I’m panicking about weight gain

[LiamWL98]

I’m 15 turning 16 and I hate my body. I always had larger then normal thighs but recently instead of being fat in the stomach, it’s all gone to my thighs. I realised that after my sisters birthday party where I drank like 7 sodas and after that a soda day for 6 days straight that I wasn’t getting fat in my stomach but my thighs and I had it under control. Until a month to 3 months ago when I realised I had stretch marks on my thighs and I went into panic mode and gained more and more and more. Now I’m trying to fix my mistakes only if I look at my thighs or calves I feel ashamed and have massive feelings of regret. One of those feelings where you want to time travel back and tell yourself to “stop!” Or when I panic I repeat “I don’t want this.” And can’t stop myself for a solid 3 minutes and then I go into a quiet panic where I can’t stop thinking about it.

I body shame myself to hating my fat but with other people I generally don’t mind fat or stretch marks. I don’t get a negative responses by people ever but somehow have developed a insecurity about it. I don’t want to go to counselling and talk about it because I would hate for my parents to find out. I don’t care how supportive they could be I don’t want them to know.

I’m sorry about this I just need to vent or hear something reassuring.

[Petal22]

Hi Liam Lemon,

Sorry you are feeling this way..

I understand…… I’m sure your a beautiful person!

Please try to tell yourself positive things about yourself…….

Our bodies are truly beautiful….. your thighs are beautiful and strong they support you so you can walk…… look for the beautiful thoughts……

Please try to go through your life building yourself up 😊

im here to chat

[cabbagebus]

Hi Liam Lemon,

I think the experiences you describe can be really hard to deal with and I think as a teenager it’s probably the time when you are most likely to be affected by those things and when those emotions feel really strong.

I’m not sure if I can make you feel better, but the way you look is really not the most important thing. The world is so beautiful and so full of things to explore and things to learn. The people in your life who really care about you - they don’t care about how you look or what you weigh.

I think a lot of people are insecure about their weight and how they look in general and it’s really easy to absorb that from other people. For example, stuff like advertising and movies don’t really help because they show images of people and say “this is what you should look like and if you don’t you’ll be unhappy” – which isn’t true at all. And, I mean, it really isn’t.

Obviously, it’s important to be healthy, but that comes in lots of forms and it’s okay to build up to things. Like just going for walks more often.

Anyway… it’s okay. It’s okay to gain weight. It happens to everyone. It doesn’t mean you are less lovable or less beautiful. It’s okay.

I think going to see a professional could help. It’s okay to feel uncomfortable telling your parents, but it’s also hard to go through things alone. I’m sure they won’t judge you and will understand what you’re going though. Of course, it’s up to you and it’s okay if you don’t want to or feel like you can’t. It’s hard to say these kinds of things in general so thanks for sharing.

I hope you feel better soon,

CB 🙂

[Sasquatchion]

G'day Liam Lemon,

I am so sorry you feel like this. I have stretch marks from weight gain and I am also insecure about them. Sometimes I find it difficult to look at myself in the mirror as I am disgusted by my reflection. But! It's not good to think negatively about your body. Every person's body is different and I promise you that very few people will care, or notice, the perceived "flaws" as much as you do. I have a loving partner that does not care about my stretch marks.

I want you to know that stretch marks are perfectly natural and given your age, your stretch marks might not be from weight gain and instead from a growth spurt. Regardless, I know they're still something that you can feel insecure about. Whenever I am feeling down about my marks, I like to remember that nearly EVERYONE has them. If you have a favourite celebrity, I promise you underneath all of the Instagram filters and Photoshop they have stretch marks just like you and I.

I'm here to chat if you ever need it. 🙂

Cheers,

Sasquatchion 🙂

[romantic_thi3f]

Hi Liam Lemon,

Thank you for sharing how you are feeling and you are definitely not alone in this one. I actually don't remember any time in my life where I liked my body; I've always been cruel to it even though I got some negative remarks about it. Where do you think your insecurity comes from?

I'm not sure what I could say that could be really reassuring- I think for me it's probably gotten to the point where I don't want to look back on my life and just remember how I felt and what I looked like. Thinking about weight gain filled me with fear but the reality is that there's nothing really to be scared of. You can accept your friends as they are and they'll accept you as you are.

You did mention counselling which could be really helpful; maybe if you have a school counsellor you could try them? That way your parents wouldn't have to know.

I hope this is helpful. Please feel free to vent as much as you like

rt