When Danica Marjanović was a teen, she dropped a lot of weight by limiting what she ate. Even when she was very slim, she didn't feel like it was good enough.
Danica had what's called body dysmorphia, or body dysmorphic disorder (BDD). No matter how much weight Danica lost, she still saw flaws in her body. It affected her deeply, and it was years before she started to combat the eating disorder.
While going through treatment, Danica gained a good amount of weight. She finally started to feel happy about her body and that she was actually healthy.
Of course, as she shared her journey on Instagram, bullies started sending her rude messages about her body. They told her to lose weight, to eat less, and to exercise more. They didn't realize that gaining weight had actually saved Danica's life.
Now, Danica is using her Instagram platform to fight back against the trolls who shame her and encourage others to feel positively about their bodies.
[H/T: ScaryMommy]
On November 9, 2017, Danica shared a picture that said, "Becoming fat saved my life."
To date, the picture has almost 1,000 likes.
Along with the photo, Danica wrote:
same mirror same bedroom just 7 years on and a whole lot of sh*t and experiences learnt from.
I can’t tell you how many fake health concerns/bullying/body shaming comments I get that start with “I am all for self love BUT.. you should be working out to love your body’ would you tell an underweight anorexic patient in the early stages of recovery to start exercising to prove she loves her self NO.
just because my body does not conform to society’s standards of an eating disorder recovery body does not mean I am not overcoming a serious issue with restricting my food.
no one has the right to then use their ill informed ignorant judgment to tell me how I should or shouldn’t be showing love to my body you have NO not even a SLIGHT idea how far I’ve come with my relationship with food and exercise.
From months of therapy I’ve been told I essentially recovered my self out or signs of what sounded like undiagnosed anorexia; want to know why I was never diagnosed?
Because I always felt not skinny enough to go get help about my issues with food and body image.
So save your ‘I know what self love is better than you’ judgments to yourself and have some basic knowledge and respect into the statistics of eating disorders.
If anything I’m trying to make a point of the treatment of bodies that are not skinny even in the treatment of eating disorders – this has to change.
My page isn’t just showing you how to be confident it’s about showing you how I have faced my biggest fear in life and turned it into something beautiful.
People who saw Danica’s post were moved by what she wrote.
One person wrote:
I love to see women comfortable in their own skin and not afraid to wear what they want and not put up with negative crap from ignorant people. Keep going and keep being positive.
Another person wrote:
Thank you for this post! I am still in shock when I think of how I was only socially desirable when I was thin. Little did anyone know I was losing my mind, my hair, and important minerals and nutrients. After tons of intensive therapy I have my health and sanity back, but I also gained weight. I feel like I should be ashamed of my chubby body, but I can’t say that I am. I mean I desire physical health so I stay active enough and still eat fairly well but OMG the freedom of not being in the grip of an ED is glorious! I wish you nothing but joy and peace of mind. Thank you for being so open!
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