Skinny Shaming: An Unspoken Issue #letstalk #eatingdisorderawareness #onelove #alllivesmatter

Something has been on my mind lately and I think we need to open up the subject. As a female with long legs and a slender build, I often get asked the same kinds of questions during my normal day to day. "How are you alive?" "Are you eating enough?" "How do you stay that thin?" "Are you healthy?" "What do you do to stay that skinny?" "Do you have an eating disorder?" "Are you okay?" Those kinds of questions all fall under the category of skinny shaming. Skinny shaming is a real thing and it needs to stop. Believe it or not there are people in this world who don't fall under a healthy BMI, who can't put on weight even when they try and are genetically built to have a very thin physique. The difference between those people and the ones who are actually sick and battling with an eating disorder are that those people are genuinely healthy, functioning and feel good. I think we as a country need to redefine the term "healthy." For someone whose gone through having an eating disorder the word "healthy" is such a triggering term for me. What someone defines as healthy is different from what I define as healthy. Doctors define healthy as having a proper BMI. BMI is total BS in my opinion. My boyfriend is 6'1 and about 135 pounds. He's very underweight according to the BMI. But the amount of energy he can generate in a day is insane! Of course it's important to take the BMI into account, but what I'm trying to get at is if you feel good at the weight you are at, you can function, you're happy and have energy, who cares about a BMI or a statistic?! If we lived by BMI's then we should also take height into account. I would be off the charts in statistics for my height considering how tall my mother and father are! My boyfriend is taller than his parents, does that mean he has some genetic mutation that doctors should look into? Living by a statistic is not "healthy." Just like being overweight and naturally being a larger build are two different things. Being anorexic and naturally being thin are also two different things. Loving your body, the weight you're at and the height you are is. If we lived our lives following a BMI and a height chart, we'd go insane. Genetics can defy all odds can you believe it?! Of course we can't forget about fat shaming, that's been a huge issue for a long time. Whether you're on either side of the scale, we need to stop looking at people's shapes and assuming, "oh he's fat, he probably eats three pizzas a day!" Or thinking, "wow she is so skinny, she probably eats an apple a day and that's it..." If this country wants to talk about race and how important it is to not see color and only see people, I think we should also take the initiative to stop looking at shape and start looking at the person. To those of you who feel like you couldn't have gotten that job because you were too big in your jeans, the girl who's insecure about her long lanky legs, the boy who tries to bulk up, but is the smallest of his friends; you're all beautiful. You are all uniquely and wonderfully made. No body, height, weight, face, skin color is a mistake. I refuse to feel that my thin frame is a problem or a mistake. I was blessed to have the body and the life that I live. Take action to stop the shame happening in our world. Whether its a race issue, LGBTQ issue or a size issue...YOU ARE WORTH IT. Xoxo