The glam-life; "a degree is not an insurance against ignorance"

"To the girl who said she wanted to loose weight.


So...you think starving is a good way to lose weight, do you? Well I think you've read too many fairy tales. And this isn't one. Neither are eating disorders. They are sheer and total HELL. But, since you want one, I'll go ahead and prep you for it. I'll let you know exactly what will happen to you. If this doesn't make you realise how completely stupid running out there and trying to develop anorexia is, then I wish you the best of luck in killing yourself. Because that's all you'll be doing.

The completely ironic part about people trying to lose weight by starving is that half the time it does not even work! I bet you think you'll wind up insanely thin and gorgeous, right? You're wrong. You won't be gorgeous. One thing's for certain: insanity is a definite part of the package. Your mind won't be yours anymore. Kiss it goodbye,- I hope you didn't enjoy it..

The less you eat, the lower your metabolism goes. You might starve and starve and barely lose any weight...or you might be extra lucky...you might starve and starve and gain weight. Your body might just shut itself down and the weight goes nowhere. And even though you aren't losing any, you'll still be HOOKED. You still won't be able to stop. By the time your body shuts off from malnutrition, you'll be too far in it to *snap* and think: "Oh...this isn't working...I think I'll eat again." No...you'll be desperate and eat less and less and work out more and more. Eventually, you won't be ABLE to work out. Your muscles will eventually stop cooperating.

Then you'll panic and try and eat even less to compensate for not being able to work your ass off (simply a figure of speech, since you're not losing any weight, of course). By then you can't eat less though. You're barely eating enough to stay alive as it is. And you just can't stop. It isn't working and you still can't stop. And whether it is working or not, you won't see the truth. You'll never actually know what you look like. Nope...no matter what you'll think you must weigh at least four hundred pounds. This is true if you weigh 150 or if you weigh 70. You will be fat. Insane is the proper term for it, isn't it? Yes, you might just be one of the lucky ones, one of the ones that doesn't lose weight. But don't sit there and think that means you won't be sick. Not true...not true at all. Your skin & hair will be dry, your teeth sore, your period gone, your bones aching, your muscles cramping... There is no need to go on, I think. Because you still want this, of course. After all, you won't be like that. You won't be one of the failures. You'll be successful; you'll be thin and perfect. Beautiful.

Well, since you're going to win, why don't I tell you about your prize, hmm?? It's quite nice. You will be skinny. You will be sickly thin. Your ribs will stand out and your hipbones will be sharp. 
But you won't see it. You'll look in the mirror and see fat. You'll see rolls. You'll look at girls who weight fifty pounds more than you and wonder why you can't be as thin as they are. You'll look in the mirror everyday and swear that you've gained at leastten pounds... Other people will see you shrink but you won't get to watch. You'll never see the truth. Others will though. You'll be sickly skinny...but you won't be pretty. And they'll all see that. You won't though...you'll be too busy staring at your ass and wondering when you turned into your fat Auntie Bertha. You will not be attractive. You won't. You'll have huge dark circles. Your skin will be pasty pale and have a lovely gray tint to it. Makeup will not help this time. Don't even bother to attempt it. You'll be wasting your time; time that could be better spent doing your usual pastime, staring into the pantry to watch the food. Of course, people might not notice that you're gray. They could be too busy staring at the dark black, blue and purple spots you're covered in. Everything you do will result in a bruise. Everything.

Do you have pretty hair? You won't anymore. It will be straw dry and dull. It will not shine. Think conditioner will help? It won't. It won't and again: there is no sense in trying it. It might soften your hair for a while (after you use half the bottle, that is) but it won't make your hair look any better. Buy a ponytail holder. You'll need it. You'll probably be wearing it all the time. You'll also need some hair dye. I sincerely hope your hair isn't a nice color....because it won't be soon. Yes...the color of your hair will fade out. You might even get grays. But gray is a nice color, isn't it? I rather like it. I think the grayish brown color where my natural red and blonde highlights used to be adds a bit of...oh...dignity to my look.

Speaking of hair,- do you like facial hair? I hope so. You'll have it. I have some lovely sideburns. Quite gorgeous. Actually, I have sexy hair everywhere. Fuzz, fuzz, fuzz. It's hot. All the guys love it and all the girls I know ask how to get some. They're jealous, you know. I tell them how I got it, starving. They never attempt it...I know why though. Its not because they're smart and healthy...no, no. Its because they're weak. Not strong, like me. Of course, my muscles are deteriorating as we read on and I can no longer use even my five pound weights but I'm still strong, aren't I? 

