Woman Conquers Eating Disorder, Becomes Fitness Model
Hannah Pattie has overcome her eating disorder and now works as a fitness model [Photo: Instagram/hannahpattiebelleli]
Gripping her medal in one hand and smiling proudly into the camera, Hannah Pattie posts a selfie to Instagram to celebrate completing her latest marathon. But rewind four years and it’s unlikely the 20-year-old from Essex would have looked in a mirror never mind pose for a picture in her gym kit. Trapped in a starve/binge eating cycle, Hannah never imagined she’d manage to overturn her negative body demons, let alone go on to become a fitness model. And now she’s writing a blog about her experiences in a bid to inspire others.
Hannah now writes a blog that she hopes will help inspire others to develop a positive body image [Photo: Instagram/hannahpattiebelleli]
It was becoming obsessed with images she saw on the blogging website Tumblr, that first caused Hannah to develop a negative relationship with food.
‘There were accounts that were just all negative, harmful thoughts and images. I was influenced by them and very quickly the things that I saw on there started to become the way I felt,’ she explained to Mail Online.
'I just started to become uncomfortable with food and as this got worse the weight dropped off me.’
'I didn’t know what it was like to enjoy food. It was just the norm to not want to eat. I couldn’t find a way to eat in front of people.’
Eventually the negative thoughts about her body started taking over Hannah’s life and she quickly fell in to a pattern of starving herself all day before bingeing in the evening.
'I would starve myself, then eat, then feel depressed and anxious that I ate, so I would starve again,’ she recalled.
Healthily fit! Hannah shows off the results of her workout [Photos: Instagram/ hannahpattiebelleli]
Though Hannah’s weight quickly started dropping, she hid her body under baggy clothes and tried to make sure she ate as normally as possible when she was around friends and family.
The turning point for Hannah came when she met her boyfriend, Harry Smith who noticed how she was treating her body and, concerned for her health and wellbeing encouraged her to take up exercise.
Hannah and Harry started exercising together and as Harry was training as a personal trainer he also shared his knowledge of healthy eating and nutrition with Hannah, coaxing her to change her relationship with food.
'Once I understood how important nutrition was, all I wanted to do was eat so I could lift heavier, be stronger and have better thoughts,’ she explains.
Hannah and her boyfriend Harry who helped her conquer her negative body image demons [Photo: Instagram/hannahpattiebelleli]
With Harry’s help, Hannah started on a fitness regime and slowly began to conquer her body demons. She now works as a fitness model and has started a blog detailing her journey, which she hopes will help inspire others to develop a positive body image.
‘Since recovering, my outlook on life has changed, the way I see myself has changed and most importantly I am happy.
‘I still have a lot of work to do on myself but I know that from Harry’s help I will soon be there.’
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