Be Brave Interview: Lara Rebecca — Anorexic to Athlete

I want to introduce you to Lara Rebecca. You may know about her through her viral You tube video from last year called Anorexic to Athlete, where she shared her difficult journey through an eating disorder. I and over 8 million people around the world were moved by her story. Since then I have been watching her videos and following her journey of becoming a more healthy and happier young lady.

I then felt this urge to want to learn more and share her story with all of you. There are still people out there that may be going through what Lara went through and feel hopeless.. I hope this interview reminds you that you are not hopeless and you are not alone.

You are well known for your viral video “Anorexic to Athlete”. It must not have been easy to share such a vulnerable story, considering the stigma surrounding mental illness. I want to start by asking you, what led you to make that video? Can you take us back to your feelings and emotions when you clicked “publish”?

I had been writing a blog regarding my story and recovery from April of 2018 and released the transformation video to my YouTube channel in 2019. Therefore, I was already familiar with sharing my experiences with mental illness. Saying that, it’s always anxiety inducing posting such personal information to the internet — especially now in the format of a raw and honest, descriptive video. The video was primarily posted as an extension to all my other content across my social media platforms.

All with the same objective to raise awareness, educate the audience regarding the true extent of depression and anorexia nervosa, with the intention to reduce stigmas and taboos in association to those illnesses.

Publishing that video was certainly nerve racking. I had worked endlessly on creating the video, spent weeks revisiting photos and not-so-nice memories of my deteriorating illness. I was also new into video editing, so I had put hours into practically pouring my soul out into this near 18-minute video. I was just fortunate to have had such a positive response.

Anorexia, just like a lot of mental illnesses is widely misunderstood, simply because people just do not know. May you define/ describe to us what Anorexia is? How did this eating disorder begin for you?

Anorexia for me — a psychological illness that grew and developed due to a past history of struggles with depression, panic and anxiety disorder. It began when I was seeking a coping mechanism and a need for control. As the illness progressed, so did that detrimental obsession with food, numbers, eating, my body, exercise, weight loss and the scale.

I’m sure going through treatment was anything but easy. May you explain how did the treatment process look like for you?

Treatment was a tricky one for me. Despite receiving the diagnosis well in advance, when the severe weight loss could’ve been prevented, I wasn’t allowed ‘treatment’ until my weight fell well below the BMI of 13. From then, my treatment revolved solely around consuming the foods on my meal plan, getting weighed by staff and monitored almost every second.

It was only when I was discharged from hospital that I feel my true recovery began. I was finally focusing on my mental health, happiness, anxiety and discovering healthy coping mechanisms — as well as following a balanced diet to restore my weight. It was important to focus on my psychological side instead of just the physical effect of my illness.

How is your overall recovery coming along currently? What are some hobbies or habits you have incorporated in your everyday life that is helping you through your recovery?

My weight has fully restored and I’m the healthiest I’ve ever been. Saying that, my recovery is still ongoing. Occasionally habits and the ‘eating disorder voice’ will resurface — fortunately, I’ve leaned how to control them rather than allow them to control me!

Fitness has played a huge role in my continuing recovery. It has allowed me to appreciate and celebrate the strength of my body now that its healthy again. I enjoy lifting, but also long-distance running — I’ve ran multiple half marathons fundraising for the eating disorder charity, Beat.

What advice would you give someone reading this right now who is struggling with an eating disorder?

Writing a diary was also massively helpful for myself. I was able to organize my countless chaotic thoughts. But primarily, my advice would be for people to simply speak up. Acknowledge and make their struggles known. I was always terrified that people would immediately judge me negatively, but in reality, people just want to help you. It can be scary opening up, trying to explain the struggles you’ve been facing — but I can assure you, doing that will be the first big step into your recovery journey.

Thank you Lara for sharing your story!