"dieting" poems
Today in an overweight society,
The type of society that deals anxiety,
Anxiety, anxiety, in this overweight society.
Today in an overweight society,
The type of society where diet pills are a normality,
Normality, Normality in an overweight society.
Today in the eyes of an underweight tragedy,
Influenced so greatly by an overweight society,
Tragedy, Tragedy, in an overweight society.
Influenced by a society of fatty foods,
Fear becoming a more common mood,
The fear of falling into the normality
The normality of this tragedy.
The overweight society.
Influence by obesity.
Striving to be what their minds see,
The minds of the children trapped,
Trapped by this overweight society.
Influenced by the skinny girls on TV
Only followed by ads showing fatty foods society demans you eat
Have a cheeseburger, upgrade to a large fry, yet still look like her, it's pounded in her mind.
Young minds believe what they see.
Morphed into the tragedy of society.
A society where eating disorders strive
A society where an 8 year old can consious you starve themselve to feel pretty.
The definition of pretty based simply on TV
Yet nobody questions this more than imperfect society.
Elementary ages childern being fed fat then forced to stand in front of a mirror.
Put a toy in poison and call it magic.
Oh yes, what a fantasy.
A fantasy forcing you into reality.
The reality becoming your worst nightmare.
The reality of your fears driven by society.
I'm overweight, yet pizza is the best choice for a happy family.
A society where mental illness strives.
Why can't people open their eyes?
Spoon feeding childern poison and expecting them to love themselves.
In school teachers force health into thier minds.
At home, parents feed them poison to save time.
Re-creating, reprogramming their fragile little minds, yet still expecting them to feel fine.
Feeling down?
Have a happy meal, gain a pound.
Overweight?
Shame, shame, you must maintain the image.
The image forced into your mind.
This was our greatest fall.
Upon dieting we call.
Skelington stave me.
Anorexia at it's finest.
Anorexia thin and spineless.
Some call you timeless.
But only recently you made your debute.
Make me feel brand new.
Reprogram my mind.
Make me feel fine.
Thank God for thinsperation.
Oh Anorexia, my new inspiration.
Make me feel pretty.
Just like the skinny girls on TV.
Loosing pounds, one by one.
Still weighed down by a ton.
The weight of pleasing it.
The nightmare society created.
Influenced by what we see.
Finally morphed into the tragedy of the normality of this weight obsessed society.
Apr 9, 2018
Apr 9, 2018 at 3:44 PM UTC
I'm the Krispy kreme De la creme,
a diabeaTease,
you can't handle this!
Cause you dieting?!
***** please!**
Piece by piece of cake
you found your obese!
And yes the truth does hurt
but no worries
if you want something
sugar Coated I'll order you dessert...
Go ahead and cheat
Apr 16, 2015
Apr 16, 2015 at 2:23 PM UTC
Ive been fat my entire life.
Things I've tried.
B12.
Eating disorders
Bulimia
Obsessive exercise
Dieting
Not dieting
Throwing up
I'm less fat now
My ribs don't show
I wish they would though.
Sep 7, 2015
Sep 7, 2015 at 3:13 PM UTC
Blood is thicker than water.
I'm nine years old and my mother had sighed us both up for a dieting course.
At eighteen I still see how interchangeable fatness and ugliness are to her.
I still have to stop myself from thinking of skipping meals after I ate "too much".
Clinging to the fear of the slippery slope that serves as my only guard.
I see it in my friends too,
comforted by their opposition for what my mother had embraced like gospal for the helpless fools.
Blood is thicker than water.
I like the hairs on my body.
The short and soft strands that cover my legs, blonde and black and all too
natural.
Removing them leaves my legs red and prick-prick- pickling for days but-
My sister laughs through a wrinkled nose,
My cousin tells stories, horrified, of women like me,
Mother says it's unhygienic and would not let me leave the house like this.
I haven't worn shorts in years.
But my friends' confident 'fuck you' to everyone who isn't them,
who dares control their bodies and shame them into pain or hiding,
makes me feel like one day I might wear them again.
Blood is thicker than water,
I find it hard to talk to people.
The thought of discussing anything more than trivial matters makes my lunges heavy in my chest.
Talking to my parents- a heavy led filling what seem less and less like lungs with every passing second.
