36. Hunger is your friend and it won't betray you like food. - I don't understand how hunger could be your friend.  Hunger kills more than 35,000 people every day.  Hunger, if not satisfied, leads to your death.  Many, if not most, people consider hunger to be a vicious enemy.  Hunger will betray you every time you keep it unsatisfied. 

37. Food is mean and sneaky. It tricks you into eating it and it works on you from the inside out, making you fat, bloated, ugly, and unhappy. - Food doesn't make people fat.  People make people fat. :)  You will only become fat after eating unhealthy junk food.  Good and nutritious food will keep you alive and healthy.  Don't you want to be alive and healthy?  And ultimately, food isn't in control of your happiness.  You are. 

38. Think of anorexia as your secret weapon. - Against what?  Yourself?  Your health?  Your life?

39. If you can name one reason to be fat, I will name a million to be skinny. I'll name them even if you can't find a reason to be fat. - I don't know.  I haven't liked any of your reasons so far...  I know much of this was your disease speaking, but you must realize that there is something between fat and skinny.  There is an average, healthy weight.  That is what you should strive for.  That is what will keep you feeling good and alive.  For every argument you strive to think up, I will find scientific proof of why you should be healthy, not fat and not skinny.

40. Thin people look good in ANY kind of clothes. - Are you kidding me?  I have a naturally thin friend who has to shop and shop and shop to find blouses that look decent on her.  Nothing seems to fit right.  Everything is loose and baggy.  "Oh, I wish I had some curves!" she groans every time we go shopping.  And try finding 00 jeans.  Practically impossible.  I know a few people who have actually gotten alterations on their body because clothes weren't fitting them.

Thanks for reading my final installment of 40 Reasons to Eat.

By writing this, I by no means intend to disrespect those who struggle with an eating disorder.  I know that it is a disease of the mind.  I was angered by the original list... false facts that would cause girls who struggle with anorexia to stumble even further.  By writing this, I strive to show girls who struggle with eating disorders that there is an alternative.  Those aren't logical reasons to not eat.  There is never a logical reason to not eat.

If you or someone you know is dealing with an eating disorder, I strongly encourage you to seek help.  Your life and health are in danger.   

26. Starve off the parts you don't need. They're ugly and drag you down. - I don't quite understand this.  What parts don't you need?  Your muscles?  Your heart?  You know the first thing that you'll lose when you start to starve off your "parts"?  You'll lose your boobs.  And most girls want those.

27. Nothing can't be fixed with hunger and weightlessness. - Let's see.  Nothing can't be fixed, eh?  What about AIDS?  Did you know that you can't treat AIDS with ARV unless the recipient is on a healthy diet?  If they're malnourished, the treatment doesn't work.  What about world hunger where thousands of children die each day?  What about homelessness?  What about corrupt governments?  What about eating disorders?

28. Saying 'No, thanks' to food is saying 'Yes, please' to THIN! - Not necessarily.  Please refer back to number one on this long list.  Now this could work if you replaced some of the words and made it: "Saying 'No, thanks' to unhealthy, fatty, junk foods and replacing them with healthy foods and plenty of nutrients while being sure to put in an hour of exercise each day is saying 'Yes, please' to a THIN and HEALTHY body!"  I'm sure that's what you meant to say... you just didn't want a run-on sentence. :)

29. Fat people are so huge, people see through them and it's like they don't exist. - Oh no... believe me.  You can't see through a fat person.  Haven't you ever been to that party or family reunion when your extremely obese uncle or aunt or grandparent comes in and starts singing really loudly?  Believe me, it's impossible to ignore them.  But all joking aside, you shouldn't look at the outside appearance so much.  You're judging overweight people.  You can have overweight friends.  They exist just like you do.

