A little about us... I (Abi) am a Student midwife from Sheffield, and Thea is a Media student, and childrens sports coach from Norwich. In our spare time, we like to sleep, A LOT; Cuddled up to our cat, and all of our Jellycats which take up most of the bed. We love to go out for meals, and try a bunch of new, different cocktails! Together we are campaigning for BEAT. Thea is teaming up on this fundraiser with me to support a cause very close to my heart.

We spoke about this and both agreed that the easiest way to explain our society is as some form of cocoon, harnessed within a spiral of self-doubt and food guilt. The media consistently forces it’s unrealistic ideals down our throats, choking us with our own self-loathing. It's called business; business where they sell the latest fad diet pills or that new exercise program. In reality, media as a collective is creating a colony of self-critical, image obsessed beings, conditioned into disordered habits.

When I think back to a time where life seemed simpler, I remember how happy I was, just to eat what I want, when I wanted it. No repercussions. No guilt. No judgement.

Then came a time where everything switched. All life's joys dimmed just a little, like no day was quite bright enough to be happy. This was a time where I grew very unhealthy. Each calorie was terrifying, and every bite I took of any food was seemingly a death sentence. Thinking in this way could, and would have killed me. Food allows us to maintain sanity, and as I was not eating, I was not rational. A rational thinker would know that we eat to stay alive. My irrational brain tricked me into adamancy that food was my end. However, food does not kill, it is the mindset that murders you.

Because of my privilege, I could get help- I did, and made a full recovery. The issue is that so many other people are in the same position as I was in, and much worse, and cannot get the help they desperately need. This guilt a large portion of our modern society feel surrounding food kills so many people every year, and why? It is quite simply NOT worth it.

1 in 10. I repeat: 1 in 10.

We eat to stay alive. We eat to heal our bodies. We eat for pleasure. We eat because we CAN.

We all deserve better than these unrealistic ideals. Every. Single. Person. Deserves. Better.

And that is why we are campaigning, because people deserve better. And BEAT does this. Donations to BEAT directly help those suffering with eating disorders, and their families through what may well be the most difficult and frightening time of their lives. So underfunded, and with those in need of the services so often forced into private care, or worse: living unsupported, charities like BEAT are imperative to providing accessible help to everybody in need of their favour.

Eating Disorders Awareness Week: 27th February to 5th March 2023 #TwogetherWithBeat