Where do I start? It’s hard to know where to start when you can’t really remember how it began. There wasn’t an epiphany or a conscious decision to do it, but between the age of 13 and 14, I decided to watch what I was eating.

I was keen on, and successful at, athletics. I had risen to the dizzy heights of top 5 in the national rankings, but I didn’t know how to reach the top. I was already training more than time and my body would allow. I was already on a funding scheme which provided professional physiotherapy and nutrition information. I was already receiving sports science knowledge to improve my efficiency and thus my performance.

It wasn’t enough! It wasn’t working, I still wasn’t as good as my other competitors. They were fitter, they were leaner, I needed to change.

I slowly began to lose weight and realised that being conscious and smarter about what I ate, allowed me to lose more weight. But it wasn’t happening quickly enough I needed results and I needed them quickly. So I began to lose more weight quicker. It worked too! I was flying, winning national medals, getting accolades and bursaries and even at the age of 18, a place on the National Team at the European Cup.

My weight loss had given me so much. But at a cost, a devastating cost.

If I look back 5 years and think how much my anorexia had given me. It’s hard to even consider how much it has stolen from me. How much has been taken away from me. 

After my time at the top of my athletics game, I got a succession of injuries. Thus, virtually ending my career. Without athletics, you could have seen that things would fall apart. But, one thing I should explain about me is I’m a survivor, I will strive for success. From anything!