In the midst of puberty, somewhere around the age of 13, Della Jong started to feel insecure about how she looked because she not only grew taller, but she also found herself growing sideways.

“Because of that, I was made fun of and often bullied. I became very insecure about how I looked and I constantly hid from people as the bullying got worse.

I didn’t have the knowledge of weight loss so I starved myself and that led to me getting really bad gastric,” said the 22-year-old accounts executive. “When my gastric acts up, I’ll force myself to eat, but I end up vomiting straight after so it became a cycle of starving and vomiting.”

She recalled how social media and the people around her exacerbated her insecurities. At that point, K-pop was really popular and Della couldn’t help comparing herself to how pretty and slim the K-pop singers are. Her friends around her were also smaller and it didn’t help that her father constantly commented on her being fat and stupid.

“All of these affected the way I felt and thought about myself. It made my relationship with food unhealthy and I got depressed as I starved and vomited, and even cut myself with thoughts of wanting to kill myself,” she added.”

It was only in polytechnic that Della got into sports and started to change her mindset about her body. “I got into Singapore Poly’s Adventurers and I was doing things like kayaking and rock climbing, and then I did more cardio and got into a routine with training that helped with discipline. With all these activities, I had to eat for energy so I stopped starving myself and interestingly; I noticed how I looked smaller despite gaining some weight due to muscle.

“I became ok with myself, understanding that my body has gone through so much and is still functioning for me, and I became comfortable with how I looked. I also learnt about exercising and losing weight the right way.”

Della hopes that sharing her story will help younger girls see that it is ok to be bigger or smaller, that we are all different and special.  “Be comfortable and be free. It’s ok to be whatever size we are so long as we are confident. 

“You are who you are, not what society shows or tells you to be. You are the sole proprietor of yourself and you should be the one that’s ok with your body.

“No matter what size you are, you’re a beautiful and amazing person who has gone through a lot and you deserve to feel that you’re beautiful.”

*This is a collaboration between Rock The Naked Truth and Pink Salt