KALYN
MAST
Hi my name is Kalyn Mast and I like most girls have gone though so many struggles. My story however is different from quite a lot. I have suffered with self image and weight issues for the majority of my life. It all started when I was in about fifth/sixth grade, I began to feel really insecure about how much I weighed. At that time in my life I was a touch overweight, nothing major but I thought it was way worse than it actually was. So, I began to wear really baggy clothes like sweatshirts in hopes it would hide my fat. As I look back I saw it actually made me look worse. One day I had finally had it with coming home and crying about how all my friends are skinny and I was fat. I decided I was going to start and eat better and workout. At the same time that I made this decision my growth spurt finally happened and these two things had a double effect on my body. This caused me to go from being overweight to becoming underweight. Everyday I would try to lose more and more weight. I was finally happy, until I realized my mom wasn't. You see in order for me to keep loosing weight I started eating less and less which scared my mom. I didn't care what she thought of course because I finally was starting to like myself. That is until one night she came to me with tears and told me she was worried that I was so underweight that my heart would stop in my sleep and that I would never wake up. This finally made me realize that I needed to do something because my habits were affecting people other than just myself. So, I went to the doctor and he diagnosed me as borderline anorexic. This means I still eat but just barely enough. He told me I needed to gain weight which was obviously something I didn't want to do. It was hard but I managed to agin some weight back. Today I am still underweight but not near as bad as I was. I still constantly struggle everyday with eating and my self image. It is hard for me to just randomly go out to eat with friends or grab ice cream out of the blue. Everyday is still a continuous struggle. However, there is something that gets me through each dat and that is God. I have a real love an passion for God though worship. It is where I am most connected to Him. I find that when I worship God it is the one time my mind doesn't think about food, anxiety, or any of my life struggles. All I think about is God and how much He loves me. Worshipping God is my escape from this earthly world of pain and it gives me hope that I can overcome anything with Him by my side. I am also a worship leader at my church in the hopes that ic an help other people find that escape with God as well. I hope my story can help you realize that you are never alone and that we are all loved. I am here for anyone who needs to talk. remember that we are all princesses because we are the daughters of the One True King, Jesus Christ.