Stay strong.

It's not about staying strong and not indulging in food. Let's pretend we're beyond that. We are beyond that. It's about resistance. A small, silent protest; longing to be different, to be better, to be perfect. To reach for something to hold on to when life doesn't seem worth the effort anymore, and grasping onto the last little piece of dignity and self-worth available so hard that your knuckles turn white. Every day that you suppress your doubts and go out into the surprisingly small part of the world that notices your existence, or even just get out of bed, you are achieving something more than average people would ever understand. You're hurting, you're damaged, and still you put on your make up, your skinny jeans that are just about tight enough to remind you not to eat, and a huge baggy t-shirt to hide in, and already you've accomplished enough to be proud of. We all have our monsters, they eat us up and chew us to the bone, and every second of the day is about finding a balance between controlling ourselves and letting the monsters restrict our lives. We're not like the others, we are in pain, we are in so much pain that just existing requires the uttermost strength, and the fact that most of this strength is focused on making the outside look as fragile and delicate as the inside, is not only understandable, but obvious.  The only thing that really seems motivating is the feeling of empowerment when we can push ourselves further that other people, even if it's just in one aspect of life that we feel willing to do so... restriction, control. Because nothing else makes us special anymore. Nothing else makes life worth living anymore.
At the point where pain does not matter, because we're already so exposed to it that it makes us numb, the expression "no matter what" comes into a whole new context.

 I don't care what it takes. I want to have control. I want a perfect body. I want a perfect soul.

It's the only thing I have to hold on to, to have to myself, that will never leave me.
It is not me who needs to stay strong enough to hold on.
It's it that helps me stay strong by constantly reminding me of it's presence, the way I drag myself through hell just to go through a day makes me believe that I am a better person.
Through it, I feel as strong as I need to be to even bother to go on, all the while it's actually within me, it's part of me.
It's the strength in me, the strength that gets me through anything and everything.

The phrase itself is not an encouragement to engage in any specific behavior regarding food or restriction. It's a recognition of what we go through, it's pride in what we deal with.

Stay strong.