Thursday Sep 14, 2023
#10 An Eating Disorder Battle: How One Girl Survived Anorexia
Rachel interviews an old student of hers, Molly who is a vegan and also battled with anorexia nervosa. Rachel supported Molly through this, even watching her eat snacks and meals every day to ensure she wasn’t cheating and hiding food. This brought their relationship as teacher and student very close. Rachel and Molly explore the thoughts that led to the eating disorder and Molly openly shares the journey to what could have been deadly.
Key Takeaways
- Molly’s journey towards a plant-based diet started with watching the film ‘Black Fish’ in an English lesson when she was 11.
- Molly suffered with body dysmorphia and shares how she genuinely could not see how she physically looked; she saw no weight loss whatsoever, despite having lost 15% of her body weight in under 6 weeks.
- Molly shares the effects of anorexia: low blood pressure; brittle nails; lack of focus; low body temperature; hair loss.
- At the start of Molly’s eating disorder, she told Rachel that she was lying about her breakfasts. Rachel knew this was one of the signs and took further action.
- Molly shares about the disordered thinking she experienced which developed into a physical disorder.
Best Moments
- “I’m a stubborn person and once I set my mind on something I will go for it, and so I channelled it all into losing weight.”
- “I realised that by losing weight and being so fixated on it, I could block out other emotions, I could block out all the things in my life I was struggling with.”
- “It took 9 attempts to get blood out because of kidney failure and dehydration.”
- “There comes a point where you are literally a prisoner to your own mind”
- “My weight isn’t in my worth, my worth comes from what is in my heart.”
- “I ask my parents “Watch this documentary with me about animal cruelty” and they won’t watch it, and I don’t think that’s abnormal. Not many people are willing to expose themselves to what may hurt them.”
- “it didn’t scare me, I want to continue restricting, this is my safety, don’t take my safety away from me.”
- “It wasn’t just me and you, there was little anorexia there who was going to shove a pitta down her shirt!”
Valuable Resources
BEATS https://www.beateatingdisorders.org.uk/
Guest Bio
Molly is a 17-year-old survivor of anorexia nervosa, a student studying A’ Levels and became aware of animal use and abuse when she was 11 years old after watching “Black Fish” in an English lesson.
Molly’s journey battling Anorexia began with losing just a few pounds and started when she was 13 with disordered thoughts. During the winter 2021 lockdown with the isolation, bad weather and online learning she decided to lose weight because it was something to ‘do’. Within just a few days anorexia took hold of her.
Molly received support from various places and has written many articles to support others suffering the same disorder. Molly has also written a book: The Mother, Son and Holy Spirit… “ A Little Book of Feminist Theology which is available on Amazon.
Molly’s Articles:
- https://giveusashout.org/latest/why-new-year-should-be-time-focus-your-wellbeing-and-recovery-not-unrealistic-goals-around-your-body/
- https://www.westsussexmind.org/news/2022/body-acceptance-and-self-love-in-eating-disorder-recovery
- https://www.youngminds.org.uk/young-person/blog/tips-for-coping-with-making-mistakes/
- https://www.rethink.org/news-and-stories/blogs/2023/02/my-body-is-my-home-mollys-story/
- https://www.westsussexmind.org/news/2023/youre-more-than-a-number-on-the-scales
- https://www.youngminds.org.uk/young-person/blog/rediscovering-your-identity-in-eating-disorder-recovery/
- https://www.youngminds.org.uk/young-person/blog/why-calories-shouldn-t-be-on-menus/
Molly’s Book: https://amzn.to/3QM6W4X
Host Bio
Rachel, a once morbidly obese individual, experienced a remarkable body transformation through the keto diet. Later, she embraced veganism and now shares her extensive knowledge and obsession with carbs in vegan proteins on The Keto Vegan podcast. Her goal is to demonstrate the simplicity of combining the keto diet with a vegan lifestyle.
https://www.youtube.com/@TheKetoVegan/podcasts
https://theketovegan.podbean.com/
https://www.rachelgtherapy.co.uk/the-keto-vegan
Email: contact@rachelgtherapy.co.uk
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