Romy about how her eating disorder developed

ROMY: When I was 13, I decided that I wanted to eat healthier. I told my mother that I would stop eating candy. But a few days later, I did not want to eat dessert anymore. And after a while, I went for a walk after every meal in order to burn food again. In this way, I imposed more and more strict rules on myself. I received compliments because I lost weight, and that gave me confidence. Besides that, self-confidence was a thing I did not have at that time in my life. Also, many things happened during that period in my life which I found difficult to handle, such as the divorce of my parents.

As with many divorces, they also fought– and I had the feeling I had to choose between them, but, naturally, I didn’t want this. It was very difficult for me to talk about the sadness and the distress I felt at the time. I was looking for tranquillity and control in my life and losing weight gave me exactly that. One could say I had become addicted to losing weight because I could not stop doing it anymore. Losing weight had become part of where I was at that time in my life and became my way of dealing with thoughts and feelings.