When she was 16 years old, Nicola King started to feel very insecure about her body. The British teenager decided she needed to lose a little bit of weight and began counting her calorie intake. It seemed harmless at the time, but it was the start of a very dangerous downward spiral.
Nicola lost weight at an alarming rate and it soon became clear that she was suffering from anorexia. Due to the resulting malnutrition, her hair began to fall out, she stopped menstruating, and was in constant pain.
The deadly eating disorder had Nicola firmly in its grip — at one point she refused to eat or drink for six weeks. Her weight dropped to a dangerously low 50 lbs and it was clear that she wouldn’t live much longer if she didn’t get help.
Nicola’s parents felt powerless. Her mother remembers how difficult it was for them: «You’ve reached this stage where you are at the hospital and you are told that she might not survive the night and that’s purely because we took her to the hospital. If we hadn’t taken her to the hospital, she wouldn’t be with us.»
Doctors told her parents that Nicola’s organs had stopped functioning and that there was little they could do for her. Their hearts were broken.
But then something very unexpected happened — Nicola pulled through and began to recover. It was like a miracle!
Nevertheless, Nicola was still very weak. The pictures of her emaciated body speak for themselves.
«I almost died twice and even then I was convinced I didn’t need help. I would pull out the tubes,» remembers Nicola.
She ended up spending six months in the hospital and managed to gain back some weight and strength. Nicola was feeling healthier, but she knew that she had a long way to go. She had been battling anorexia for six long years and knew that it wouldn’t just end that easily.
Desperate to end her suffering once and for all, Nicola decided to make a drastic change of location and get a new perspective on her life.
She booked plane tickets to Mexico and during the trip she started eating normally again. It was an important date in her life, and to remember it she had it tattooed on her little finger.
After spending three months in Mexico, Nicola flew back to England. She was feeling stronger but wanted to get even healthier, so she got a membership at a local fitness studio. This hobby soon became her passion: «Going to the gym gave a meaning to my life, a reason to wake up every morning,» she explained.
Soon her exercising turned into actual bodybuilding and in just 18 months she radically transformed her body.
Slim and muscled, the young woman now weighs 115 lbs — that’s twice the weight she had at her worst point during her battle with anorexia! Nicola had finally learned to love her body and the results are truly magnificent.
Today, at 24, Nicola has a dream body. She even won a national competition, the Pure Elite Uk Championship, in the category «Body Transformation.»
This wasn’t just a victory in a competition, it also symbolized Nicola’s victory over anorexia.
«If I can do it, if I can show people that I can do it, then they could see that there is life at the end of the tunnel, where anorexia gives you nothing else but death,» said Nicola.
Nicola’s story is amazing proof that anorexia can be beaten and will hopefully inspire other sufferers to fight their way to a full recovery. Way to go, Nicola!
