Weekly Transformation: Brooke
This week our Healthy Living Transformation is brought to us by our Ambassador Brooke!
Body image and any type of eating disorder is both a mental and physical battle. For me, it all happened so suddenly. I found myself eating very few carbs, fats, or sugar. I was closely monitoring my diet, and eating just enough to get me through the day. I was always hungry. I was running 7 miles a day, going to play tennis for 2 hours, and then going back to the gym to lift after. My diet consisted of 90% protein. So many people that knew me would say how I needed to gain weight. On the other hand, I also had many people telling me they were jealous of how tiny I was.
All of these mind games were not helping me. As time progressed, my image of myself got worse and even caused me to lose a lot of friendships. I refused to ever go out with friends because I feared I would be made fun of for my weird eating habits or be forced to eat something I did not want to. No matter what help I was offered, I would stubbornly refuse it because I thought I was doing fine.
Eventually, my health got so bad I had to see a doctor once a week to monitor my weight and began therapy. With the help of what little friends I had left, something inside of me soon clicked. One of my good friends stood me in front of a mirror and said, “Brooke, look at yourself. You’re so fragile and skinny. You are such a beautiful girl, why are you doing this to yourself?” This statement hit me hard.
My inspiration has always been Maria Sharapova. I noticed how she was strong, beautiful, and ate a lot. If she can eat food, what can’t I? Slowly, I began to incorporate more of the foods I had cut out back into my diet. As time went on, I soon began to feel more comfortable with eating foods that I wouldn’t have touched before. Peanut butter used to be one of my biggest fear foods. Now, I am able to incorporate and enjoy copious amounts of nuts ‘n more into my diet in ways I never would have before: pancakes, waffles, mug cakes, you name it! Being able to enjoy something like nuts ‘n more that has a healthy balance of protein, carbs and fats has made life more tasty!
It took me over a year, but I am now happy to say that I’m recovered. I now have a much different look on life and I’m grateful for every day that I’m alive, breathing, and healthy. I am now happy with myself and my life! I am able to enjoy time out with my friends without hesitation! Recovery is a long and difficult process, and probably one of the toughest battles I have ever faced. I do not dwell on it, I have learned to look at the positive because I am a much more stronger and happier person because of it. Sometimes you have to go through the bad times to find the good.
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