7: Coleen’s Story as Told to Amanda: Striving to Be Size 0 – My Relationship With Food

Colleen was a client of my daughter and was also her personal trainer as she recovered from anorexia. I listened to Colleen’s story during a Zoom call.

Coleen’s journey through anorexia is a poignant story of struggle, resilience and recovery. It all began in her teenage years, when she found herself facing not only the challenges of adolescence but also the unexpected consequences of medication prescribed for migraines. The ripple effect of these factors set Connie on a perilous path towards an eating disorder that would grip her life with an unrelenting force.

As Coleen recalls, her encounter with the insidious grip of anorexia began innocently enough during a hospital visit for migraine consultations. The unintentional weight gain that was due to medication led doctors to advise her to curb her appetite, setting the stage for a fateful descent. Unaware of the complexities of nutrition and without proper guidance, Coleen found herself captured by societal ideals of beauty, exemplified by the prevailing obsession with thigh gaps and unrealistic body standards that are emulated on airbrushed models showcased in magazines and promoted via social media and digital advertising.