Anorexic Woman Turns To Instagram For Help Recovering From The Disorder

By Missy aka Tizzy in Feel Good On 13th December 2017
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Emelle Lewis from Yorkshire, England says she has Instagram to thank for recovering from years of anorexia. When she first became ill at the age of 15, she weighed 70 pounds.

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She said that when she was in high school she always felt like she was fat and ugly. She started to connect her lack of romantic relationships with those feelings. That is when her relationship with food began to spiral out of control.

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#3

At the height of her illness, Lewis truly believed that she had everything under control. In reality, she was driving herself to an early grave while losing touch with her emotional and physical health. She refused to comply with treatments and was convinced that everyone was against her, lying to her, and plain just trying to ruin her life.

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"When I was ill, I didn’t believe there was anything really wrong with me," Lewis says. "I genuinely believed I could maintain at that weight and still live a fairly normal life. I didn’t want to get rid of my eating disorder."

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#5

Her low weight was affecting her overall health. Lewis admits to getting used to having low levels of energy. "I didn’t really feel that weak because my body had adapted to my low weight, however, the thing that got me the most was the cold. I was so cold it was painful."

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"Before recovery, I would walk my dog for thirty minutes twice a day. I would do yoga and abdominal workouts every morning. I wouldn’t sit down during the day until after 4 pm."

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Another side effect of anorexia nervosa is how it turns its sufferers into cunning liars so that they can hide their illness from their family and loved ones. They will come up with any number of lies to distract from the true issue, their illness.

"I claimed to be ‘vegan’ at the time so I could only eat fruit and veg and clean foods. I ate the same exact thing every day. Weetabix, hummus and rice cakes, salad and fruit before bed." She says that she remembers days where she would lie in bed and feeling like she is dying without accomplishing anything in life.

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Lewis eventually went on to confess to her mother about her illness. Her mother helped her to find a personal trainer that would, in turn, help Lewis through her recovery. This is also when Lewis turned to Instagram for support. She used it to feed her desire to recover instead of her old desire to lose weight. Reading recovery stories from other Instagram users was a huge help in Lewis' recovery.

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Lewis now posts photographs of her healthier, stronger and fitter self in order to help inspire others who suffer from anorexia to get better. She uses hashtags like #anorexiarecovery and #strongnotskinny and encourages people to follow in her footsteps and fight any demons they may be struggling with.

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#10

Lewis got back her control that her condition took away from her. She maintains her control by hitting the gym most nights. She is passionate about weightlifting, and her new body is a far cry from the emaciated one she used to have.

She has not gone without a struggle. Lewis has had seven relapses that resulted in multiple hospital visits, but now she weighs a very healthy 121 pounds. There are still bad days where she feels overwhelmed, but she has found ways to manage those feelings.