Ladies,

While this letter is also extremely applicable to gentlemen, I'd like to take a minute to focus on us.

Step away from the scale!

Every day I see advertisements proclaiming "Lose 30lbs. in 30 days!" or "Take ten inches off your waist!" These advertisements make me sick. I want to talk to y'all about something I learned the hard way.

Health is not dependent on weight.

Sure, weight can be a factor in your overall health. For instance, obesity is linked to higher occurrences of diabetes and heart problems. But we aren't talking about obesity here. We're talking about perfectly healthy bodies being shamed because of a number on a scale.

When I was in seventh grade, my hellish battle with anorexia began. There was a new girl in school, who instantly joined my friend group. She had an exciting life (picture the moment Jo joined the rest of "The Facts of Life" girls).

She modeled, she had already (*gasp*) lost her v-card, and lived a lifestyle more reminiscent of Joan Jett than an average seventh grader. Now my friend group consisted of "the good kids" so her stories left us slack-jawed. One day, she glanced over at what I was eating for lunch, probably a sandwich, some fruit, and some sort of treat. In the most condescending, disdainful voice she could use, she asked, "Are you going to eat all of that?"

Now I should mention that seventh grade was the year before my major growth spurt, so I had packed on a little more weight in preparation for that. But when a model told me I was eating too much, I believed her. I told my mom that from now on, since I was older, I would pack my own lunches. I brought a Luna bar for lunch, period. When my other friends would ask where the rest of my lunch, I would lie and say I ate it earlier as a snack.

This disease continued to plague me through 8th grade, and on into high school. Suddenly (after my growth spurt and continued starvation mission) I was labeled "the skinny girl." I reveled in this title! I would continue to lose more and more weight, and people would continue to comment on my slender figure.

The more comments I got, the more I strived to lose just five more pounds, and then just ten more. It wasn't until my sophomore year of high school that I had a teacher actually notice what I was doing to myself. (She had gone through the exact same thing).

I came in during her plan period, and she told me how smart I was, how I was better than this, and that I needed to love my body. At first I didn't listen. I was down to having only a 70 calorie juice box for lunch. In show choir, I felt as though I would collapse any minute, and I was secretly proud of that. I was proud of the fact that I could have the self-control to eat probably fewer than 800 calories a day.

Eventually, the comments turned from those of admiration to those of deep concern. I didn't care, I just wanted to lose as much weight as possible. Eventually, anyone with this condition will hit rock-bottom. I was lucky and hit rock-bottom before I had done any serious damage to my body. At a neurologist appointment (I suffer from chronic migraines) I weighed in at less than 115lbs. At 5'6", this was way low.

He reamed me out, saying if I didn't gain back some weight - and fast - he would pull me off all my medications. This scared me back into reality. Without those meds, I wouldn't be able to function. So I went back to that teacher and told her I was going to recover.

And I did! The next two years of high school I put on enough weight to be healthy again. I started eating real meals, having more energy and just being happier in general.

Then I went to college. My first semester I had some major migraine issues. I was home for three days and lost about 6-7 lbs... It was bad. Then on top of it all, my migraine preventative had the side effect of being an appetite suppressant. S

o I continued to lose weight. 11lbs in two weeks. At first, no alarm bells went off, after all, I had been sick. But then, that voice, the voice of anorexia crept back into my head. It challenged me to lose just a little more weight. One of my professors noticed and asked me about it. I blamed the weight loss on medical problems and thought she bought that excuse.

By the end of the semester, I weighed in at about 112lbs. (for reference, I was about 133 at the beginning of the semester). My mom and I were constantly arguing about my weight loss. She threatened to pull me out of school. I dug my heels in and refused to eat.

Then my migraines got really bad. I found a new neurologist and she played around with my preventative medication, trying to find one that worked. And she did! The problem? This one didn't have the side effect of being an appetite suppressant. I freaked! I considered lying and telling her this one wasn't working and could we go back to the old one? But then it hit me: What the hell was I doing to myself? This medicine decreased my migraines drastically.

I was taking far less rescue medication, which relieved the strain on my heart, liver, and kidneys, and I had energy again! I sat myself down and decided that I wasn't going to do this to myself again, and that for the second time, I would recover.

In a way, anorexia (and other eating disorders) are like an addiction. You will never be cured, and you have to take it one day at a time. There is a high risk of relapse, so you're going to need a great support system (which I am incredibly blessed to have!). But more than anything, you are going to have to learn to love yourself again.

So what do I do now? I eat healthy, and I eat reasonable, adult-sized amounts. I have cut out most processed food from my diet, and all red meat. I know my body doesn't have the metabolism it used to, so I exercise. Nothing drastic, just the treadmill, walking the dog, going on bike rides with my mom, etc. And the most important part? I don't step on the scale. I trust my body to do what it needs to do as long as I'm fueling it with healthy foods and staying active.

So ladies, step away from the scale! Instead, choose to live a healthy life-style. Make healthy food choices, and stay active in any way that makes you happy! I stay away from the scale because if I don't know my weight, I can't freak out about it! As long as your doctor doesn't have any concerns for your health, I recommend you do the same.

It takes a lot to love your body, trust me, I've been there! Start small by finding one thing about your body that you can genuinely compliment (and don't you dare tell me there isn't anything!). Compliment yourself on that attribute every single day. Eventually, your confidence enables you to push concerns about your body to the back of your brain.

You will still have days you hate your body. Maybe you're having a bad hair day, a break-out, or my personal grievance - the 5 days I'm on my period and look a little more bloated than usual. But just remember, you are your own worst critic. When you see a MOUNTAIN of a zit, your friend sees skin that belongs in a Proactive commercial. When you see thunder thighs, the lady at Target sees a beautiful young girl and reminisces to when she was your age. So don't beat yourself up!

And ladies?

Step away from the scale!