Yes... Because I don't eat. And that's true strength. Denying yourself the basic fuel you need for life. Yes.... Strong and smart.
I bet you're one of those girls with the enviable natural nails. Those shiny ones that are so long people sometimes think they're fake? Cut them. Go ahead and cut them off now. They'll only break soon anyway.
Kiss your newly gray hair goodbye too. It'll be falling out about now. You get to clean the drain about 6 times during your shower, just so the water will go down.
Also, you'll need to find a way to throw away your tampons to make it look as if you've been using them. Remember to tell your mom to buy you tampons once a month. Can't have her knowing you lost your period. Because, yes. You will. I hope you're not having sex, because you'll never know if you're pregnant or not. I guess you can just take a test every few weeks; you can still get pregnant. I hope you don't love the baby though, because chances are you'll lose it. It would probably be for the best if you did though, because of the nice birth defects caused by eating disorders. So, you might get to live with the knowledge that your child died or had to go through life with a terrible disability because of you...but it was worth it for thinness. A small price to pay for perfection, even though you're not the one paying it. Who needs their full mental capabilities anyway? I hope your kid doesn't. But that might not be a problem. You might never have children. You might become infertile. Oh well... Pregnancy makes you fat anyway.
Since you're one of the special ones, one of the anorexic ones, I'll bet you enjoy ice water. Pour it out. Drink plain water, warm diet coke. It hurts too badly to drink iced drinks. You're taking sensitive teeth to a new level. Forget those special toothpastes though. They don't work when your teeth are slowly dying from

 vitamin deficiencies. Never liked those teeth anyway. Dentures are nice.


How do you like to sit? Oh...you like your legs crossed? Hmm...too bad. Can't do that anymore. Your legs will fall asleep all the way up to your hips. Painfully asleep. This isn't like what you're used to, that tingly feeling. This hurts. A little word of advice: after uncrossing them, just sit there. Don't try moving them or hitting them to wake them up. Bad idea,- very painful. Don't stand up either, unless you enjoy collapsing.

Oh and fainting is common too. And don't think this is something you can hide. Whenever you pass out dead in the living room in front of your mom or brother they'll wonder why. And unless they're complete idiots, they'll probably know why, especially when you're 30 pounds underweight. So get ready for nagging; "Eat this, eat that, why are you doing this to yourself??"

But, of course, you could always go to your room to escape! Then you can lie in bed and bite your lip until it bleeds...why would you want to do that, do you ask? Because of the leg cramps, of course...oh! I must've forgotten to mention those! Oooh...the cramps are nice. Your muscles are balled into excruciating knots. You'll double over to massage the knots out and...what? There are no knots. There IS no rubbing the knots out because there are no knots. It just feels like it. There's nothing you can do. You just get to lie there & try not to scream. And trust me...you'll want to. Of course, you could always rub your legs anyway...it might make you feel better to pretend there's something you can do to help them. But you might not be thinking about your legs...you might be distracted by the headaches. Take some aspirin...oooh...or don't. Your tummy's too empty; it'll only make you throw up everywhere.

It's worth it right? Anything's worth it, even your hair, nails, bones, muscles, possible children, your family's heart, everything. Sacrifice it all, throw it all away. You're thin now, that's what counts, even though you don't know it.


You'll probably get chest pains. Maybe heart flutters. This is scary too, because you never wanted to die, you just wanted to be thin. But remember, you can't tell. 
Telling is forbidden and asking for help is weak.

Do you have problems with depression? Ha, you certainly do now. The less you eat, the more depressed you become. Partially from vitamin deficiencies, partially from your lovely eating disorder. Have you had problems of insomnia before? No? Ah well, there's a first time for everything, eh? You're exhausted beyond belief but you still can't fall asleep... And even when you do, you can't stay asleep. Who needs sleep anyway though?? Not you. Staying awake burns more calories.


Do you do well in school? You don't now. You can't concentrate. Your mind won't function and the only thing you can actually think about is food. Your grades will fall. Want to recover? You'll probably have to leave school. How does repeating a grade sound?

Do you like going out with friends? You won't for long. You'll be afraid someone might notice how obese you are. You can't leave the house now without hiding under tons of clothes. You're terrified someone might see your repulsive body. You'll become more nervous too,- jittery. You'll also have difficulty talking. Oh...have you never had a stuttering problem? Well, you do now. You also forget what you wanted to say alot. Goodbye memory.
Ah well, staying home from going out with friends isn't such a bad thing as it might seem at the moment anyway... Reason? If you go out with friends they might want to eat! Maybe they'll want to go to a restaurant or the movies. How can you explain that you don't want any popcorn? How can you find an excuse for sitting there at the table sipping Diet Dr. Pepper or nibbling a salad and water while everyone else has cheeseburgers?? You can't. And they might make you eat. You can't do that, no. But why do they want you to eat? Is it because they care? No. Its because they WANT you to be fat!! How dare they?? They're jealous...that's it, they're jealous. Soon you'll realise something. Everyone wants you to be fat. 

Your parents, your siblings, teachers, friends. The world is against you and they all want you to spiral intomorbid obesity. Get away from them. All of them. They don't understand and they're plotting your downfall. You can't have that; you can't loose this. Every time someone urges you to eat or recover "for your health", you know the truth.....They hate you and want you to be fat. Push them away. Push away all the people who love you. That's the only way you'll ever be thin.



But one day this will be over. One day you will either die or recover. Death is easier. First you'll have to admit you need help (that is, on the chance that you haven't been forced into recovery...recovery that will not work until you cooperate). This is one of the hardest things you've ever done. Maybe you'll tell your mom. She might be wonderfully supportive, she might've already known. Or maybe she won't think you have a real problem. Then you're on your own. Maybe you'll tell your doctor. And if you tell your mom, she'll take you to a doctor. Then its better. You're safe now, they'll help you. They'll understand. 

