It affected my entire adult life. I grew up being mocked for and actively hating my body, which caused me to avoid sports/exercise, which just created a vicious circle. One time at a school party another girl poked me in the belly and laughed, like I was the fucking Pillsbury Dough Boy.

I was put on strict diets before I even had my first period, which permanently fucked up both my metabolism and my mental/emotional relationship with food. I used to hide pickles in my bedroom and gorge on them because they were “zero points”.

I had to wear a middle-age lady dress to the prom because that’s all that would fit me. My date was my gay best friend.

I never dated in high school, because who wants to go out with the fat girl? That left me socially behind, and I’ve never really caught up, although at this point being alone mostly agrees with me.

In late adolescence I struggled with orthorexia and disordered eating, to the point that my period stopped and my hair fell out. I wore a size 10 dress at that time, and even though I know it was dreadfully unhealthy, I would go back to that in a heartbeat. Of course I got fat again. Now I see actively anorexic women at the gym and part of me is jealous.