Can overweight people become anorexic? Yes. It's not just a thin person problem. This is the point that model/advocate Tess Holliday is trying to prove on social media, after revealing her battle with anorexia.
Tess Holliday, who is well-known for her body positivity presence on social media, has also felt the pressure of society to be thin. This has led her to her current battle against anorexia. On May 1st, Tess Holliday revealed that she is currently healing from an eating disorder (see post below)
Preach it, sista! My favorite part about her post is when she said: "When you equate weight loss with 'health' & place value & worth on someone’s size, you are basically saying that we are more valuable now because we are smaller & perpetuating diet culture… & that’s corny as hell."
Despite all the hard work that Tess Holliday, Lizzo, and other body positive advocates have done, society still equates "health" with being smaller. I personally know a lot of smaller people who would give their right arm to gain weight. They just can't, for a variety of reasons. Illnesses don't discriminate. Diseases don't discriminate. Cancer doesn't discriminate. It's all about your genetic makeup. Anyway, people got on Tess for revealing her battle with anorexia. Some that have suffered from anorexia have called her out, saying that "big women cannot get anorexia or bulimia." These haters flooded her social media to say that Holliday does not fit the stereotype of anorexia, since she isn't underweight. Others applauded her reveal, saying that she is strong, brave, and that Tess is loved.
Real Talk!
I want to make something very clear. I've been significantly overweight, and I've been a size 4. In high school, I was bigger and heavier than Tess Holliday. I, too, have suffered from disordered eating, mostly overeating.
There have been a few times, however, where I would only eat a few calories a day. In middle school, I tried anorexia in order to lose weight. There was a guy in my class that I really liked, and I wanted him to notice me in "that way." He made fun of my weight, so I thought if I got smaller fast, he would notice me. I didn't eat much for a few weeks. I even tried bulimia. Mind you, I outweighed my classmates by 100lbs. No one batted an eyelash when I didn't eat. They all thought I was dieting. I didn't fit the stereotype of someone who has anorexia.  A month before I had my son in 2018.
Fast forward to age 35 when I was pregnant, I was deathly afraid of gaining a ton of weight. While I would eat heavily one day, there would be other days when I didn't eat much. I actually had lost weight during my second trimester (which is a BIG NO-NO).
​I was ordered to eat more. I complied, after my doctor and my friends expressed their concerns for me. While I only gained 40lbs during pregnancy, I hated the fact that I tipped the scales at 200lbs the day before I was induced.  Summer 2019, when I was 137lbs.
I lost the 40lbs within 5 months, and lost an additional 25lbs by my son's 1st birthday. I thought I was happy in the 130s, but I wasn't. I wanted to get down to 119lbs, which would make me underweight. I didn't care, because I wanted to have that "revenge body" that diet culture kept perpetuating as the "ideal body."
Even as small as I was, I had my health problems. When I was heavy, I had health problems. Where I'm at now, which is 159lbs, I have health problems. It's all about genes, not your size. ​
​For those who criticize Tess Holliday for having anorexia, you might want to look up the definition of an eating disorder. Just because Tess isn't a size 00, it does not mean that she cannot battle an eating disorder. A lot of overweight people have been anorexic and/or bulimic while on their journey to lose weight. When someone is desperate to lose weight in order to impress someone, or to fit into society, they will go to great lengths to do so.
When it comes to society, we are not allowed to stand out. We are supposed to "fit in." When you don't, you have a target on your back. Some people don't want to stand out. Some want to fit in so badly with society, they'd do ANYTHING to fit in...even lose themselves in the process. Look at Khloe Kardashian. She looks like a completely different woman. She fell victim to the bullies of society and changed everything about herself. Sure, she has millions of dollars. Sure she has a great family, beautiful child, a community dick boyfriend, etc. Is she happy? My guess is she isn't genuinely happy. Tess exudes confidence on her social media posts. However, that doesn't mean she isn't listening to what society says about her. This is a prime example of the damage society causes. Eating disorders are NOT visible in any way. You can't point at someone and say they have an eating disorder. An example of this is Nicole Richie. Back in the 2000s, Richie had lost A TON of weight. Everyone said she had an eating disorder. Turns out, she was sick with an actual illness: hypoglycemia. This illness added in her inability to gain weight. A person's size does NOT matter when it comes to who suffers from what. Again, you can be big and anorexic. You can be regular size and anorexic. You can be small and anorexic. I wish Tess all the best in her recovery! You can watch her interview on GMA here:
#TessHolliday #anorexia #eatingdisorders #bodypositivity #bodyacceptance #triggerwarning #socialmedia #fatphobia
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