Talking to my friends- the heaviness doesn't always go away, but the weight doesn't get harder to bear.
I heard my mother tell a friend how her kids talk to her about everything.
A bitter laugh never tasted so much as the sea.
Blood is thicker than water,
Since I can remember myself, I never wanted kids.
Took me years so unveil why.
The dismissal cut deep when Mother assumed she knew me better than I do, a cruel arrogance for what she must only consider her property.
'You'll change your mind and give me grandchildren'
A payment for my life-
"Interest" she calls it.
Blood is thicker than water,
When I came out to you, dear parents, you once again ignored me
as if I hadn't tortured myself enough,
as if it hadn't taken me years trying to accept myself before you turned your back on me with cruel dismissal.
As if I don't still struggle.
All I have left is to fall back on my friends' support again,
being caught in their loving embrace without ever asking to.
They say you can't choose your family but-
the blood of the covenant is thicker than the water of the womb.
May 28, 2020
May 28, 2020 at 2:29 PM UTC
I am suffocating.
There are people with smiles and sweaters,
Asking me questions, judging me, pretending to care.
Sitting close around the table,
Trapped with no escape; pinned.
Looking my tormentor in the face, faking fine.
Taking hours to poke and stoke
The unyielding heap on my plate.
Bubbly mindless chatter -- external.
Dread and vile hatred -- internal.
My eyes betray my lie and show the truth I hide.
I am suffocating.
Under my own weight.
I am suffocating.
I am not better.
I am suffocating.
I am not thankful for stuffing.
Nov 24, 2014
Nov 24, 2014 at 3:18 PM UTC
The pipes froze as the toilet overflowed
with pangs of guilt and bile bitten clothes.
She tried to dispose of what she ate
from breakfast to lunch to her snacks after eight.
From dieting to shame, infatuation came,
from the overwhelming pain of being herself.
Scared to ask for help, she took matters to her hands.
One to hold her hair, the other to her thyroid gland.
© Matthew Harlovic
Jun 24, 2015
Jun 24, 2015 at 11:06 PM UTC
The last few days
Have been strange
I haven't been eating
My emotions
And I always have
I am NOT
A thin girl
Nor medium sized
And I can't help that
But this is odd
Nausea replacing my
Urge to eat away
The stress or sorrow
A rumbling in my stomach
Screaming
Please no food
I'm a eater
My mother and father too
So why have I not been hungry
I've been thinking about
Dieting soon
Could this be my
Subconscious saying
*You don't have to
I'll take care of that for you*
I'm mystified
Usually I drink endlessly
Always thirsty
And always drinking more
Than anyone else
And yet I felt less thrist
In these last days
Completely ignored the full cup
Even when my mouth was dry
A sip would satisfy
Somethings wrong
But I'm not gonna ask
It's okay not to eat
At least not like I use to
Maybe this is a blessing in disguise
I just hope everything turns out okay.
Feb 23, 2013
Feb 23, 2013 at 7:32 PM UTC
Everyone goes through some stuff in their life that they want to change.
Something that hurt them, someone who changed them, a situation that could have been avoided.
And we have to face the realization that we can't change any of it.
I wish I could write a letter to myself.
My past self.
I could tell her that the minds of teenagers get dark and scary.
I would inform her that razors should only be used to shave.
I would plead that she didn't let her insecurities stop her from reaching her goals.
I would enlighten her that no matter how much make-up, dieting, or personality changes she commits too; its better to change for yourself than turn into something your not for others.
I would encourage her to not think twice. STOP OVERTHINKING.
I would remind her that she is young and yes, death is unpredictable but so is your ability to reach your biggest dreams. Reach for your dreams.
Don't think of death as a dead line; great things take time.
Everyone makes mistakes.
I would tell her that one day she will have these unexplainable feelings for a girl. It will seem impossible, but do not give up on her.
I would warn her about the high school boys that will only use her, no matter how Christian they are.
Create friendships, get to know people before you give yourself away.
Let things take its course and you may be surprised where it takes you.
I would explain all of the great things that I have experienced, and inform her that the world can be bright.
I would remind her that her parents only want what is best for her, and they are more supportive than she thinks.
