This story discusses eating disorders. If you or someone you know has an eating disorder, call the National Eating Disorder Association at (800) 931-2237 or visit the website for a live chat. If you’re in crisis, text “NEDA” to 741741 to talk with someone at the crisis text line.
Demi Buckley, 16, has always been active. She played volleyball for three years, basketball for two years, cheered for two years and has been in marching band for four years. Despite exercising routinely, she carried extra weight.
“When I started my period and then all of the hormones hit, that’s when I started gaining weight really fast,” she tells TODAY.com. “I came back to school, and I was a lot bigger than all the girls my age.”
Her mom, Deana Buckley, hoped to foster body positivity in Demi.
“I’ve always tried instilling, ‘No matter what size you are, you’re still beautiful,’” Buckley, 51, from Michigan, tells TODAY. “‘Size is not the indicator of who you are as a person. Your character is.’ And that’s hard to make your child believe that when you have the cool kids at school saying mean things and making them feel otherwise.”
Last year, Demi weighed 198 pounds at 5 feet, 5 inches tall and was considered to have obesity. She started taking weight-loss drug Wegovy. She now weighs 140 pounds. She wanted to share her experience taking this type of medication — known as GLP-1 agonists because they mimic the hormone GLP-1 — to help others understand what it’s like.
“I feel like if I reach out and show others that this medication can help them or this even is a thing — because a lot of people don’t know about it — it could really save someone’s life,” Demi says.
‘Constantly thinking about food’
After Demi started gaining weight in fifth grade, the bullying began. Classmates called her fat and told her to eat salad. She…
Read the full article here
