Uploaded August 2020 | Updated September 2026, 1 week ago
Katie spent a number of years living with anorexia and bulimia, and here she talks to us about her story.
Her dieting was completely harmless in the beginning but over time, as her body started changing and shrinking, it kicked off a bit of an obsessive game. Eventually the game took over and became a surging eating disorder; what Katie now understands as anorexia.
When she first experienced anorexia she was around 15 or 16, and was forced into help by her Mum. Help was really focused on the dietary aspects of the eating disorder and did nothing to acknowledge the impact of the psychological things she was going through. So within a few years she found herself living with bulimia, which is a lot more clandestine. This was the start of a decade long battle with bulimia before she finally reached out for help.
Katie tells us how the first step for her was to own and acknowledge her eating disorder. And to lean on people for support; finding others to talk to and who would hold her accountable for her actions was key to her recovery.
She learnt to be kinder to herself, to not focus on on what she'd done wrong, but to understand why her behaviours were happening. She talks about not listening to the inner demons, noticing if the negative talk is creeping back up, focusing on positive achievements, being more mindful, and just being in the world, seeing life as it happens around you.
Katie also talks about having an eating disorder within a same sex relationship and being really cautious about opening up about anything she was going through because she didn't want her partner at the time to think that she was comparing their body types. And how reaching out, getting help and learning better habits has been paramount to the quality of life that she gets to experience now.
Butterfly's National Helpline Call 1800 ED HOPE (1800 33 4673)
https://www.thebutterflyfoundation.org.au/our-services/helpline/
FACEBOOK: facebook.com/thebutterflyfoundation
TWITTER: twitter.com/Bfoundation
INSTAGRAM: instagram.com/thebutterflyfoundation
Katie spent a number of years living with anorexia and bulimia, and here she talks to us about her story.
Her dieting was completely harmless in the beginning but over time, as her body started changing and shrinking, it kicked off a bit of an obsessive game. Eventually the game took over and became a surging eating disorder; what Katie now understands as anorexia.
When she first experienced anorexia she was around 15 or 16, and was forced into help by her Mum. Help was really focused on the dietary aspects of the eating disorder and did nothing to acknowledge the impact of the psychological things she was going through. So within a few years she found herself living with bulimia, which is a lot more clandestine. This was the start of a decade long battle with bulimia before she finally reached out for help.
Katie tells us how the first step for her was to own and acknowledge her eating disorder. And to lean on people for support; finding others to talk to and who would hold her accountable for her actions was key to her recovery.
She learnt to be kinder to herself, to not focus on on what she'd done wrong, but to understand why her behaviours were happening. She talks about not listening to the inner demons, noticing if the negative talk is creeping back up, focusing on positive achievements, being more mindful, and just being in the world, seeing life as it happens around you.
Katie also talks about having an eating disorder within a same sex relationship and being really cautious about opening up about anything she was going through because she didn't want her partner at the time to think that she was comparing their body types. And how reaching out, getting help and learning better habits has been paramount to the quality of life that she gets to experience now.
Butterfly's National Helpline Call 1800 ED HOPE (1800 33 4673)
https://www.thebutterflyfoundation.org.au/our-services/helpline/
FACEBOOK: facebook.com/thebutterflyfoundation
TWITTER: twitter.com/Bfoundation
INSTAGRAM: instagram.com/thebutterflyfoundation
