Lindsay Byers-Storey has been sober for a year and a half. She hasn't binged, purged or starved herself.
If you had talked to her three years ago, she would have told you she dealt with emotional pain by controlling her body and her food.
She binged to fog over emotional wounds caused by physical and verbal abuse from her family and boyfriend. To compensate for the binges, she would manically exercise, sometimes for hours a day. She eventually began restricting her eating and throwing up.
"I felt so out of control, and my emotions were out of my hands," she said. "But I could control food and exercise."
Byers-Storey is one of 10 million women and 1 million men with a diagnosable eating disorder, according to Jessica Weiner, self-esteem expert and author.
Weiner was paid $10,500 to speak in the UF Reitz Union Ballroom on Tuesday night to kick off National Eating Disorders Awareness Week. The event, titled "Do I Look Fat In This?," was sponsored by the UF Panhellenic Council, Student Government, the Dean of Students' Office, the University Athletic Association, Women's Leadership Council, Accent Speaker's Bureau and GatorWell Health Promotion Services at the Student Health Care Center.
Jennifer Goetz, Nutrition and Eating Disorder Outreach assistant for GatorWell, said she was excited that so many organizations were taking stock in National Eating Disorders Awareness Week.
"This is not an easy issue to talk about," Goetz said. "But it is one that everyone needs to hear."
Not only did Weiner bring attention to body image and eating disorder problems, but she went further and issued a call to become "actionists." She challenged people to reject fake media stereotypes and prevent eating disorders, which she said have the highest mortality rate of all mental illnesses.
Weiner herself survived eating disorders and self-abusive behavior 18 years ago and has since committed her life to raising awareness about women's health and wellness. She works as an ambassador for the Dove campaign for real beauty, and she is an author of two books and a body image columnist for Seventeen Magazine.
"Jessica embraces and owns who she is," Goetz said. "To be at a place where you are comfortable with yourself from so many different angles is hopeful."
