Chelley's Story

I've always been tall and really slim. Both my parents were the same when they were my age and it wasn't until my mum got pregnant with my older sister that she gained a bit of weight.

I've always loved sports too, and drama, and art - anything where you can get up, move around and get some energy going. I had lessons in ballet, drama and swimming for years and was always up and about doing something.

No-one cared about my weight at primary school because, after all, we all develop at different ages, right? Some people are thinner than others, but it doesn't mean they're unhealthy.

When I started my secondary school everything was fine for a while, until I became friends with a new group. Well, I say 'made friends', but they were horrible to me.

The bullying begins

The worst one was Alex. He made jokes about me being skinny which I never really found funny, but I laughed along anyway so I didn't look uptight or a prude. When real friends made jokes about my weight, I'd laugh because I knew they didn't mean them as an insult. But Alex always did.

He'd say jokes behind my back like, "she should have a sign saying DO feed the animals" - they would have been funny if he hadn't meant them in such a mean way.

I quickly stopped hanging around with him and his crowd and made friends with some nicer girls, but it didn't stop him bullying me.

Nor did explaining that it was because I was so active and I had inherited my parents' fast metabolism (which means my body burns food quickly, so I don't produce much fat).

I didn't want to tell my parents because I thought they'd tell me to ignore it and I just couldn't.

Images posed by models. Some names have been changed.

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Turning to tablets

So I started stuffing my face with everything I could find. I ate and ate until I was sick, which made everyone think I was bulimic. People would come up to ask me if I was anorexic. I hated every second of it because no matter what I told them they went away whispering.

I stopped going to my sports clubs and just carried on eating in my spare time, measuring my waist every day, but still not gaining any weight. My metabolism was making sure of that, which meant every time I went to the toilet I was losing the food I'd eaten.

I knew it was stupid, but I started taking my mum's diarrhoea tablets (which stop her having it) to stop myself going to the loo. I kept measuring my waist, but I didn't notice much change, so I took more and more each day. I ended up taking about 8 a day!

Getting better

Then one day at a sleepover, my friend discovered five packets of the tablets in my bag. She walked in on me taking them and convinced me to stop. She managed to help me quit and agreed not to tell my parents (I knew they'd be so disappointed in me).

People moan that skinny celebrities are making it unacceptable for girls to be curvy and making people bully them for their weight. What about the other side?

I was bullied into gaining weight because people were telling each other that being slim is unhealthy. I now know that's ridiculous and I shouldn't have let them get to me.

The rest of my friends were shocked when I finally mustered the courage to tell them Alex was bullying me and I was taking pills. One friend even went and confronted him, but that only made him laugh more. Eventually he was suspended because of the consequences of his insults.

The future

Now I'm proud to say that I'm back to my normal diet, eating my five-a-day and bursting with energy. I'm also a lot more confident in myself and if people give me any stick I just tell them to grow up and don't let it bother me.

I've decided to write a book about my experiences. I don't care if it's any good, I just want people to know. Whatever your weight, it doesn't matter, we're all beautiful no matter what anyone says.

More information:

Are you being bullied?
Eating Disorders factfile
Tips on healthy eating

Images posed by models. Some names have been changed.