Anorexia was my way of trying to claim power through controlling food.

On-set of anorexia:

• Obsessive with food after Weightwatchers; Jazzercise 5-6 times a week
• Daily food: an apple and ry-vita; I wouldn’t lick a postage stamp
• My jeans are size 6, but I think I look overweight
• Finding out I was pregnant with 11 weeks to go
• Swamped with depression – how can my child be healthy in this body?
• A miracle – Leah is born healthy and normal – but I suffer severe post-natal depression
• Admitted to Prince of Wales Eating Disorders Unit

1 month in hospital:

• Dragged screaming to the dining hall; forced to feed my baby
• My hair fell out; my husband doesn’t recognise me
• The other patients scare me; I’m threatened with ECT

Turning the corner:

• I respond well to medication; I start feeling hungry; I decide I can change
  “Can I have tweezers to pluck my eyebrows?”

Managing anorexia today:

• Being conscious when I limit my eating when stressed.
• Thinking myself through it, “I don’t want to go through all that again”
• Getting the right medication for depression

I still have anorexia, I am still afraid of food; but I now have the emotional skills to deal with it.