When we talk about eating disorders, there’s often a knee-jerk reaction, a defensiveness that comes from deep within. “Oh, I don’t have an eating disorder,” you might say. “I’m just picky,” or “I’m just really into clean eating.” This fear of the label—of being defined by a term that carries so much weight (pun intended)—keeps us in the shadows. We hide from it because we know that once it sticks, it’s hard to peel off, and it comes with layers of judgment that we might not be ready to face.

But what if, instead of running from these labels, we leaned into them? What if we had the courage to take a long, hard look at our relationship with food and exercise? What if we were brave enough to be honest, to admit that maybe—just maybe—we’ve been hiding from the truth?

It’s time to strip away the shame, the guilt, and the fear. It’s time to redefine the labels that have held us back and kept us stuck in cycles of self-doubt and self-destruction. Because here’s the thing: each of us is different, and each of us deserves a life that’s not defined by fear, but by love—self-love, to be exact. It’s about being kinder, more generous with ourselves, and more willing to nourish both our bodies and our souls.

I want to share with you three labels that I’ve redefined in my own journey. I challenge you to do the same with the ones that have been heavy in your own rotation. Let’s give them a positive spin and reclaim the narrative.

Healthy

This word carries a lot of weight—no pun intended—for anyone who’s struggled with their relationship to food and exercise. For the longest time, hearing someone say I looked "healthy" would send me into a spiral. To me, "healthy" meant heavy. It meant "not skinny," which in my mind translated to lazy and an epic failure.

But I’ve worked hard to reverse-engineer this definition. I started to ask myself: what does "healthy" mean in other contexts? A healthy baby, a healthy plant, a healthy dog—what do these have in common? They’re thriving, full of life, vital. "Healthy" doesn’t mean heavy; it means whole. So now, when I hear "healthy," I choose to see it as additive, not negative. I’ve reclaimed the word to mean strong, vibrant, and alive.

Athletic

I know it sounds counterintuitive, but at the height of my eating disorder, when I was defining myself as an athlete, being labeled as "athletic" felt like an insult. To me, it meant curvy, thick, muscular—all the things I was desperately trying not to be. I was aiming for waif-like, thin, tiny. But here’s the truth: being an athlete is one of the most precious privileges of my life.

An athlete is someone who is strong, disciplined, and dedicated. Being an athlete is a goddamn luxury, and it’s something I now relish and own with pride. The leap from seeing "athletic" as a negative to embracing it as a powerful, positive identity was a choice—one I had to make consciously. And it’s a choice I encourage you to make too, whatever your labels might be.

Anorexic

This is the label that I fought the hardest. I heard the word, and I immediately recoiled. “No, not me,” I thought. “I eat. I just eat very, very clean. I’m picky, but I eat. I work out, but it’s not obsessive. I just balance calories in and calories out—it’s all about performance.”

But here’s the truth: I was lying to myself. I was using all these excuses to avoid facing the reality. Anorexia doesn’t always look like skeletal frames or hospital beds. In fact, anorexia and eating disorders can look millions of different ways. No two look alike, and it’s not the appearance that counts, but the damage—damage that manifests in all its forms, both visible and invisible. It’s subtle, insidious, and often, it hides behind a veneer of "wellness."

Admitting that I was anorexic was the hardest thing I’ve ever done, but it also saved my life. I had to face the harsh reality to change my reality. That label—anorexic—is no longer something I want to be associated with. It’s what I was, not who I am. Today, I choose to be strong. I choose to be healthy. I choose to be athletic. And I choose to be free.

Redefining Your Labels

Here’s the thing about labels: they only have the power we give them. They’re words, and words can be redefined. They can be twisted, turned, and reinterpreted until they serve us rather than limit us.

So, I challenge you: what labels have you been hiding from? What words make you cringe, make you feel small, make you want to run and hide? Take those words, stare them down, and flip the script. Redefine them in a way that empowers you, that lifts you up, and that makes you proud of who you are—because you deserve nothing less.

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Let’s stop hiding from the labels. Let’s face them, own them, and redefine them on our terms. Together, we can transform these heavy words into wings that allow us to soar.