By+PeggyZ

“Look at your cousin. Shes so skinny and so pretty. Look at her； shes so beautiful now but not before when she was fat. You should ask her for her dieting tips.”My mother callously said to me after we had just finished a conversation with my older cousin.

I rolled my eyes at her and pretended that I didnt hear her.

Although my mother thinks that sheisactually helping me to a fit and healthy life， shedoesnot realize that she is mentally bullying me with her sharp words and even sharper tongue.

She does not realize that although I ignore her， those words still echo through my head as I consciously pick a salad over pizza， as I run around to get a ball during gym， as I walk around in shorts in public.

However， I am not the only one affected by this， this dissatisfaction with my body， this gain of doubt about whether Im skinny enough， whether Im pretty enough.

Everyday millions of girls look into the mirror and are revolted by their reflections.

Everyday millions of girls see rolls of fat on their stick skinny frames and cant bear to think of food.

Everydaymillionsofgirlsareconstantly criticizingthemselvesabouttheirweight， approximately 15 million girls to be exact.15 million girls have anorexia and bulimia， 15 million girls. Think about the number.

With this in mind， think about why so many girls have these mental illnesses.

We are taught at a very young age that beauty is what is valued in society.

The fairytales that we heard always involved a beautiful princess， a handsome prince， and an ugly witch. We learn that beauty is good and ugliness is evil. And from that we learn fat people are ugly. After all， we never see a fat princess， do we？

We are twisted into thinking that skinny is the only beautiful.

We see that the“Most Beautiful Woman of the Year”is always skinny and we try to mimic what we see in the media. We think what the media pushes towards us is right.

And from the media we always see that the girls that are the most beautiful are slim and they are the famous ones， they are the ones that people like the most.

We trick ourselves into thinking that maybe if we are skinny， we can be one step closer to what that celebrity is， what she represents： fame， fortune， and beauty.

Many girls starve themselves， and throw up after every meal to try to be beautiful.

Although we see the“skinny”life as glamorous and fabulous， eating disorders are not the right way to achieve this. These eating disorders are mental illnesses that can cause more damage than good.

You might look skinny and fit， but your teeth are eroding away from all the stomach acids you just hurled up， the walls of your stomach and esophagus are tearing apart， you start fainting， you have an inability to concentrate， you start having blood pressure problems， and you can even develop depression.

The idea of beautiful doesnt seem to be that appealing anymore， does it？

Even with this knowledge， it still doesnt stop many from doing this anyway. What we know doesnt change us； its what we do to ourselves that changes us.

So next time instead of running to the bathroom to throw up all those calories you just ate， head for the gym instead. Participate in some sports； even doing some squats in your free time is healthier. This is the road to what is beautiful.

“瞧瞧你表姐，那么苗條，那么漂亮。看看人家，現(xiàn)在這么漂亮，她以前胖的時候可沒這么好看。你應(yīng)該問問她在飲食上有什么秘訣。”我們剛和表姐聊完天，媽媽就無情地跟我說。

我朝她翻了個白眼，假裝沒聽見她說的話。

雖然媽媽認為她其實是在幫我過上健康的生活，但她并沒有意識到，她是在用那些刻薄的言語以及那更為刻薄的語氣，對我進行一種精神上的凌辱。

她沒有意識到，雖然我沒理她，但每當(dāng)我有意識地選沙拉而不選比薩時，每當(dāng)我在體育館里跑來跑去搶球時，每當(dāng)我穿著短褲走在公共場合時，她的那些話仍然在我腦海里回響。

不過，我并不是唯一一個受這種情緒影響的人，就是這種對自己身材不滿意，對自己是否足夠苗條和足夠漂亮越來越懷疑的情緒。

每天，成千上萬的女孩照著鏡子，被鏡子中的映象攪得心生反感和厭惡。

每天，成千上萬的女孩看著自己又細又瘦的骨架上長了一圈圈肥肉，想起食物便無法忍受。

每天，成千上萬的女孩不斷批評自己的體重，準(zhǔn)確來說，這樣的女孩有1 500萬。1 500萬女孩患有厭食癥和暴食癥，1 500萬女孩啊，想一想這個數(shù)字。

了解了這些，再想一想為什么這么多女孩患有這些心理疾病。

我們在很小的時候就被教導(dǎo)：這個社會看重的是美。

我們聽過的童話故事里總少不了一位美麗的公主、一位英俊的王子和一個丑陋的巫婆。

我們學(xué)到的是，美是善的，丑是惡的。

從中我們知道了胖人是丑的，畢竟，我們從來沒有見過一個胖公主，不是嗎？

我們的思維被扭曲，認為只有身形纖瘦的人才是美的。

我們發(fā)現(xiàn)，“年度最美女性”往往都身形纖瘦。我們想方設(shè)法模仿自己在媒體上所看到的，總覺得媒體推送到我們眼前的就是對的。

還有，在媒體上我們往往會看到，那些最漂亮的女孩都身材苗條，而且她們都很出名，是深受大眾喜愛的人。

于是，我們自己騙自己，以為或許只要我們瘦了，我們就離某位明星的樣子，離她所代表的一切———名氣、財富和美貌———更近一步了。

許多女孩為了追求美麗不吃東西，或者吃完每頓飯再把吃進去的東西吐出來。

雖然我們認為“纖細的”人生美麗而精彩，但飲食紊亂并不是實現(xiàn)它的正確做法。飲食紊亂癥是心理疾病，弊大于利。

你或許看上去纖細而健康，但你剛嘔吐出來的胃酸正在侵蝕你的牙齒，你的胃壁和食道壁正在撕裂，你開始頭暈，你無法集中注意力，你的血壓開始出現(xiàn)問題，你甚至可能產(chǎn)生抑郁情緒。

變美的念頭似乎不再那么有吸引力了，不是嗎？

即便知道了這些，還是無法阻止許多人為美而這樣折磨自己。因為我們所知道的并不會改變我們，改變我們的正是我們對自己做了什么。

所以，下一次不要再沖進衛(wèi)生間將你剛剛吃進去的那些卡路里悉數(shù)嘔吐出來，還是去健身房吧。你可以參加一些體育運動，即便是在空閑時間做幾個深蹲，也比較健康。這才是通往美麗人生的康莊大道。