I would let her know that people will leave her, and it will be hard for awhile, but she will survive.
You will survive.
Mar 10, 2018
Mar 10, 2018 at 11:37 PM UTC
They posted pictures of their vacation.
I wondered where they get their money.
They always have smiles of elation.
I wish I knew what they look like when life isn’t funny.
Always posting pictures of their dating status.
Calling their significant others boo and bae.
One day they are in a relationship, the next they are the baddest.
Because their man could not be convinced to stay.
Sometimes they say that they hate their job and work.
They wish that they could earn money from home.
I always thought that to provide always came first.
And work is the portion of those who are grown.
But when they break up, no one ever sees that post.
And we never see the friends who get blocked.
Sometimes people on Facebook be doing the most.
And then wonder why their true friends are shocked.
Because to be a friend or a follower on social media is nothing.
A true friend is one who is with you through thick and thin.
I don’t mean your yo-yo dieting, or your social media husband.
I’m talking about those who held you down from the beginning.
Jul 19, 2018
Jul 19, 2018 at 3:20 PM UTC
Sometimes the case of the letter
makes all the difference.
God or god.
An important personal I or a misplaced letter i.
Summer the girl or summer the season.
The uppercase letter delineates between importance and the ordinary.
Perfectionism is a haunt of mine.
It is a ghost that follows me
And does not stop no matter what I'm doing.
It kills a day in a blink.
It turns anxiety inside/out.
It takes away my care for something good;
Even the smallest of outcomes.
F@#k it.
That is perfectionism in two simple words.
If I cannot do it right then I refuse to do it at all.
How dangerous is that?
Or rather... how stupid is that?
I see my world in black and white.
Absolutes.
You are either right or wrong.
Good or bad.
Smart or stupid.
I have a ridiculously logical brain.
Logic is the glue that holds the shards of me together.
Without this reason,
I probably would have landed in the crazy house a long time ago.
Logic is my reality.
If I can reason it; it exists.
If I cannot; it must not be.
And there is the problem.
There is nothing logical about my past.
Although it seems that abusers have a handbook;
the logic chapter is always found
To be ripped out, shredded, and burned.
They left that part of it up to us to figure out;
To understand their evil.
That is what makes us crazy in the first place.
So the harder I try to understand;
The crazier I get. Literally.
I cannot reason what was done to me
And so sets in denial.
I can't understand it;
I can't make it right.
So f@#k it.
The abundance of f@#k its has really slowed me down.
Nearly to a halt and I'm not just talking about my mental healing.
This is my real life too.
Housekeeping, taking care of myself,
Dieting, exercise, blah blah blah...
you get the picture.
If I can't do it right and perfect;
Then I won't do it at all.
All great thoughts to live by.
This thinking is not something easy to change.
It is a deep part of who I am.
It is also something that makes me feel normal.
Normal exactly long enough until
I realize that normal people don't do math and physics problems for fun.
But I digress because my weirdness belongs in a whole other post.
I have steps to take.
One at a time.
Crying just one time worked for me.
And then I did it again.
Getting up early once
Led to me getting up early again AND working out.
It doesn't have to be all or nothing
Sometimes it's alright to be somewhere and in between.
I don't have to be completely healed or entirely wounded.
I'm still crazy;
Even with the steps towards tears and feeling.
But I have progress now
Because I have downgraded letters;
Even if it is just one.
Now I'm just crazy.
crazy with a little "c"...
Aug 9, 2013
Aug 9, 2013 at 6:44 PM UTC
Her body was fragile, her body was thin
Little did we know; she threw up in the bin.
It was all in her mind “pretty girls don’t eat”
And models themselves are always petite.
But there’s always a secret, a secret behind
The reason why these girls declined
The food they were offered and the drinks they were poured
And the high calories dishes were always ignored.
Dieting and pills became the norm
And the media portrayed it as a new art form.
But this “new art form” was a dangerous entity
And no one knew its true severity
Of this illness that gets in your head
And the sinister voices that want you dead.
But you listen to them as they’re your only friend,
The ones that will be there to the very last end.
