Get Binge Eating Help from Elly's Eating Disorder Story

Today’s Feature Friday is a little bit different from what you may usually see or read here when it comes to our other transformation stories, but don’t let that stop you from reading this incredible story from Elly Strother.

Before continuing, I’d like to add a disordered eating trigger warning. Not to scare you away, but to let you know that this story is going to be extremely open and real and the last thing that we intend to do is make anyone feel uncomfortable or triggered as you read this story of Elie’s 8 week weight loss workout program.

There is no better way to tell this story than to let Elly tell it herself and she was brave enough to put this article together for me to share with you today. We hope that you enjoy it!

ELLY’S EATING DISORDER STORY

A few months ago, Lucy asked if she could feature me on her 'Feature Friday' post on Instagram. My first thoughts? I was surprised and a little honoured to be asked, and maybe even felt a little excited about sharing more of my story, in hopes it would help others. Those feelings were there, but what was stronger were feelings of fear, doubt and lack of belief in myself and worth in my story and what I've done. I don't have that impressive of a story to tell, I was never that sick with an eating disorder, I don't have it all figured out, I don't want people knowing details. What will people think of me? What will they say about me behind my back? It's selfish to share my story. My story is so embarrassing....etc etc etc. Lots and lots of thoughts along those lines.

But here we go. I've decided to put those thoughts aside, and share a part of my story. If there is even one person out there who can either relate to it in some way, or who can find motivation, inspiration, or hope from reading it, then I am happy.

IT STARTED AROUND THE AGE OF 5

My story with my relationships with my body, food and exercise is a long one. It started probably around the age of 5, when I would cry if I grew out of clothes, and by the time I hit grade school I remember I was noticing my body and comparing it to others. Kinda sad, right? Yeah, I agree. But I know life no differently. I truly can't remember a time in my life that I had unconditional love for my body and didn't worry about its size, how it looked, or how it compared to other bodies.

These inborn traits of mine, combined with my life experiences, ended up being the perfect storm for an eating disorder. I'm not really sure when I started showing warning signs of an eating disorder coach, but it was sometime in junior high. I was a competitive tennis player for about 15 years of my life, and it was in junior high that I faced obstacles that were out of my control, that big-time held me back in developing my game and my confidence on the court. These obstacles led to me trying to control what I could. If I wasn't allowed to compete in all tournaments, or if I was off the court for yet another injury, I was going to become the fittest and healthiest I could be. Rules around food and exercise were made, but at the time I didn't really see them as rules as much as just discipline with food and exercise to help me become a better tennis player.

UNIVERSITY AND ELLY’S EATING DISORDER

Fast forward another few years to university, where I was playing on a NCAA Division 1 tennis team and going to nursing school. During university, again for a variety of reasons, my rigid and maybe somewhat abnormal eating behaviours turned into bulimia. I was restricting, binging, purging, lying, abusing laxatives and diet pills, hiding food, chewing and spitting out food before swallowing it, exercising for endless hours (despite already training up to 4 or 5 hours a day for tennis), and hating my body.

After graduating from university, I kind of figured I'd just move on from my eating disorder. I didn't need it anymore, right? I got through school, I ended my tennis career, and I was back home living with my parents to save some money. Sadly that wasn't the case, and I ended up spending my twenties battling my eating disorder.

EATING DISORDER RECOVERY

There were times over the past 12+ years that I wanted to give up. That I wasn't sure I had the strength within me to actually recover, and in all honesty, I didn't always feel like I deserved to recover. "Once I get sick enough, I'll commit to recovery." I had these thoughts, but also at the same time I was determined to not give up. I knew I didn't want my life to be defined, dictated, or shortened from my eating disorder. I was done with hospitals and residential centres, and leave-of-absences from work. I was done with my days of being filled with appointments, and I was done with purging every day. But saying and feeling done with my eating disorder, and then actually making that happen are two different things.

ELLY MEETS LUCY

A few years ago I met Lucy fitness and mindset training program. I loved her energy at the event and immediately felt like she was someone who I would like. I then started following her on Instagram and loved her even more. She had done what I was trying to do SO BADLY- overcome an eating disorder and binge eating help. So fast forward some time, and we met up for coffee where I tried to learn how she took the step from wanting to recover to actually recovering, because it was a step that I had tried to take for over a decade, and had yet to take it successfully.

While that chat was amazing, I didn't exactly jump into recovery after it. Time passed and I was going downhill again with my eating. Going back into treatment was being talked about with my outpatient team, but I wanted to do anything I could to stay out of full-time treatment, while also knowing that I needed more than a weekly dietician and/or therapy appointment with an eating disorder coach. And that is where Lucy stepped in. We had become friends by this time, and while I was nervous to ask her if she could help me in a different way than her 8-week weight loss program, asking her truly has turned out to be a turning point in my journey to recover.

ELLY SHOWS THE 8-WEEK PROGRAM WHO IS BOSS

Lucy became the person I touched base with in some sort of fashion every day. She became my person who I could trust, who understood, and who had been there. Therapists, dieticians, nurses, doctors, etc. always talked about how I needed to bring my friends and family in more, but I was always afraid to in fear of their judgements, beliefs, worries, and attitudes towards me. But Lucy has been different. Having a friend who has been through her own struggles with food and exercise, and who now is living such a healthy life truly has been more of a gift than I ever could have imagined. Having her also as an eating disorder coach is the cherry on top. She developed a 'mindset training program' for me that involved daily tasks all geared towards self-care, challenging food and exercise beliefs, and more. A day is anything from 'write 10 things down that you love about yourself' to 'develop a bedtime routine' to 'eat grains at every meal.' Things that sound so simple yet were and sometimes are surprisingly very difficult.

8-MONTHS LATER

So here we are. 8 months into really getting some traction with recovery, and being in a better place mentally and physically than I ever have been. Yes there's still work to do, and yes COVID has made things more challenging these last few months, but now more than ever I feel like I'm really moving towards a full recovery.

It's scary, it's hard, it feels impossible some days, it feels wrong some days, but it also is freeing, empowering, exciting, and getting easier. Despite the occasional setbacks and bad days, I refuse to ever give up or go back to my eating disorder, and with Lucy by my side, I know that statement is more possible than ever.

ELLY’S STORY SUMMARY

Thank you for sharing your beautiful story with us Elly. I feel extremely blessed to know such an incredible human and I believe that this is just the start of you sharing your story with others to inspire, help and empower them with whatever they are struggling with. We are better together and I am so proud of you every single day for what you have done to recover and continue to recover from your eating disorder.

If you or someone you know are struggling with any form of disordered eating, please feel free to reach out my mindset training program. I am always here for you.

Inside the Dunnebells 8-week body transformation program, we focus intensely on healing our relationship with food. Click here for more information.

For emergency assistance contact the National Eating Disorder Information Centre Toll-Free: 1-866-NEDIC-20.