For this years Eating Disorders Awareness Week, I'll be holding a Bake Sale at Strode College on Thursday 27th of February, taking place in the College Canteen. (Times to be confirmed). I'll start with explaining a bit about myself and why I'm eager to raise money for the charity B-eat.

Beat provides helplines, online support and a network of UK-wide self-help groups to help adults and young people in the UK beat their eating disorders. 

It's important to adress Eating Disorders head on. They are not just a physical illness, in fact contrary to popular belief you cannot tell someones eating disorder by their size- this is weight stigma. An Eating Disorder is a Psychological Disorder which can come in various forms; Anorexia Nervosa, Bulimia Nervosa, Binge Eating Disorder and Eating Disorders Not Otherwise Specified are amongst the common killers. Each person suffers in a different way, for different reasons and there are so many misconceptions of this disease.. it's time to break the silence. Too many young people don't feel they have any one to talk to, or that their issues are being pushed aside to suceed at school. Unfortunately, the media has played a large part in normalizing body image issues and the pressure placed amongst young people today has gotten severly worse. B-eat aims to provide support in as many ways as possible, but they can't do it without our help.

Eating disorders – anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa and binge eating – are serious mental illnesses. The facts of this are:

■ 1.6million people in the UK are affected

■ The condition can affect anyone at any time, but girls and young women aged 12-20 are most at risk

■ 15-20% of cases are boys and men

■ Eating disorders are treatable and people do recover fully

■ Anorexia is the rarest eating disorder at 10% of cases. Bulimia is the most prevalent

■ The causes of eating disorders are complex and not yet fully understood, but include a mix of genetic, biological and cultural factors

■ Eating disorders have the highest mortality rate of any mental illness – with up to 20% of those seriously affected dying prematurely

■ The sooner someone gets the treatment and support they need, the more likely they are to make a full recovery

■ The number of people seeking help and treatment has increased over the past 20 years, but it is not known whether the illnesses themselves are becoming more common

My Story

Eating Disorders come in one size; miserable. For as long as I can remember, I've never really felt like I've been able to fit in anywhere. Growing up, I was severly bullied for almost anything and everything you could think of, but it was always blamed on my size. According to these people, being overweight made me a prime target. After spending years in therapy for depression, from the age of 12, I decided to give up on working on my emotional issues and just lose weight. Why? Because everyone had been telling me, for years, that what was happening to me was my fault because of my size; because the media was telling me that I would be happier after losing a few stone, the doctors blamed any medical issue on my BMI, boys would stop ridiculing me once I dropped a few dress sizes.. of course I'd finally be appealing and my life would be sucessful. This was the biggest lie I have ever been told, and it is the lie which is sold to thousands of people every single day.

Within just over a year and a half I had lost well over half of my body weight. During this time, I was being encouraged in to what can only be explained as Eating Disorder Behaviour, disguised as a Diet- to help me on my 'journey to happiness and sucess'. With every stone lost another person would congratulate me, all the mean time I was literally killing myself. An applaud for every dress size dropped would encourage me to think "Just another size smaller, then I'll be accepted." but alas, it didn't happen. I would be admired for my sucess in shedding the pounds, but I never felt fulfilled. Nothing about my life changed or improved, in fact during this time everything became dramatically worse.

I was unable to work, take part in any form of education; on a really bad day, I could barely string a sentance together or make it up a flight of stairs. I remember spending an hour every day sat in a boiling hot bath just to get some warmth, clutching the hot water bottle as it burned my skin because I couldn't feel the heat; hiding in my room as each meal time approached, cutting myself off from my family. The longer this went on, the more distant I became. I can't remember some days, or I'd be in one place and end up in another with no recolection of how I got there. Times when my Mother would ask me to stop, just eat more, why was I doing this to myself until I promised to change. All this time, I wasn't at a particular weight or size. Infact, these symptoms started very early in to my 'diet'. 

Until a few days after my 21st birthday, I could barely walk. I vaguely remember lying on the sofa, crying to my Mother on the phone, telling her I didn't know what was happening any more- I was admitted to hospital. Weight feels almost irrelevent, because a person with an eating disorder can be any size or shape- but my body came very close to giving up. Three weeks doesn't sound like a long time, but when you're fighting back for control over your life, it really is. Although my conginitve function was impaired, I refused NG Tube Feeding and agreed to work with the dietition. Many people upon hospital admission with such malnourishment would be automatically tube fed, but I refused and promised to work with them instead of against. Those three weeks I went through the discomfort of refeeding, even the first week of my stay I was placed infront of the nurses station due to being at high risk of cardiac arrest. I left hospital 3 years ago this November, and I'm still fighting hard at recovery.

Recovery is something I'm now embracing. In a society where body image and diet culture is so prevelent, it feels impossible on the best of days. During these past years I've regained friendships, rebuilt the relationship with my family and made new, fond memories. Physical health is an on-going battle, but it can be restored. Discovering my rights as a person, as a woman- through Feminism, has helped me a lot a long the way. My GP has been incredible, a long with support from my extensive Support Network. I have been lucky in this case, but so many other young people are not so lucky.

With the support I've been given over the years and sheer self willingness, I have now pledged to end the war on my body; to keep myself self from the pressures placed upon body image, to realise that I deserve to take up space in the world. I have realised that my life counts, and it's time other people realized this too.

With your contributions,

£2 - £10 gives beat the ability to offer the sufferer to talk with a support worker, enables beat to answer a question on the helpline message boards or gives the sufferer the chance to speak with a support worker

£25 enables beat to answer five questions in their online Youth Chat 

£100 allows a beat Young Embassador to talk about and raise awareness of eating disorders in the national media

£200 - £1,000 allows beat to set up a regional training event for our Self Help network volunteers, helps beat to train a helpline worker, enables beat to set up two Self Help Groups to provide support and advice to sufferers and their family members, and could be used to allow beat to expand their research into eating disorders, their causes and ways to help prevent them

So, thank you for taking the time to read this. If you can't attend the bake sale on the day but would still like to donate, hit the button. Every penny counts!

For more information on Eating Disorders:

B-eat : About Eating Disorders

B-eat : Information Resources

Health Consiquences of Eating Disorders

Men Get Eating Disorders Too

Weighing The Facts : A Helpful Recovery Blog

Beauty Redfined : Challenging Body Image in The Media

The Militant Baker : Blogger, Hoster of The Body Love Conference