What Does Whitney Thore’s Dad Do for a Living? Here’s What We Know About the ‘My Big Fat Fabulous Life’ Star!

"If you look at this photo of me at age 18 and assume that I was healthy and happy or that I'd kill to look like this again, you'd be mistaken.

"The girl in this photo was supremely UNhealthy. This girl struggled with eating disorders — an endless cycle of purging and restriction motivated by the BMI that defined her 5'2" 140-lb body as overweight, peers who mocked her for being fat, and a society that asserted that thinner was always better.

"The woman I am now is not a before picture; she is not a person driven by weight-loss disguised as 'self-improvement.' The woman I am now is three things: sublimely joyful, grateful, and free."

"This photo was taken on the first day of my freshman year at Appalachian State University."

"#TBT to my prom. 2002!"

"This is the first photo I ever took with my best friend, @isntsheheather! This was taken in 2002, when I joined her high school's production of Grease (and we are forever thankful to @singkorswim for facilitating). So much has happened since then, but my love for Heather has never wavered.

"For as long as I can remember, I have been obsessed with my weight. This is a photo of me from when I was in high school and was struggling with eating disorders. Over the last 21 years, I have been bulimic, gone through intense periods of calorie restriction, and been generally consumed with my food, exercise, and hating my body.

"I was never, however, underweight, and to most people looked like a healthy girl who could have stood to lose 10 pounds. EATING DISORDERS ARE NOT ONE SIZE FITS ALL!"

"Whoo! How's this for #tbt? The funny thing is that when I see this photo now, 13 years after my senior prom, I see a beautiful, smiling girl who would be crowned Prom Princess at the end of the night. But what I was was an insecure girl who threw up her dinner in the restaurant bathroom because she thought her dress was too tight. I sometimes wonder how my life would have been different had I learned to love myself earlier — but then I think about my life now and remind myself that everything is right on time."

"In the picture on the left, and the picture on the right, I am a dancer and no one can take that from me (or you!)"