Off topic of me, but I relate to not wanting to be anything like a parent. For a long time I resisted going to a doctor and taking meds, because my father had a mental illness, and I didn't want to be anything like him. Finally I realized that going to a doctor and taking meds made me unlike him, because he didn't acknowledge or treat his illness.

My mother projected her own weight insecurity on to me. She thinks she's fat, but she isn't. Most of our family members are quite hefty, with big bones and muscular builds. Only one member of my family is quite thin, and that's because she is allergic to so many foods, and has heart problems. Even she has big bones. You can tell that by her wrists. If it weren't for her health issues, she'd be a wildebeest like the rest of us. It's so ironic. My entire life, I have heard endless comments about D--- and how thin and beautiful she is, and don't we wish we were thin like her?

Well, no, not if it's because she's ill!