|
Jenny grew up as the second oldest of six children. Her family moved a lot, so she doesn't claim any particular place as home. In fact, she went to high school in three different states, Nebraska, Iowa, and Arkansas. She moved almost thirty times before leaving home to go to college. After attending BYU Idaho in Rexburg, Idaho, she served a mission for the LDS church in Tallahassee, Florida, and then attended BYU in Provo, Utah. She studied Political Science, but says she really spent most of her time obsessing about her weight. She was overweight in high school and the first couple years of college. "It took eighteen months of hard work for me to lose fifty pounds. I should have been proud of losing weight. It should have given me confidence that I could succeed at any goal I put my mind too. Instead I felt insecure. I felt like a fat girl in a skinny girl's body. I was so afraid I would gain weight again that I went to very unhealthy lengths to see that I didn't. In fact, I cycled between anorexia and bulimia for nearly eight years. Ultimately, my health gave out. I laid in bed for six months not knowing if today was my last day. It's nothing short of a miracle that I am still here. Of course, I maintain that the greater miracle isn't my physical survival, but my mental recovery. At 37 years old, it is so wonderful to be free from constant worry about how I look, if I am attractive, if my jeans look good, and on and on and on. Girls make themselves crazy with these thoughts, eating disorder or not. I love to speak to high school and college age girls, and even women in general, to help all of us see our true worth and avoid getting caught up in what the media tells us we should be." Her new book, "Does This Life Make Me Look Fat?" focuses on the cultural pressures that lead us to believe we don't matter unless we can fit a Barbie doll mold. By sharing her journey to finding real confidence, she hopes to change the standard by which we as women judge ourselves. |
 |
|