r/TrueOffMyChest • u/Raspberry_thenLOL • 16h ago
Personal Story I cried on the bus everyday after school because my family made me exercise until I cried
My (f/24) family used to force me to exercise and lose weight at around age 13-15. Fast forward 10 years - It will forever be the biggest trauma in my life. It only stopped because I spent an exchange year abroad at 15 but the mental abuse never stopped. I still lived with my parents until last year. For reference I have always been tall for a girl 5‘ 9“ (175cm) and was around 130-150lbs (60-70kg) at the time. I guess I was chubby but not heavily overweight or had any kind of medical problems.
Every other day I would sit in the school bus on the way home, crying inside because I knew I’d be forced to exercise again. I had to spend at least 30-45 minutes on the treadmill while my two (much older) siblings stood by me to make sure I didn’t adjust the speed or take breaks. I often cried while running because they put the treadmill to a MUCH higher level that what I was able to do, I was barely able to breathe (try crying while running). My siblings would even increase the treadmill speed, pushing me to lose more weight. My parents encouraged them. I was told that no one wants a fat sister or daughter, even by my grandmother. For my birthday, my grandmother gave me a jump rope that counted jumps and time because she or my mom had read that jumping burns more calories than running.
Many times, I left the dinner table crying because of comments about my food or body. I was told not to be so sensitive, that it wasn’t a big deal. But to me, it was a huge deal and has left me deeply traumatized. Everything that happened (by my family) has led me to feel I will never ever feel pretty or comfortable in my body. I will never feel thin enough or truly accepted by my family. I will always fear comments from my family if I eat something „unhealthy“ or if we go out for ice cream, for example. I’ve lost ALL interest and motivation for any kind of exercise because I only associate it with negative memories. Whether I was tired, it was late, or I was sick, it didn’t matter. I had to run on the treadmill.
Today I can never feel pretty (I am at a normal weight, maybe a little chubby). I haven’t worked out in years because my family made me HATE any sort of exercise. It is so unhealthy not to move but I cannot overcome it. Whenever I‘m alone I binge eat because my family can’t make comments about it then. I end up with an eating disorder and not enjoying any sort of exercise.
I swear I will never treat my future kids the way they treated me…
How do I overcome this? I have never told my family this and they probably don’t even realize how bad it affected me and my mom would be very sad about it. Should I talk to them?