NEDA Week: Avery’s Story
This week is National Eating Disorder Awareness week. In honor of this week, I asked a close friend of mine to open up about her journey. Avery was truly a gift from the Lord in my life. When I found out about her story, I felt as if I finally found someone who I could relate to about all this. I was so inspired and encouraged by her story and I pray that you are too. In Avery’s story, it is clear to me that God turned what the enemy meant for evil, to good.
Avery’s Story:
When I was younger I never had any issues with eating. I always played sports and knew that I had to fuel my body properly to perform well. Restricting food had never crossed my mind.
Spring of my junior year I decided I wanted to be thinner and I was going to work for it. I started counting calories and macros, becoming unhealthily obsessed with these numbers. During this time, I was also in beach volleyball season and exercising excessively. I lost an extreme amount of weight within only a few months. I found myself in an endless spiral of obsessing over what I was “allowed” to eat and the ways my body wasn’t good enough.
In June, I was diagnosed with anorexia. This was when I realized how truly drained I was and how dangerous this was for my body and mind. I started to feel constantly cold, tired, and sick and I knew things needed to change. This is when I turned to God and began the road to recovery. I wanted to build my strength back and thrive again.
It’s now been almost a year since I started facing this eating disorder and I have healed so much. I still face battles with it every day, but as I keep looking to God for strength, I have made my body healthy again and learned to see food as fuel that I need rather than something I don’t deserve.
If you ever find yourself struggling with an eating disorder, I want you to know how important it is to fuel your body and I encourage you to rest in the truth that God will deliver you and provide for you if you trust Him. I hope my story helps you to realize that you aren’t alone and how wonderful it is to choose recovery.
You are loved. You are beautiful. You are strong. You have a purpose.
Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own;
1 Corinthians 6:19
