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.

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.

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.

"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.”