When I was eight years old, I got my period, and everything changed. Before long, I was a foot taller than everyone else, and I had boobs. Future Dolly Parton.
I was a healthy weight, but I didn’t look like the other kids. They still looked like children, and I didn’t. I looked older. Not quite a woman–yet–but not a child.
When I was 10, I would get whistled at by construction workers. When I was 12, a classmate called me Thunder Thighs. My body image was distorted, to say the least.
I didn’t date, I didn’t get compliments from anyone, I really didn’t know how others perceived me. I always felt “less than.” Looking back, I know that I was attractive, but as a teenager, I couldn’t see anything but my flaws. I thought I was fat. Typical teen girl with a poor self-image.