A bodybuilder is aiming to lift others up by sharing her path to recovery from an eating disorder.
Aroosha Nekonam, a 25-year-old from Aberdeen, Scotland, who's currently training for a bikini contest, opened up about her experiences as a survivor of anorexia through a revealing vlog, as well as on social media.
By speaking out, she wants to inspire those who may be going through eating disorders to get help and feel more comfortable discussing their challenges.
"I wanted to put myself out there and say, 'I went through this and if I can get through it, anyone can,'" Nekonam told ABC News of her decision to share her story. "If I could touch just one person with my story and give them that extra push to go and turn their life around, that’s exactly what I wanted."
The 25-year-old, who often posts photos of regarding fitness on social media, took the plunge and began talking about her journey with the vlog, which she shared in honor of National Eating Disorders Awareness Week back in February. In the video, she revealed that she's always been a perfectionist and felt rewarded when she saw the number on the scale drop, often running 10k races and depriving herself of food to see it happen.
Things took an even more dangerous turn after a bad breakup while she was in college.
"My confidence hit rock bottom. My worth was just gone," she said in the video. "I began to lose so much weight."
She mentioned that the eating disorder began having an effect on her health. Her hair started to fall out, she was always cold and was even told that she should be in a wheelchair, as walking was too much for her heart to handle. At one point, she was too thin to fly to a clinic in South Africa for recovery.
Nekonam said that she began therapy with the support of her family. Eventually she took up yoga and later on, she got into weight-lifting. The women she saw on social media, particularly Instagram, who were involved in the sport, had a huge effect on her outlook.
"When I saw these women and I saw their potential of what they could do ... they were strong, but still feminine," Nekonam told ABC News. "I said, 'This is what I want to be. This is my inspiration.' I was so weak. I couldn’t do anything and I was sick of it."
The 25-year-old has come a long way and now uses fitness as a confidence-builder, rather than a "punishment." She's getting ready for the U.K. Bodybuilding and Fitness Federation bikini competition in May -- her first. Most importantly, she's passing on some words of encouragement to others who can relate to her past.
"You are beautiful and you deserve recovery. ... You deserve to have a life. This is something that you're going through," she said in the video. "It doesn't make you weak, it doesn't make you any different from another person. ... It's a part of life. We go through hard times."
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