Jan 13, 2015
Jan 13, 2015 at 12:56 PM UTC
Count every calorie
1,2…Too many
Try each quick trick,
power shake,
weight loss,
fat *******
muscle building,
fiberlicious,
piece of ******** I can get my hands on
Take the stairs, not the elevator
Walk to work, then walk home
Jog in place,
Do 10 push-ups,
Jumping jacks,
Tuck jumps,
Sit-ups,
Scissor kicks,
You name it I’ve done it
I’ve stuck to my diet for so long
My menu has consisted of a million and one ways to say bland
I have looked into low-fat,
No fat,
Fat free,
Sugar free,
Sodium free,
‘Feel free, to leave me on the shelf because I taste like dog ****
versions of every name brand in the produce section
and now…now I would **** for some cheese fries,
Or a giant cake just for me,
An entire package of Oreos dipped in Nutella,
Or simply a candy bar
Dieting takes will power,
But vending machines take mere pocket change.
Feb 6, 2013
Feb 6, 2013 at 1:08 PM UTC
~for Pamela Rae~
you cannot amend reality by passing a law.
if we could, then we should have one requiring society to
guarantee a happy childhood.
every **** time I propose to myself a resolution
that I am an ok poet, I stumble on to a poet here
of whom I was unaware, and you were, correctly aware,
that brings a good light into the world,
vowing to throw in the towel,
the I'm ok resolution never passes,
voted down 2 - 1;
Against: Myself, I
In Favor: Me
which necessitates try try again
Einstein's Insanity Theorem fool
proofed.
Exclaim! what a goodly word.
If we ex'd our claims (need, due, want) more,
walking in quiet contemplation,
we could climb on our roof (I can) and proclaim (silently)
glory glory hallelujah and it would not matter to
whom (which diety)
we are
addressing.
Outstanding! what a goodly word.
If I could satisfy the claims against me outstanding,
still unsatisfied, while I am yet among the living,
especially the one that are self-propelled,
that would be
outstanding.
I would rather the simple monetary motived corruption
of a dishonest businessman, than the cowardly silence
of the fools we elect to govern us, and gravely pretend
to know what is good for us. I call this,
My Theory of the Greater Corruption.
Word Salad: making crazy combinations of words,
i.e. eggplant smile, vegetable sunrise etc.
hell, I just can't make any up,
it is
cheap and lazy crafty no craftsmanship, craftwomanship
but very self/satisfying and tasty too, I'm sure,
and authentic 100% b.s.
The apocalypse is always nigh.
Ironically, very true.
Let's keep it that way.
neigh neigh neigh.
I write many more words than I speak;
by a very wide margin;
this pleases me,
by a very wide margin.
complexification
(yes, it is a real word) and
glorification
rhyme because they both end in
shunned.
In heaven, the following are outlawed:
yoga, exercise, dieting, crying; denying and lying.
the latter obviate the former.
glory glory hallelujah and hot ****
>•>
4/18/17 2:43am
Aug 18, 2017
Aug 18, 2017 at 3:21 AM UTC
I eat and purge my relationships like a pro bulimic. I have a unique gift of attracting the most broken of individuals, truly an extremist.
Crazy, violent, addicted, on the run, think they are moon babies banished to live on the sun, AND always saying, “Hey baby you’re my number one". AND even though I know better than to ride on the coattails of crazy, I convince myself I’m actually a someone to anyone. Like I give a **** So then what’s the fuckin' hang up?
Jun 29, 2013
Jun 29, 2013 at 2:43 PM UTC
I wear my hunger like a badge of honor
every stomach’s groan and garble is victory
wrapped in lettuce, hold the beef
and bun.
My manly appetite shrinks
from triumphant buttons bursting
to greens garnished with greens
after salads, please no dressing
or any cheese.
Beer drunk pizzas parties
turn tomato sauce on egg white omelets
scantly sprinkled with fat free
turkey pepperoni, and all fake
dairy Cheesus.
A good idea
becomes chocolate dipped
peanut butter Twinkies
served with stomach ache
covered in batter fried bits of bacon.
Trophies are knuckles
cheekbones and ribs
once buried by doughnuts
frosted with funnel cakes
served in soda pop.
So I hang my badge of hunger on bones
happily sitting behind baggy skin and habits
wrapped in clothes, I never thought
would fit.
