serious body image problems

well how I deal with it isn't the healthiest but it works for me. I care about how I look clothes wise and all that but as far as my weight goes or whether I think I am pretty or not I just have to pretend that those thoughts don't exist and I have to derive my self-esteem from other places like winning awards. In high school I wound up in a few outpatient treatment programs because my weight got too low and than when I was around 20 I went on depo and got really heavy for about 2 months it came off pretty fast and I am still chubby from it but I think being noticabley fat for a short while helped me accept myself more. I mean people can tell you that your pretty all day long but it doesn't help you just have to not make it a priority anymore.

 

I feel your pain. I struggle with a lot of the same issues myself. I was diagnosed as an anorexic when I was 9 years old, and then, when I was 17 years old, I began to struggle with bulemia.

I have not been "bad" for probably 3 years now, I eat healthy, I'm active, but I still struggle with self esteem issues. I wear about a size 8 in clothing but when I look in the mirror I see this obese, ugly person. I've never been happy with my looks, and I probably never will unfortunately. I am extremely critical of myself, and I think that part of the reason I may be that way is due to the emotional/verbal abuse I received as a child on a daily basis from a parent, being put down constantly and never being able to measure up. I assume that this might be why I am the person I am.

I don't have any helpful advice for you because I deal with a lot of these feelings to this day, but I wanted to tell you that you are not alone.

Much peace, and hopes for healing...

 

Hi there
I've been struggling with body image issues ever since i can remember. it got worse when i hit puberty and got puppy fat, natural at that age, but it made me feel so ugle, all my classmates were becoming little women, while i was the ugly duckling...i felt terrible. some people made fun of the fact that i wasnt developed and it really got to me.
now i'm 21 and still struggling with this stupid thing. i've started counselling last week and hope that can help me with this and my other issues. i dont want to sound like a victim here, but it's true that there's so much pressure on us women to have a certain look, otherwise we're not pretty enough, or just average looking.
i try to think of me as a human being, i'm a female and really proud of it, it gets me down when i think i'm not as pretty as i'd like to be, but in the end, we all have other things that are more important than looks, looks fade, what's inside stays with you forever.
anyway, i just wanted to say that you're not alone in this. many of us feel the same way. i know my advice, if any, sucks, but i'm suffering from the same at the moment.
if you want to PM please do so.