Marlinna at age 10 …. When I was a just a kid, I watched my mom and my older sister struggle with their own-body image disorders and I often mirrored their self-loathing behaviors. I never really was content with my weight — even though I definitely had no reason to be insecure … but if you look hard enough, you can always find girls who are slimmer and I just wanted to be more like them. When I was around this age, I was so hurt when my older brother (he was 12), during a childhood tiff said, “Mur, your legs are as big as telephone poles!” Another time my sister said, “If you keep eating candy, you’re going to grow up to be fat and ugly like me!” Sadly, she wasn’t really very over weight but she thought she was I bought into what she said. Before long, I had convinced myself that I too was fat…. The seeds were planted and my life of weight struggles began…. If I could go back, I would tell that little girl to eat that Snickers Bar and whatever she wanted… in moderation and just love herself.
