I overcame anorexia by powerlifting – now I’m healthy and can lift twice my bodyweight

TEENAGER Eve Fife has battled her anorexia by taking up powerlifting.

Now the 18-year-old call centre worker can hoist almost twice her own healthy body weight.

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She hit rock bottom when her parents divorced, which triggered depression and anxiety.

She self-harmed and developed the eating disorder when she became obsessed with how she looked.

But realising the toll her condition was taking on her family, Eve began going to a gym — where a trainer asked her to give powerlifting a go.

She now trains five times a week and eats healthily.

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Eve, of Wallsend, North Tyneside, is now getting ready for her first competition, in which she aims to lift 115kg (18st 1lb) in just one deadlift — nearly twice her own weight of 60kg (9st 6lbs).

She said: “Anorexia took its toll on my entire life.

"I had been sporty and healthy with lots of friends, but I withdrew from everything.

“I now focus not on what my body looks like, but on what it can achieve.

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"I love going to the gym.

“I used to obsess about how I looked, but I don’t care anymore.

"All I care about is being healthy and strong.”

Gym boss Richy Gangel, who runs Alpha Gym, in Benton, North Tyneside, where Eve trains, said: “The difference we’ve seen in her has been incredible.”

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