Mar 1, 2011
Mar 1, 2011 at 8:35 PM UTC
When I look in the mirror
I lay my eyes on a terrible sight
An image so horrendous
It brings tears to my eyes
They all say "Honey, You're Beautiful!"
To which I pretend to agree
They all say "Please don't listen to anyone who says otherwise."
But then I ask my self,
Why would I ignore the people who are truthful?
My face is a mess
It's full of all kinds of red marks
My chest is so flat
It's almost like I'm a guy
My stomach is gross
I'm not skinny like those other girls
My thighs repulse me
They're full of scars and are way to big
So when I look in the mirror
I say to my self
"Why can't I be perfect?"
"Or even just a little bit prettier?"
I ask my self why people lie to me
They give me compliments
That are obvious lies
My boyfriend say "Babe you're perfect!"
To which I reply "Haha sure thanks"
He thinks I'm just modest
But if only he saw what I see
He would be repulsed
He'd flee the scene
My best friend
She says "I wish I was as pretty as you."
Until then I never understood
I guess friendships really are built on lies
The number that I see on the scale
Is much too high for me to bare
The size of my pants
Is much too big for me to handle
The size of my bra
Is much to small for me to feel proud
So off I go
Look up new dieting fads
Promising my self I'll make my self better
But as I know
I'll soon stop trying
And begin the cycle anew
But for now I'll try
Just skip a couple more meals
Maybe this time I can do it
Be perfect in my eyes...
Not disgusting.
Apr 12, 2014
Apr 12, 2014 at 2:58 AM UTC
You're not eating properly
Eliane's mother said
you've hardly eaten a thing
Elaine who'd been thinking
of the boy John
looked up
through her glasses
at her mother
at the dining table
got to eat
her father interjected
got to eat
my young Plump Hen
her sister said nothing
but grinned
I do eat
Elaine said
but she didn't feel
like eating
it seemed the least
important thing
at that moment
her stomach felt
as if it had fallen
into a slumber
not enough
her mother said
maybe she's fallen in love
her father bantered
Elaine went red
and lowered her head
and began to nibble
at the food on her plate
nonsense
her mother said
it's some silly
slimming diet
I bet
not very successful
if it is
her younger sister said smiling
John had touched her arm
in passing at school
not by accident
but by design
he meant to touch
to bring her briefly
into his world
his circumference
she still touched
now and then
the area on her arm
he touched (at school)
with her fingers
I won't have you dieting
over some silly fad
her mother went on
but Elaine ceased listening
the words were buzzing flies
she wanted to
flick them away
with a hand
John had talked to her
not at her
or about her
(as others did)
or down to her
but with her
in a duel thing
he and she
kind of exchange
she ate slowly
the food almost
making her gag
getting stuck
in the throat
she held onto
the image of him
in her mind tried
to focus
on his outline
on his features
his words
taking each one
she could remember
and turning it over
in her mind
as if it were
a rare gem
girls your age
what are you now?
14 yes 14years old
ought not to diet
her mother said
breaking into Elaine's head
if I see you not eating again
I'm taking to the doctors
Elaine looked up
and put on
her good daughter face
that I'll do
whatever you want features
and John had placed
a hand by her head
at the school fence
his arm brushing softly
against her hair
and he never said anything
unkind about
her dark hair
or the metal grips
her mother made her wear
and her mother rattled on
but Elaine just returned
her innocent girl
stare.
Nov 8, 2013
Nov 8, 2013 at 3:15 AM UTC
Come my fellow hunters, follow me
as I am not likely to return.
Let us begin the journey to hunt him:
Beauty
Illusive -- have you ever seen such a beast?
Legends of
Grace and Glamour
Magnificence and Mesmerizing
yet no eyes have ever met his.
A shadow in the night, a ray in the morning,
dearest Apollo, is that you? Your songs lulls us,
but fairest Venus holds the leash.
He does not hide, this beast, as he stand tall
upon highway billboards and magazines.
Don’t think he’s gone, he’s just evolved,
photoshop to lure us, and then he
pulls the trigger
swallows the pills
slices the skin --
Beauty has become something lost in translation,
echoing in a past without
makeup
surgery
dieting.
Come my fellow hunters, follow me
as I am not likely to return.
We must strike him down with truths and
force his eyes on his ignorance.
