CONTENT WARNING: THIS piece includes descriptions of eating disorders and self-harm that may be triggering to some readers.
Soon after E turned 16, she started seeing TikToks that urged her to lose weight. People in the “SkinnyTok” community called them “harsh motivation.”
Some girls printed out photos of underweight models and taped them to their fridge doors. Others shared mantras to stop eating, like “you don’t need a treat, you’re not a dog.”
The phrase that stuck with E the most was “your stomach isn’t growling, it’s applauding.” For around two months she restricted calories to a dangerously low amount, she said, because “that’s what they told me to do.”
“It felt so comforting and motivating to see those videos,” says E, who doesn’t want her name used due to privacy concerns. “There are so many accounts like these, which made me think, ‘Oh yeah, this is normal.’”
