Former anorexic girl credits Instagram recovery accounts for saving her life

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Instagram (emellegetswell)

A former anorexic from Huddersfield has praised social media for saving her life.

Emelle Lewis was 15-years-old when she began struggling with an eating disorder and weighed just five stone at her lightest.

Now aged 22, she has been in recovery for more than a year and credits fitness Instagram accounts for keeping her motivated to stay on track.

“I decided to join the gym and regain my health through weight training and eating correctly again,” Lewis wrote in a recent post.

As a child, she struggled to fit in, explaining that she felt unattractive in comparison to her friends at school.

Gradually she stopped eating proper meals and lived off little more than Weetabix, salad and rice cakes.

Despite her dwindling frame, Lewis refused to acknowledge that she was unwell and wouldn't accept treatment.

At the time, she would legitimise her restrictive diet to concerned friends by telling them that she was a vegan, however, she ultimately accepted she needed help after her condition left her hospitalised seven times.

Her eating disorder was also fuelled by an obsession with exercise which saw her doing daily abdominal exercises and frequent dog walks.

She confesses that she wouldn’t even sit down most days until after 4pm.

Today, Lewis consumes a healthy diet and regularly trains in the gym; she is now a UK size 8-10.

Documenting her progress on Instagram @emellegetswell, she hopes to inspire fellow recovering anorexics to find solace through health and fitness.

“Just over a year ago I was ready to end my life, I couldn't even say the word 'recover' let alone imagine it being a possibility for me,” Lewis wrote in a recent post.

“I was so lost, so trapped and so consumed by my eating disorder that I forgot about the real me. Emelle was no longer present because anorexia had taken over my whole being.

“I just remember one day as I was laying in bed, I could feel my body giving up. It was the scariest experience I've ever felt, I just knew I was dying. And I guess that was my wake up call.”

Lewis went on to explain that she subsequently felt determined to overcome her eating disorder and hasn’t looked back since.

She credits fitness Instagrammers such @str0ngnotskinnysarah for motivating her to train and keep fit.

“If I can do that, then my god, so can anyone else!” she added.

“No matter how big or small your dream is. If you want it you can get it. The only thing stopping you is yourself.”