30. The only time people notice a fat person is when they get in the way of that beautiful thin girl walking by. (I know that one sounds horrible.) (Oh well.) - I love how you finally start to feel guilty.  Finally.  After everything cruel and stereotypical you've said before in this list... you feel a little guilty at number thirty.  And then put it aside with a little, "Oh well."  I don't really want to honor this argument with much of a response because it isn't true.  I've got some friends who are bigger than others.  They're way nicer than a lot of the skinny people I know.  I don't notice my friends because of the way they look.  I notice them because of their personalities and their hearts.  When you talk (or in this case, write) in the way that you've been writing, it makes you have not-so-much of a nice heart.  Your words hurt people.  That's what makes people want to ignore you.  That's what makes people feel bad about themselves.  That's what causes low self esteem and eating disorders.

Check in on Tuesday for the next installment of 40 Reasons to Eat. 

21. Do you want people to say, 'For ____ sake get off me, you're crushing me; I can't breathe!' or 'You are soo light.'? - I actually can't bring myself to say much about this, other than, "What on earth are you doing on top of someone in the first place?"

22. Underweight, a.k.a. perfect body. - According to who?  Barbie?  I don't understand why you think the picture to your right is beautiful.  I don't understand that at all.  To me, a healthy, natural weight is a perfect body. 

23. Ballerina? Or beanbag? - This made me laugh a little.  Your reasons not to eat are getting limper, so I'm not having to actually provide much of an argument to make them look silly.  Let's see.  No matter what you look like, you aren't going to be a beanbag... because a beanbag is an inanimate, cloth object with little white beans inside.  No matter how much you eat, you can't be a beanbag.  You can only be a ballerina if you take years and years of classes and practice and teaching.  And being a ballerina takes strength and muscle.  If you are underweight or malnourished, you cannot be a ballerina.  You won't be strong enough. 

24. I want to be light enough so a helium balloon could lift me and carry me to the clouds...like in my reoccurring dream; I love that dream. - That is impossible.  You would have to be less than a pound for that to ever happen.  A seven pound newborn baby can't be carried by a helium balloon.  A little chihuahua dog can't be carried by a balloon.  A candy bar can't be carried by a balloon.  Once a teacher of mine gave everyone in my classroom a helium balloon.  They were each weighted down with a tiny DumDum sucker.

25. I want to walk in the snow and leave no footprints. - Again, even a tiny four ounce bird will walk through the snow and leave footprints.  This is impossible unless you are some sort of ghost.  So you will be dead.  Not good.

Check in on Sunday for the next installment of 40 Reasons to Eat.  

The other day I came across a website that was supposed to be an encouragement for girls who are anorexic... but not an encouragement to help them turn their lives back towards normalcy.  No, this was a website that was pro-ana, or pro-anorexic... meaning that it offered support and encouragement for girls who wished to continue their anorexia.

This kind of thing honestly makes me a little angry.  I've seen kids both in my city and across the world who are malnourished and who do not have enough to eat.  They are starving and dying against their wills.  They want food.  And then I see girls who have food... and they refuse to eat it. 

If you have or have struggled with an eating disorder, please don't think I dislike you or misunderstand you or am angry at you.  I do realize that this is a disorder that stems from issues of emotional and mental health.  I empathize with girls who struggle with eating disorders.  I understand that this is something difficult to control and to overcome, and it is not something that many girls plan or want to have. 

It's not the struggling girl who makes me angry- it's websites like these that hurt girls that upsets me so much. 

I came across a list on this pro-ana website that literally made me feel sick.  It was called 40 Reasons Not to Eat and it gave forty "legitimate" reasons to help encourage anorexic girls to not eat when they're tempted. 

How can this help anything?  It makes me want to cry.  It makes me want to scream. 

It makes me want to write my own solution... called 40 Reasons to Eat.

So every other day for the next few days, I'll be posting five of the reasons not to eat listed in this article... and five reasons of my own to contradict this list. 

If you're anorexic, perhaps this can help to encourage you in the right way.  If you have a loved one who is struggling with an eating disorder, perhaps this can help you see their morphed perspective and be able to encourage them to stay strong and withstand temptations to not eat. 

So keep on the look out.  The first five reasons to eat should be posted on Thursday. :)