Dannielle Says: 

This is hard. It’s basically completely up to you. If this is a recent thing, maybe you’re not comfortable enough to just say it outright. At the same time, I don’t want you to feel like it’s something to be ashamed of, you know? 

It’s fucking awesome. You’re recovering WHICH EQUALS you’re in a really awesome mental space where you recognize something about yourself which isn’t healthy and you’re like ‘fuck that, i love me and i wanna be healthy’ …you could always go the humor route and keep it cute and be like ‘here’s whassup, i was mannorexic for a while, but i was like ‘hey if demi lovato doesn’t roll like that anymore, neither do i’ So, I don’t fuck with that, i just can’t really eat 8 pounds of pizza or I’ll poop everywhere, you know?’ and he’ll giggle and be like ‘man, i knew i loved you for a reason’ i lift you above his head VIA DirtyDancing…soooooooo…if you’re into dancing you should prolly go that route. 

If you’re not feeling comfortable enough to just blab about it in a funny way, like i would, don’t feel like you HAVE to tell him. You’re more than welcome to just get a salad and tell him you’re not really in the mood for pizza right now, but you like him and you weren’t about to say no to a date with him.

Either way, (whether you tell him or not) be confident in your decision. Know this is your body, your health, your life and your business. You don’t HAVE to tell anyone anything, but at the same time, it’s nothing to be ashamed of and one day (if not today) you’ll be more than comfortable talking about it as something that happened in your past. The pressure to be thin is fucking intense, it’s everywhere and we all experience it in one way or another. He will be understanding, be it now or in 3 months, he’ll get it.

also, congratulations and I’m proud of you :)

Kristin Says:

Well.  I wrote you a bunch of really pretty words and then the Tumblr monster jumped out from under my desk, tore them to shreds, laughed at me, and then peed all over my computer screen.*  Since I care about you, I am going to try this again…

First of all, anyone with eyeballs in their face and a brain in their skull should be able to understand the millions of ways in which life can be a battle at times, and should applaud you for taking the first steps forward in your recovery.  You have nothing to be ashamed of, and I know Dannielle already said that, BUT I ALSO WANT TO PLAY WITH YOU GUYS IN THE SANDBOX OF HOPE AND DREAMS, OKAY?

Second of all, I get why you might not want to answer this guy’s first request for a date with a diatribe about your personal struggle with an eating disorder.  It’s like, despite the fact that you are awesome and the opposite of crazy, you might just want to answer him simply and not get into the details right away.  Totally understandable.

My suggestion is to answer his pizza request by saying something like, “Oh man, I would so love to hang with you, and perhaps one day I will explain my temporary aversion to that Italian delicacy, but for now, do you think we could go see Scream 4 before it leaves the theater?!”  If he wants to know about your pizza-problem, and he asks about it, then you have a cue to explain things, but if he is like, “OMG SCREAM 4 IS THE BEST IDEA EVER KISS ME YOU FOOL,” then you can save your explanations for date two or three or whenever you are comfortable!

The most important thing to remember is that regardless of when you tell him, you should know that you are telling him about something that is a part of your experience with this (at times very difficult/at times very beautiful) life, and anyone who has lived for more than a minute should be able to understand.

*artistic interpretation of frustration