26.
“When I was a toddler, my father would come home and eat dinner with us. This is where the normalcy stops. I had to eat as fast as my little toddler-self could so I could eat with him because he felt that he deserved food more than his children. And if I didn’t finish my food before he finished his plate, he would take my portion, too and not let me have any. This caused me to develop a bad relationship with food, which then caused an unchecked weight problem and years of food anxiety and self-esteem issues. It took until I was in college on spring break with a friend that I finally got that relationship with food in the process of being under control.”
“I was 21 at the time and my grandparents reminded me that I don’t have to finish everything on my plate. It took anywhere from 17 to 19 years to deconstruct that, and my father hasn’t been an active part of my life since I was 4.
I’m still working on a healthy relationship with food (now it’s the opposite end of that where I won’t eat but a couple times a day), but I’m not going through this process alone. I have an amazing husband who cares if I eat or don’t and will give up his own plate for our kids if they say they’re hungry (if I already haven’t).”
—ehensarling221
Source: https://www.buzzfeed.com/ravenishak/mental-health-coping-techniques-from-childhood