Deflix: A Short Story

Most of the time a parent doesn’t even know what their child has been eating. For instance, most parents drop their children off at school and then rush off to work, they don’t know that their kids are eating a school breakfast after eating breakfast at home or even getting a second breakfast or lunch.

‘It’s like I never knew what self-respect was all about until now. The thinner I get, the better I feel…this has become the most important thing I’ve ever done. ‘

Most parents in this world struggle with teaching their children how to eat properly and

I have always been very obsessed with body image. When I was young, baseball was my sport. Soon after, I joined the swim team. During these years I’ve never looked the way that pleased me. When the age of fourteen came around, I decided to join the gym with a personal trainer. At this time, being overweight and unhappy. Never did I think the gym would mean so much to me in the future. Just before the age of sixteen, bodybuilding made a drastic impression on me. The art of building a well symmetrical body. Everything about this sport fascinated me because it gave a chance to create a new me.

“Learning to love yourself will be the hardest thing you’ll ever do in life”. The 21st century, the era of perfection. The era where you are told how to look or else you are not considered beautiful to the world. The era where people like myself go through extremes to be beautiful even just feel beautiful. The extremes that I took were, looking for “love” anywhere with anyone, not caring about my health, and putting my academic career in danger, all of that just to be and feel beautiful.

“Losing weight is hard enough: you faint, you vomit, you stop menstruating but it’s even harder when you do not have the support of the people around you,” she said. “Even when I did lose twenty five pounds, my friends were so jealous, telling me I looked terrible. My mom is the worst of all. She’s just afraid that if I am thin and beautiful, it will make her look bad.” Fernandez is sick of her mom, therapist, the paramedics, and doctors trying to control her. “They do not have to live in this horrible body, I do.”

Jessica began struggling with her mental health and how she viewed her body in seventh grade, the year she made an account on the popular social media site, Instagram. Jessica’s world started to change as she spent more time online viewing the mirages of perfect lives. Everyday, she consumed edited “thinspiration” photos, and with each passing day Jessica felt more insecure about how her body measured up. She became intoxicated in the world that was social media and obsessed over popular Instagram models (people who earn endorsements on the site and advance their modeling career through Instagram). Instagram was once a fun way to interact with friends, but each time she used the website, she fed the growing destruction within her mind. Extreme dieting seemed like the only way for Jessica to achieve the pinnacle of beauty she saw every time she went on her phone. She sought validation of her appearance in likes, comments, and followers. When she didn’t get as many likes as her peers, her self-esteem plummeted. Satisfaction was never achieved for Jessica; no matter how toned her body became or how many followers she gained, she never felt like it was enough, as someone always looked better than her. After several years of maintaining detrimental habits, Jessica started to realize that social

Obesity has been a life long struggle. While myself and fifty percent of adults in the United States are battling obesity, the psychological effects have become larger than the obesity itself. Not only are we forced to deal with the physical effects of being overweight, I, like others have had to overcome the psychological effects as well. Low self esteem has been a challenge and has ultimately fueled my bout with depression. Although obesity, low self esteem, and depression are three separate issues, they are all linked and are all relevant to not only me, but to millions of Americans.

What I had was a body, a body with a heart, brain, liver, kidneys, and blood that pumped through every fiber of my being. Anorexia nervosa attempted to destroy what I had, but I refused to let it. I made a promise to myself that every mirror I encountered I would point out what I did have and not what I didn’t have. However, which each look I took Ed tried to show me a different picture of myself. I had a hard time trying to find the right picture, the one I knew was the true me. I had to teach myself that a perfect body is not what I truly wanted. What I wanted was a healthy body. Health in today’s society has taken on a different meaning. Images of young women in magazines are whom we perceive as healthy. However, I learned that true health couldn’t be shown in an image. Instead it's our internal rather than our external of our bodies that show true health. Teaching myself that was difficult, but by doing so I taught myself confidence. I now look inside myself for who I am, rather than judging what I see on the outside. I’ve learned a lesson most women never learn. Becoming grateful of what I do have, I learned to be confident. I am more self-assured today, than I was two years ago. Gratitude has served as a constant reminder in my life. Whether my body be shamed or admired, I know it’s richness, it’s intents, and it's

In my early years, my vision was skewed by the Barbie image, specifically by the influential toys design for young girls i.e. Barbies, television, magazines and society. It wasn’t until later years, that I felt the greatest psychological pain inflicted by both male and females. I didn’t fit the glorified image of a female, which wasn’t only expected by the opposite sex, but equally by the same sex. They perhaps were far harsher than the opposite sex. After a two year journey to shed eighty five pounds, I was no longer influenced by either sex. Although Barry’s statement was geared toward the male population “Of course many women will argue that the reason they became obsessed with trying to look like Cindy Crawford is that men, being as shallow as a drop of spit WANT women to look that way” (339), in today’s society this is equally expected by the same sex. My journey was not because of the stigma bestowed upon me by the sexes, it was just for me. It was my drive and desire to achieve an improved quality of life, experiencing a happier and healthier life style and strengthen my

I’d shrunk from a waist of 36 to a 32 and sprouted from 5’4 in height to 5’10 which was taller than most boys in my grade. I still wasn't ripped like the Hollister models, but I began to grow in self-confidence which was the importance of the my journey through school . I began to care less about what others possessed that I didn't and spent more time appreciating what I naturally had all along. I can't swim, but I'm a good long distance runner. I’m not the best athlete, but I have a 4.0 GPA. Also I don't have the most expensive material to wear, but I have a keen sense of fashion that sets trends from the simplicity of thrift stores. I suppose my newly discovered confidence proved to be a success, because shortly after my realization a nice young lady felt compelled to be my girlfriend. After some sessions of texting, it became an offer I couldn't decline. In the midst of understanding myself, I began to think of the quote my grandmother use to recite by Malcolm S. Forbes which stated,“Too many people overvalue what they are not and undervalue what they are.” when I decided to place less value upon what I wasn't and appreciate what I was. I found out I wasn't missing anything all

The road to recovery was not an easy road back. I still do the same elementary things today that I had to do to achieve recovery. I realized that honesty and open-mindedness was a must. I had to surrender all—I wanted real success.”

In fact, she had exceeded her weight loss by losing around 12 lbs or so. This loss was a huge hurdle for her because it gave her the confidence and built up self-efficacy. Nikki also was now well-educated and motivated to progress to the maintenance stage. She had showed great diet adherence and calorie counting throughout the weeks, which is hard for most people. Nikki made a new goal herself to lose 25 lbs by summer, which is half of her main goal of 50 lbs. Even though the project is over, she is my cousin and I emphasized I would be there for her anytime she needs me and we can continue her journey together. She was educated about transitioning into the maintenance phase and that the processes of “helping relationships”, “counterconditioning”, “reinforcement management”, and “stimulus control” are very important processes to continue to use. The initial processes of “conscious raising”, “dramatic relief”, and “social liberation” will be used far less because she has now gained a lot of self-efficacy (Cook, O’Leary, & Allman-Farinelli, 2015). However, “self-reevaluation” needs to be continuously used even though it is less important at her current stage of action, and as she moves into maintenance. She was encouraged to stick to the current plan moving forward and that any changes or questions should be directed to myself, as we both can make educated, agreed upon changes moving forward. Her husband and I will also continue to provide support throughout her process as

While thinking about where she’s going to explore today, she hears her mom call her to breakfast. Upon reaching the kitchen she looked

females do not realize that their child is suffering from a particular eating disorder, or the parents