Hi I am new on this board and for the past year I have been having problems. I am 19 years old and I am 5 feet tall and I weigh 96 pounds. People tell me that I am to skinny as is but for some reason when I look in the miror I see fat. For the past couple of weeks I have been trying to make myself vomit but I can't get anything to come up. I have felt this way for about a year, but it has only been in this past week that I have started trying to act on it. I feel fat and ugly. Please Help.

:Wave: Hi!

I would like to applaud you for posting. Eating disorders are very scary things and it's very important to catch things early. A bad body image is hard to cure but you can take steps to improve it. I write self affirmations on my mirror so that way when I look at myself...there's that little reminder that I'm okay. You can write these affirmations (ex. 'I'm beautiful the way God made me') with a vis-a-vis marker or even lipstick. Also, would you ever consider telling someone about how you're feeling? I know it maybe hard, but in the long run it'll really benefit you. You say that you try to purge (make yourself vomit), but with no luck...well that's how everyone starts that's why it's important to not take this for granted. One day you won't be able to purge and then a month later you'll be purging 10 times a day. AND boy, I'm sure the women here can tell you how painful and lonely that road is. I'm glad you came to the boards. Good luck, hun.

-Carlie

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Scales are for fish.

Hi there, welcome to the board!!! I'm glad you posted if you feel like you are having a hard time. You know something I am exactly your height and I'm 20, and I always feel that since I'm small I will never look thin enough since taller people can hide weight better, I don't know if that has ever happened to you? But you know what, you are at a perfect hinting on the skinny side weight, my doctor told me I sould weigh between 96-100 lbs. at the least, and it also depends on your frame some people have larger frames so they should weigh more. Please you are just in time to avoid an ed, believe me and I'm sure everyone else on this board will agree with me, when I say that it is one of the hardest things to live with and that they just make you feel miserable and alone, and once you get caught up on the rush loosing a few pounds is never enough, so if you care about yourself and the people around you, don't make yourself nor your loved ones go through this ordeal.