A former anorexic has revealed how she is on the road to recovery – after bulking up as a competition bodybuilder.
Laura Payne, from Texas, was 16 when a bad break up from her high school sweetheart left her anorexic. Within three years her weight plummeted to 84lbs (six stone).
The 32-year-old mother-of-one, who has gone from eating 500 calories a day to 2,000, believes lifting weights has saved her life, after she was introduced to the sport by her husband Jason.
Laura – who now weighs 147lbs (10.5st) still struggles with bulimia and anorexia but believes bodybuilding has saved her life.
Laura said: ‘I look at old pictures now and I look like I’m really ill – my bones were sticking out of my body and I had no boobs or butt.
‘It’s sad that girls want to look like this – back then I just wanted to be as skinny as possible.
‘I know that I’ve just replaced one obsession with another but at least bodybuilding is healthy.
‘I still get to stay in control of everything – in bodybuilding all of the food is accounted for so it suits me.’
Her eating disorder worsened when Laura attended college and developed bulimia.
‘It starts out because you think you are too fat or someone thinks you’re ugly,’ Laura said.
‘I also had a compulsion to over-exercise so would spend hours on the treadmill each day to make sure that I was burning off many more calories than I was consuming.
‘My parents were terrified but there was nothing they could do – there was nothing anybody could do.
‘I believe the condition would have killed me if I didn’t start training.
Her parents forced her to leave college and move in with them in her hometown of Odessa in Texas, when they discovered the extent of her condition.
She said: ‘I lived off frozen grapes and animal crackers. I am alright now but it isn’t gone. I constantly think about food and I am constantly worried about how I look.’
After meeting Jason, 32, in 2008, Laura started to regularly attend the gym and fell in love with bodybuilding.
But Jason found it hard to understand her condition, he said: ‘It’s taken a lot of patience to get her where we are today.
‘It can be frustrating as I have to push her to eat out and enjoy food.
‘If I feel like eating ice cream I will eat ice cream – but she can’t be persuaded if she has already had her cheat meal of the week.
‘Maybe I shouldn’t push her but I still find it hard to understand having an eating disorder.’
They have a daughter named Kylee but Laura worries that she could be affected by her eating disorder.
‘When I found out I was pregnant I just did not want it to be a girl,’ added Laura.
‘If I found out she had developed similar problems it would break my heart because I would feel responsible.
‘I try not to obsess over myself in front of her but that’s hard.
‘After this competition season I gained weight fast and I just broke down in front of her – she seen it all.’
Laura is now committed to attending the gym that she owns at least five times a week and consuming 2,000 calories a day.
She said: ‘When I competed earlier this year I weighed just under nine stone but now it’s off season and I weigh 10.5 stone.
‘It bothers me that I’m not in competition shape but that’s something I’m just going to have to deal with for the rest of my life.
‘My eating disorders are always there at the back of my mind – I’ve just got to keep focused on bodybuilding to ensure I never relapse.’
Courtesy of: Daily Mail