This Brave Woman Battled Anorexia For 12 Years And Avoided Social Events To Avoid Eating, But Now Shows Off Her Enviable Body In Racy Photos

By Rebecca Drew

THIS INSPIRATIONAL woman has overcome the eating disorders that ruled her life for twelve-years and saw her cut herself off from social events to avoid eating.

Fitness instructor and eating disorder recovery coach, Rini Frey (28) from Calgary, Alberta, Canada, went on her first diet when she was 15 but this spiralled when she did a water and juice cleanse two years later. Following the cleanse, Rini desperately tried to maintain her weight loss and developed a fear of food.

 

At the height of her suffering, Rini’s only hobbies were the gym and prepping her food, she isolated herself and was diagnosed with bulimia but also suffered from anorexia, binge eating disorder and orthorexia. Rini would train six times a week and would mostly only allow herself to eat six foods; chicken breast, broccoli, green beans, egg whites, protein powder and oatmeal.

At 7st 2lbs and a UK size four, Rini’s turning point came just after her wedding in 2016 when she dieted the most she had ever dieted before and she decided she didn’t want to live that life anymore. Rini hasn’t weighed herself for a year now but estimates she weighs around 10st 5lbs and is a UK size 10-12 and most importantly can enjoy spending time with her family and friends without worrying about her calorie intake.

“My eating disorder started as an innocent diet that I found in some magazine when I was fifteen years old. It didn’t get too serious until I did a water and juice cleanse at age 17,” explained Rini.

“This morphed into full blown anorexia pretty fast as I was desperately trying to keep the weight off from doing the cleanse. It became way more about self-control than it did about food. I feared food and what I thought it could do to my body.

“I felt miserable. I can count the moments I felt truly happy in my early twenties on two hands. My mind was preoccupied with food, numbers and calories. All day I was calculating, trying to be perfect and not “give in to temptations”.

“I was completely isolated, had no social life or hobbies aside from the gym and my meal prep. I was anxious most of the time and my mood swings were out of control. I could start the day on a positive note only to be crying hysterically half an hour later. Looking back, I feel so sad for the life I used to live.

“I hit rock bottom after my wedding in October 2016. I had dieted harder than ever for the wedding and just hit a point, where I realised that I can’t take this anymore.

“The obsession, the perfectionist mindset, cancelling plans with friends and loved ones for the fear of food. I wanted to be free and I was finally ready to do everything in my power to get there.”

Overcoming her eating disorders has changed everything for Rini, she has learnt to love and embrace life and herself for who she is. Rini shared what she found the most difficult about her recovery.

“I wouldn’t say that my life is perfect now, it’s the exact opposite. But life is supposed to be messy and I have embraced that. I am happily making plans with friends and family and I am able to be completely present with them, without spending a single second thinking about the food we may or may not eat and how I can find an excuse to not eat with them,” she said.

“I am moving my body out of joy and gratitude instead of obsessively logging my workouts for certain aesthetic results. Moving is a huge part of my life, but it is wonderful to just go with the flow and not make myself work out in the gym every day.

“I feel that every day that I am in recovery is getting easier and easier and I am accepting who I am and embracing myself as I am, instead of trying to fit into a mould of perfection. Life is good.

“My husband still says that it’s so nice to be able to just go traveling or go out to dinner without me having a mental breakdown if I couldn’t eat my pre-cooked meals.

lt for me; stopping to track my meals and introducing foods back into my diet that I hadn’t eaten in years. It was terrifying to give up control around food and learn to listen to my body’s hunger and fullness signals again. It was a long journey.

“Accepting the changes my body went through especially in the beginning. The body image part took me the longest to recover from, and I believe I still have a little bit of a distorted body image, but I know in my heart that I am enough just as I am.”

Rini now enjoys experimenting in the kitchen and testing out recipes that she denied herself of before and is keen to spread the message that you don’t have to ‘look sick’ to be struggling with an eating disorder and shared her advice to others.

“The advice I would give is that you probably know in your heart that something is off, even if you are not ready to pursue recovery. Picture your life ten, twenty or even fifty years from now and visualize how far you can come,” she added.

 

“You will be able to look back at your life and see happy memories, time spent with loved ones, laughter and love, instead of looking back and seeing someone who was obsessed with food and their body for the better part of their lives.

“Reach out. There is so much help around and even if you feel like “you don’t look sick enough” you deserve freedom and you deserve support.

 

“It took me opening up to one single person, my husband, and it all snowballed from there. Now I can’t shut up about it.

“The message I want to convey is that life is too short to spend it measuring out chicken breast and vegetables and spending your days at the gym. There is so much out there to enjoy and we only get this one life.

“Recovery has been the most difficult yet the most rewarding thing I have ever done for my own happiness.”

For more information see www.instagram.com/ownitbabe