even more people.  Whether or not they listen, though, is a different matter.

Personally, I felt this post was too derogatory -  regardless of age, weight, or past ED experiences. I'm actually a little shocked that it got past the moderators. I see how this post would make a person feel less in control of their situation/weight/life and continue on their current path.

"Well - I'll show them, I can be 5'5" and 105 lbs" That's not the mindset we want to be inspiring, here.

Body dysmorphia is a psychological issue and needs professional attention - not a rant in a blog forum.

They are misinformed and deluded...because they are teens, children even. Where are their parents?

Original Post by sugaree0920:

Personally, I felt this post was too derogatory, for anyone, regardless of age, weight, or past ED experiences.

Where are the parents of these teens?

 There are many people out there, including teens, who respond positively to a more "tough love" approach.  I was like that as a teen, skip the sugar coating and cut to the truth, so I don't find it derogatory.  If someone does, so be it, but there's always a chance that this post could help someone out.

And sometimes it's the parents of these teens who are reinforcing these negative standards. :)

Right, I agree with you suki. My idea was that teens who are already on this site are looking for positive reinforcement, not chastising. To each his own. Maybe the parents should be reading these posts, sad to say.

I agree, parents should probably read their kids posts and see just how terrible it sounds for a young child to be saying that they're a fat cow at 100 lbs.  It would help, at least in cases where the parents are supportive and loving.  Not everyone is that fortunate though.  Part of the issues I had with my image (I shouldn't say part, I should say most) came from my father providing negative comments.  At 115 lbs he would tell me that I looked fat and should take off another 20 lbs.

Sometimes teens just need to have some sense slapped into them. :)

Not all girls obsessing about their weight is a product of body dysmorphia.  I think a lot of young girls obsess about there body as though that is all that they are.  And then when they can not get their body perfect enough they begin to feel like failures or insecure which could easily lead to body dysmorphia.

I think it is good for them to hear they are more than that, that they can be more than that.  Personally I wish I could have read this as a teen.

Original Post by sugaree0920:

Personally, I felt this post was too derogatory -  regardless of age, weight, or past ED experiences. I'm actually a little shocked that it got past the moderators. I see how this post would make a person feel less in control of their situation/weight/life and continue on their current path.

"Well - I'll show them, I can be 5'5" and 105 lbs" That's not the mindset we want to be inspiring, here.

Body dysmorphia is a psychological issue and needs professional attention - not a rant in a blog forum.

They are misinformed and deluded...because they are teens, children even. Where are their parents?

I honestly find it really insulting when people's response to a problem a teen is having is "where are the parents".  I think it promotes a lack of personal responsibility, and it offends me that most "adults" don't feel I have the right to make my own mistakes or the intelligence to fix them.  Maybe that's just me being a child, though.

"Well - I'll show them, I can be 5'5" and 105 lbs" I don't know where you got the idea of this?  I presented a believable scenario, and provided supported facts on why it was a bad idea.  Yes, it can be done, and it's horrible.

Not every teenage girl in the world who feels this way has a medical condition, body dismorphia, anorexia nervosa, EDNOS, we all know the list of them.  While an uncharacteristically large portion of CC+ users do fall into those categories, an even larger percentage of YCCers do not.  They are simply normal girls.  This has become normal.  That is the problem, and that is what I'm addressing.

Someone mentioned "teens already on this site are looking for positive enforcement" which might be true for some (and I'm sure they're capable of realizing this post is not aimed at them, and moving on), but there are teens here who are simply acting stupidly.  How many times have you beat the moderators to another post from a perfectly healthy girl wanting to know how to "become anorexic", or if her new chicken soup diet will make her look like Filippa Hamilton?  For some, it's not a disease, it's just a fad.

Original Post by darkylinky:

oh noes another angry fat chick rant~ as if any teenager with skinny apparitions would listen to an overweight girl anyways. this post is pointless.

Why the h*ll would you criticize someone for their weight on a WEIGHT MANAGING WEB SITE??

How stupid can one be?

healthisinplease: agreed. how tactless is that?!