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Kaitlyn Davidson loved the gym, and loved to eat healthy.
However, when she was 20, things got out of hand.
“I was addicted to pushing myself beyond my expectation, completely exhausting myself and viewing food as the enemy. My love and passion for the gym and health turned into a deadly obsession,” said Katilyn.
Katilyn began controlling every meal, and working out constantly to get rid of the calories.
“Some days I would even exercise three times a day. I would have spent up to five or so hours in the gym overall in one day at times,” says Kaitlyn.
It got to the point where she only weighed 82 pounds. She was always cold, and the only clothing that fit her was children’s clothes.
However, during a vacation to Hawaii during Christmas 2012, her family finally pointed out that she had a problem.
Kaitlyn spent hours in the gym at the hotel, and stringently controlled what she ate.
“I couldn’t even enjoy going for a swim,” said Kaitlyn. “I was constantly freezing.”
“This lead to constant extreme anxiety where I had to control everything in my environment including convincing my family to stay in the hotel that had a gym, or only go to places where I knew I could easily get back to the hotel if I wanted food or to exercise.”
Her mother gave her a copy of Portia de Rossi’s autobiography. The actress struggled with anorexia in the past, and Kaitlyn found herself relating to Portia’s habits.
“This was when it became real to me that it was a problem.”
She went to a doctor when she arrived home. The doctors told her that her heart could have stopped at any moment. At that point, her hair had begun to fall out, and her period had stopped.
Katilyn vowed to get better, and made an agreement with her sister, a bikini competitor, that they would share a stage one day.
And two years later, they have.
She competed in her first ever bikini fitness contest in October. She came in sixth, but is now going for her pro card and is looking forward to her next competition.
She gained 40 pounds to become a competitor, and she says competing has helped her get past her disorder.
“In a way it was an end and a beginning for me,” Kaitlyn said. “I had faced my demons again and proved that I had once and for all overcome the horrible disease.” She also attributed much of her success to her trainer, Melissa Zimmerman, who she says had “my mentality as a priority, not just how I look on stage.”
“I have learned to accept myself,” says Kaitlyn. “I love the way my body feels and what it is capable of doing.”