Wrong. 
A degree is not an insurance against ignorance. And speaking of insurance, it only pays so much on mental health problems. And ED treatment costs are outrageous. So, even if you find a doctor that knows his ass from a hole in the ground, you might not be able to get help. You might not be able to afford it.

As you recover, your school might have to know. Your teachers will not understand. Students might find out. They won't understand either. Their comments will hurt, you'll want to scream when they ask why you don't just eat. They might call you fat, just for fun. Someone might start to admire you and try to become anorexic too, but then... You've been there. You wanted to be anorexic once and you never realized how stupid you were. You know it now, but it's too late. Its too late and you have to fight this or die... And fighting it is the hardest thing you've ever done. You'll put food in your mouth; that disgusting, terrible food. You will panic and want to cry. You will cry. Maybe you'll freak and spit everything back out. Maybe you will refuse to eat and get a lovely feeding tube. Triggers are everywhere and you want to kill yourself with each bite you swallow. Maybe you will kill yourself. Maybe you'll fight and fight and enter recovery only to die while in recovery or even afterwards from complications caused by your years of having an eating disorder.

After fighting for the longest time, maybe you will get out. Maybe, after numerous slip ups and times that were so hard you thought you'd die, you recover. It takes a while. Even after you've eaten right for months and months, your body still won't be the same. You start to wonder if it will ever be the same again. It might, but you won't. No. This will always be a part of you, it will never go away. Years later it will still be with you, you will still have those moments. Sometimes you'll pass a mirror and suddenly be 200 pounds larger. You'll panic and shake your head,- trying to clear the image away. Something will happen in your life, maybe you'll lose your job.Something will happen to take away your control and you'll try to gain it back through starving. You will never be the same again. You'll see an article on a someone with an eating disorder and you'll start to cry,- remembering that terrible pain. I'm not talking about the physical pain. That's the only pain I described, because it's the only part that's describable. There are no words for the mental anguish. It can never be described. It's unimaginable. You'll never feel another pain like that, another pain so filled with self loathing, vulnerability, terror, rage, desolation...


WHY do you want this?? WHY?!? I know, even after reading this, that you're still sitting there, wanting this life. The "glam-life". But why? What is it exactly that you want?? Is it beauty? Do you honestly think you won't be like this?? Do you honestly think malnutrition won't steal your looks? Is it glamour? READ THIS. Show me the glamour in this life. Is it control?? Let me tell you, you'll NEVER be more out of control than you are when you have an eating disorder. You don't control what you put in your mouth or what you pour out of it. Hell, you don't even control your thoughts. You have NO control. None.


Do you honestly think that you'll be able to do this and not wind up this way? The one doesn't come without the other, darling. Never.Do you think you are the one person on earth who can control this, who can just...stop??? Do you think that maybe you can just do this; get thin and stop?? 
WRONG! It doesn't work that way. Do you want to die? Do you want to be a martyr or something? Do you think this is beautiful? I bet you think it is some sort of tragic beauty. Well, it's not, okay? There is nothing beautiful about it. Do you want some attention? Buy a new eyeliner, dance naked in the streets. Needing attention is a natural thing but there are a hell of alot better ways to get it.


Do you want to look at your family's faces and know that you are killing them too? Imagine watching your child killing themselves, imagine your helplessness, imagineknowing that they're dying knowing that there is nothing that you can do. Imagine fearing the day you'll come home to find them dead because of this. Just sit there, close your eyes and try to think about it. Of course, while you're starving yourself you won't see that anguish. You won't be able to. You can't see anything, you're too self absorbed. You're too busy thinking about your weight,

 about food. You'll see it when you recover though and you'll hate yourself for doing that to the ones you love. You'll wish there was something you could do to erase it but there is nothing. You just have to live with it... And trust me; living with it is hard. Especially when you think of how many times your anger came out on them, how many times you got nasty when they were only trying to save your life. Yes. You'll hate yourself. And that while you think you're so insignificant... You hardly exist. But think about it: you have made yourself the most important thing in your own life for the past time, through doing this. You have made the people who care about you, the people around you who love you, worry so much about you... You were all they could (can) think of! You're basically making yourself way too important. And I bet that you don't like hearing that, do you? That's because it's true.


But do you know what? Of this all..... Self-hatred is the least of your worries now. Because you've likely just signed your own death warrant... And you likely don't even care...yet. But you will. You will care. You will care and you will cry and rage and swear you'd give anything to take it all back. But it's too late now, because by the time you're in deep enough to care, you're already dying. Its too late to snap out of it now, no matter how much you want to. It will always be a part of you.

This is the reality of anorexia. It is nothing like the powerful articles you read on how so-and-so overcame it. It is nothing like the beauty you see when you look at that skinny model. It is nothing like that beautiful popular girl who naturally weighs 80lbs. It is nothing like anything you've ever lived before. You will never be the same."

There is no glamour or beauty spending your last living moments over a toilet.