Eating disorder survivor who severely bullied turns to bodybuilding and finds herself
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An eating disorder survivor managed to turn her life around after taking up bodybuilding.
Dementia carer Collette Anderson, 21, from Bournemouth, says she was bullied by her peers throughout her school life.
They added her to online hate groups where they would verbally attack her and also verbally assault her to her face, with people telling her she should take her own life.
By the time she joined the sixth grade at her school, Collette had low self-esteem and suffered from depression.
Collette Anderson (pictured before taking up bodybuilding) struggled with eating disorders when she was in school and was also bullied.
Her appearance was often compared to her attractive older brothers, and her emotional state was taken advantage of by her peers, even saying ‘your brothers are so pretty, what happened to you?’
In 2018, he began to have problems with dangerous eating behaviors, such as bingeing or undereating.
She lost her appetite due to her depression, sometimes eating less than 1,000 calories a day, and sometimes even taking laxatives in an attempt to stay slim.
In 2018, Collette joined the gym as a way to cope with her difficulties.
Pictured after gaining a stone of muscle from bodybuilding, Collette says the sport has helped her “find herself.”
After nearly a year of undereating and overtraining, sometimes skipping sixth grade to hit the gym multiple times a day for hours of cardio and abs, I wanted to change. She no longer wanted to be skinny, but strong.
She was supported by regulars from her gym who helped her train and transform her body.
He began consuming a minimum of 2,500 calories per day and went from weighing eight and a half stones to nine and a half stones.
She still receives negative comments about her appearance online, with people often trying to downplay the incredible progress she’s made, telling her that she looks ‘manly’ or that she’s ‘too skinny’ or ‘unattractive’.
According to Collette (pictured after starting bodybuilding), she trains four to five times a week.
However, since her bodybuilding journey began, Collette has found her confidence.
He trains four to five times a week with a structured regimen designed to increase his strength and follows each session with a protein- and carbohydrate-rich meal, so he’s stronger than ever, both physically and mentally.
Now she trains her friends and family and provides advice to her 41,000 Instagram followers.
“Throughout my school life, I was teased a lot about my appearance and my struggle to regulate my emotions,” Collette said.
Colette (pictured here as a child) struggled with both binging and undereating, sometimes restricting her calorie intake to as few as 1,000 a day.
‘This was often taken advantage of by his peers. When I joined the sixth grade at my school, I found myself feeling incredibly depressed and low self-esteem, which was intensified through bullying from others.
“I was often compared to my older brothers and how good they looked.”
Collette joined the gym as a survival mechanism.
“In 2018, I decided to start going to the gym as a relief to feel better,” Collette said.
“At the time, I was struggling with eating problems, often binge-eating or under-eating.
“It became a way to be skinnier, have a bigger butt, any way to change my body so people would stop comparing me to my brothers.
Collette (pictured after taking up bodybuilding) initially joined the gym because she wanted to “be a different person,” but she says starting to lift helped her find herself.
“It started as a way to change myself to be a different person, one that maybe I would end up liking or others would like.
But Collette’s attitude soon changed.
“After about a year of unhealthy gym and eating habits, I wanted to change,” Collette said.
‘I wanted to be happy with myself. She no longer wanted to be skinny and unhealthy looking.
“I would cry in the mirror, and I would just take apart parts of my body that I hated, look at pictures, and just find fault. The way I felt, made me want to change.
“I was surrounded by people, who were regulars at the gym at the time, who were lifting weights with goals like weight training or better mental health.
“I started getting into conversations with them and eventually ended up training with them.”
Collette fell in love with her lifting community and found a sense of belonging.
‘I felt like it was a place where I belonged. I felt supported,’ Collette said.
According to Collette, she found a sense of belonging within her lifting community and felt like she belonged.
‘After that, I started my own journey, with my own goals.
‘First starting to want to become a weightlifter, falling in love with the adrenaline rush before a lift and the celebration of achievement.
“But it became a goal to improve myself in general, to create a routine that I could get into. He made me feel productive and confident knowing what I was doing.
Collette has received mixed feedback on her bodybuilding journey.
“I get a lot of positive feedback, especially from the older generation in the gym community,” Collette said.
While she still gets some mean comments online, most people are supportive and positive, and negative comments no longer bring Collette down.
‘Everyone is very supportive and positive and I really appreciate it, it shows that others notice my progress too.
“But I also get negative comments, and they are often sent online from fake accounts or troll accounts.
“I have never received negative feedback in person, only online.”
But she doesn’t let him get in her way or take away her newfound confidence.
With any kind of profession or social media platform, it’s to be expected and I don’t take it to heart.
“Since I found myself in bodybuilding, I have become more confident in myself and able to come out of my shell with people I don’t know.
‘The best compliment I’ve ever received is ‘you look radiant’.
When it comes to advice, Collette suggests setting short-term and long-term goals, as well as asking others for help if you need it.
“It’s a nice and empowering feeling when someone says that to you, because you feel like the star on a Christmas tree. You are the centerpiece at that moment and you just feel grateful.
He also offered some advice for other people looking to start their own bodybuilding journey.
“Set short-term and long-term goals for yourself,” Collette said.
‘For example, short-term goal; go to the gym twice a week for a month. Long-term goal; Lose weight.
‘Make a plan to stay motivated. And if you’re not sure about the form of an exercise, do some research online, ask a friend, or ask a personal trainer at the gym.’