I Am Kinder To My Body. I

I'm 64, But I Act Like I'm Still 12. I Go To Schools. At Colleges, They Come Out In Droves, They Almost Scare Me. I Think It's Just To See If I'm Still Alive. After I Work Them Out - And It's Not Easy - I Sit Them Down And We Have A Serious Talk. Are They Eating? Working On Their Body? I Can Say Things Parents Won't Say. No Matter Where I Go, I Talk To Each One Individually After I Teach. They Tell Me Things Like, 'i'm Starving, Guys Like Girls Thinner.' I Give Them Concrete Advice About Self-image And Self-worth.

All Of A Sudden, I'm Thinking That If I Keep Eating The Way I'm Eating, I'm Not Going To Live Long And I'm Going To Die. Having Those Thoughts As A Young Person Can Be Very Haunting.

Stop Trying To Find Something In Food That Will Make You Feel Better. I Used To Have Eating Disorders; I'd Binge And Purge All The Time: Fried Oysters, Po' Boys, Muffulettas, Beignets, Coffee And Doughnuts. I Tried To Medicate Myself With Food When People Made Fun Of Me Or Hit Me With A Bat In School. I'd Always Turn To Food.

You Can Say Anything You Want To Say About Me. But Don't You Dare Address Overweight People With Terrible Names And Ugly Remarks. That Is What Upsets Me.

How Do You Get Motivated? By Knowing Your Worth. Americans Do Not Know How Worthy They Are. You Deserve To Be Healthy, But A Lot Of Times, People Have, As Childs Been Told - As A Children Been Told That They're No Good, That They're Never Going To Be Anything Else.