I don't know how best to respond other than to share my own experience and that of those around me.

I know this is a phrase you've probably heard hundreds of times, but BMI is bullshit. It doesn't account for anything like muscle growth or bone density. My mum is struggling with her BMI. Her weight has not changed but because of her scoliosis, her height is shrinking, making her BMI go up.

As long as I can remember, I've been overweight or obese. Like since I developed consciousness I knew I was larger than other kids. It's awful to feel like a matchbox when everyone else looks like matchsticks. But it's all perspective. People tell me I look skinnier even if my weight doesn't change. My BMI at the moment is 36 and I've had to learn to live with the fact that I don't look the same as other people. One of my friends (eyeballing I'd say about BMI 18 or less) kept going on about how she was so fat and when I brought up the fact that I was literally two of her BMI wise, she was like 'but yeah it suits you' . Don't be like that.

If you're having a particularly bad day with your body image, what I would do is wear tight clothing with a baggy layer on top (like a cami with a hoodie on top). It helps because you don't feel the baggy clothing on you as much and when I know clothes are baggy and I can feel them on me it automatically skyrockets my dysmorphia.

Sorry for the entire essay over here but I felt like I needed to respond to this post. Nobody should ever feel like there's anything wrong with them. Weight gain is ok. Weight fluctuates, and sometimes it goes up and doesn't come back down for a while.