This hits home. Eating disorders run in my family. My grandma was always thin and after she passed away I found a stack of papers hidden away in her closet of old time thinspo—encouragements about losing weight, tips about not eating from magazines. Her mom was a stereotypical flapper in the 20s and was rail thin. My mom was also very thin her whole life until she hit her 50s and still only eats 1/4 of each small meal. I struggled with anorexia from 13 years old to my mid 20s.

Although I’m in my 30s now the horrible thoughts about weight, food, and fat never go away. My nmother doesn’t help as she is always talking about how she hates her body and how we both need to diet. I’m currently in my second trimester of pregnancy and still wearing all my pre-pregnancy size 6 shorts and size small clothing. She told my daughter “if I didn’t know mommy was going to have a baby I’d tell her she really needs to go on a diet!” She also constantly comments “I can’t believe you can eat all that!” (to a normal sized bowl of cereal or a homemade sandwich on wheat toast—even to a bowl of mixed greens with no protein/croutons/cheese.) She’s also made remarks on how big my arms have gotten and to cover them up with flutter sleeves or loose linen shirts. It never ends. I get that you can’t control whether or not you get an ED since I’ve been there, but you sure as hell can control how you speak to your children about their bodies.