"When I was about the age of fourteen, I changed schools. I was scared, an shocked. This school was a lot bigger than my old one. I didn't know what to do. All my life, I had very low self-esteem and was quite insecure. For the lunch breaks, everyone had to bring their own lunch. And I got to the point where I didn't want anyone to see me eat. You know, I didn't think there was anything wrong with me skipping lunch. I was just really stressed out from various life things, so I just wasn't that hungry. Soon after though, my friends began to notice, and started asking me why I wasn't eating. So I just told them that I had already eaten, or I wasn't hungry. Which, to be completely honest, was a total lie. I felt bad for doing it. But I couldn't tell them the truth. I eventually stopped feeling hungry, and they stopped asking.
Not too long later, I ended up skipping breakfast as well. I didn't see anything wrong with it. I just wasn't hungry in the morning. Around this point, I started exercising more. Before, I wasn't really much of an active girl. I mean, I played soccer. But.. I started going for runs, and playing more sports. And doing various exercises like lunges and jumping jacks. Then I moved on to jump rope. I didn't see anything wrong with this. In all honesty, I thought I was just being healthy. I started doing phys-ed three times a week. I also used our treadmill and home exercise ball. But, some days, when I was alone, I'd do jumping jacks, or run up the stairs, even when I was was exhausted. I would get panicked if anything interfered my exercising, or if I became too tired. My parents? They didn't really noticed a thing. They just thought it was good that I was being more active. But.... deeper and deeper I fell.
My eating habits and exercising got worse. It got to the point where I was constantly sick, and cold. I lost a lot of friends at this point, seeing as how I had no energy. I mean, some days, I could hardly get out of bed.
One day, my mom finally noticed, and she took me to the hospital, where they weighed me.
A few pictures of Sophie's body over a year ago, before she took the huge step to recovery.