“What you look like is the least interesting thing about you. Your scars prove that whatever tried to beat you lost, so own that.”
On Feb. 12, 2025 the University of Maine Collins Center for the Arts hosted a speaker presentation with Sarah Callazo, relating her personal journey of body image and overcoming eating disorders to members of UMaine’s Greek Life sororities and fraternities. The presentation also included free signed copies of her new book, “Unknown Warrior: Battling the Mirror,” which was published in September of 2024.
An alumnus of the University of Rhode Island (URI), Callazo is currently working toward a masters degree in social work, with the ultimate desire to help other individuals start their journey in recovering from eating disorders. During her time at URI, Callazo was the president of Zeta Tau Alpha’s Lambda Beta chapter, as well as an active member of the University’s dance club.
Throughout her time spent interviewing college students from across the country, Callazo recognized the most common topics that provoke an individual’s concern with body image, ranging from sports team practices and personal mental health, to bullying and social media websites. She went on to explain that the portrayal of eating disorders in movies, social media and advertisements will often show only the most extreme cases of anorexia and bulimia. In reality, many individuals who struggle with body image may not recognize it.
Callazo explains from experience that eating disorders will often “trick” your brain into hating your body shape, reinforcing narratives as well as making constant comparisons to everyday people around you, to the point where the eating disorders become a defining part of your identity.
“It became everything that I knew, and I couldn’t imagine a day in life without one. It wasn’t until I took that first step that I realized I wasn’t scared of gaining weight, I was scared of what a life without this eating disorder would be,” said Callazo,“My worst day in recovery is still better than any day I had an eating disorder.”
Each section of Callazo’s book is dedicated to particular moments in her life and her eating disorder recovery. The earlier parts of the book specifically touch on recovery, with the latter end of the novel referring to her hardest days while in recovery. The journey for Callazo, as well as the journey for thousands of other individuals, was filled with days of hardship.
In order to lessen negative thoughts about body image and societal preconceptions Callazo details a four-step process, describing the body as a vessel that deserves endearment. The step by step begins with respecting your body, to fuel your body and let it rest, followed up by accepting your body, recognizing its unique proportions and genes. The next step will result in you liking your body, which Callazo refers to as an individual’s unique smile or hip shape, which ultimately ends with the individual loving their body and having higher regard for themselves.
Having an extensive background in Greek Life at URI, Callazo is very grateful for the support given by the sisters in her chapter. She also believes that Greek Life at UMaine has all the necessary resources to not only help facilitate an encompassing environment for individuals of all body shapes, but to bring Greek Life at UMaine under one single umbrella.
“I personally think it’s just a really good message in women empowerment and body empowerment,” said Nora Rouillard, a member at Alpha Omicron Pi. “Especially with social media right now and modern culture. It seems very toxic.”
Callazo then opened up to the audience to allow for any specific questions about body image, some of which had been anonymously sent in earlier. Some questions that were asked included the idea of wanting to simply lose weight by going to the gym, or if there is a line between loving yourself and glorifying obesity. Callazo states that finding the right intention behind losing weight is extremely important, and that the intent of losing weight should be a meaningful goal, rather than the intent of losing weight as only a means to gain acceptance from others or to meet an impossibly-high standard set by society.
“Don’t hate yourself into a body you love, but do it as an intent for love” Callazo said. “The thing with body image and body dysmorphia is that your body is never the problem.”
The journey that Callazo took to regain love for herself is a battle that millions of individuals, especially in younger adults, fight silently on a daily basis. She hopes her messages of self love and acceptance reaches college students involved in sports, Greek Life and other student organizations across the country.