When he lies, death cooing his sleep,
Leave me the bones
so that I might hang them for all to see.
A new symbol of freedom from chains
held by companies profiting from our pain.
Hunt with me so that one day we can say
The Beast is dead.
Jun 29, 2014
Jun 29, 2014 at 12:33 AM UTC
There was a young man who was obese.
He ate too much and now he's deceased.
He went to his favorite restaurants and ate a lot of food every day.
He died at the age of thirty and it's not surprising that he passed away.
His family told him that his gluttony might prove fatal and they begged him to go on a diet.
Even though they told him over and over that his obesity might end his life, he didn't buy it.
One evening when he was through eating, he had a massive heart attack and hit the floor.
He died instantly and his wife and children grieve because their patriarch isn't alive anymore.
He scoffed at the idea if dieting and he suffered a horrible fate.
He might not have died if he had made an effort to lose weight.
Feb 20, 2022
Feb 20, 2022 at 12:42 PM UTC
lose two grandmothers
begin panicking about death
eat to avoid panicking
get bullied every day
wear larger clothes than your mother
suffer from extreme dysmorphia
begin self harming
keep self harming
try to stop
keep going
begin cycling consumption
fail
write about how food is the only thing that hasn't left
get told by your mother to go to church
go to church
begin to get better
get worse
reject common beliefs of your church
become a red-letter Christian
fall in love
fall hard
move schools
pass mirrors
don't cry anymore
start dieting
not starving
dieting
lose seven pounds
realize weight doesn't define you
weight doesn't define you.
Feb 28, 2014
Feb 28, 2014 at 8:06 PM UTC
For years I've avidly ate sadness.
And now that I have contentment,
I find myself feeling resentment.
And wanting to eat sadness again.
Jan 20, 2022
Jan 20, 2022 at 1:58 PM UTC
we are just a bunch of girls dieting because
starving is in,
emaciated is in,
you won't be loved if you're not thin.
May 24, 2014
May 24, 2014 at 5:17 PM UTC
I'm on a diet again, Oh No!
Giving up favourite foods, woe,
Must reduce my weight,
Before it is too late,
All I dream about is food,
Don't think about men, that's rude!
Yes, definitely food before dudes,
Yo-yo dieting is fun,
of this diet--it's only day one!
Oct 18, 2016
Oct 18, 2016 at 4:04 PM UTC
Dear Rabbits & Rabies & Silence & Bones so hollow they can break upon landing & Sleep & Teeth & Being radiation free & Radiation for being clean energy & Dieting & Headphones & Lightning & The Sky & Thirty-Thousand US Dollars, really it’s closer to Twenty-Eight but let’s round up to be Safe & Playing with Blocks as a kid & Starting my car with a screwdriver & Learning from failure & Failing quizzes but passing classes & Teachers who need to chill the **** out (because they’re excited and I don’t get excited so it scares me when people get excited) & my mother and father and brother and unborn sister (she might have been named after Bob Marley like I almost was) & Clever titles & Bad titles for making clever titles seem more clever & Robots for making life easier & Robots for taking over the future & Passing cars & ****** bars & Oil Tycoons ******* straws from MotherEarth, bleeding her dry just in time for winter
You’re all okay—
I have a lot of feelings
That I don’t like feeling all that often
And you’re vital, pivotal to the waking world
But you’re also ruining my life; I’m no good at math
But I’m trying anyways and slowly learning that
Good & Evil are pretty much the same side of the
Same battle if you’re standing far enough away but I
Am not quite that far away yet.
The world is a clock and without every gear in locking place
Time would stop altogether—a redundant thought,
Yet still relevant upon revisiting.
If I am a cloud then you are a storm, a billowing hurricane
With sugar for blood and wire-tapped veins, broken
Like I ought to be except I am afraid
To truly really break like the love of my life
Did when she was seventeen or eighteen—I don’t
Quite remember when it all started but how it pains me
Every day that you (not you, reader, but an old friend)
Did this and do this to yourself still.
No matter where I go and no matter how much
Powder you buy just to look at (it’s comforting—
I want to believe you) You will always be
At the front of my mind & for that,
I owe you.
Oct 7, 2014
Oct 7, 2014 at 1:08 AM UTC