A body builder who used to suffer from anorexia that became so severe she stopped getting a period has candidly revealed how she recovered from the life-threatening illness and learned to begin gaining weight without feeling pangs of guilt.
Kendall Strampel, 19, from Pennsylvania, works as a personal trainer and has competed in several body building competitions – but just months ago she was battling an illness that threatened her life.
However, as she revealed in a recent YouTube video, despite being at her ‘heaviest’ ever weight, Kendall says she has never felt better, happier, or healthier in her life.
Transformation: Kendall Strampel, 19, a body builder from Pennsylvania used to suffer from Anorexia and Orthorexia Nervosa (left) but has since overcome her eating disorder (right)
Gainz: At her lowest, Kendall weighed 85lbs but is now a healthy 119lbs (pictured)
Competition mode: Kendall has competed in several body building competitions and says for her last one in June (pictured here) she slimmed down to 97lbs
Booty bonus: Since gaining weight, Kendall says she loves having boobs and a butt
Starting off the video, the former model can be seen making five slices of protein French toast, covered in nut butter and syrup, before heading to a morning workout.
‘You guys know I like to hit a lot of carbs before I work out,’ she joked to the camera.
However, she added that after being contacted by so many people on social media about weight gain, she wanted to address her own journey.
‘I actually stepped on the scale the other day and it was the heaviest that I have been, ever in my entire life, so I wanted to [talk to you] guys, just about dealing with those physical changes and how it impacts me, mentally, and others as well.’
She added: It’s very sensitive and it’s a very hard topic, to even talk about, especially to deal with, so I told you guys earlier this might be a little bit triggering and I don’t really like to talk about weight but you know what, it’s the point of the video.’
Going into specifics, Kendall shared that when she stepped on stage to compete in the June 2017, she weighed 97 pounds.
Nearly four months later, she weighed 119 pounds, gaining 24 pounds in total.
‘A lot of people are asking me how I feel about it, how I feel mentally, where my mind is at with everything and honestly, I feel f**king fabulous,’ she said.
‘I feel so good and I want to be able to share with you guys how and why I feel that way because weight gain is super hard to accept and it’s something that obviously you’re putting some weight on your body as well as maybe putting on muscle.’
Revealing that she ‘always outweigh the cons with the pros’, getting her period back was ‘the number one thing’ that really did it for her.
‘I had not menstruated in a long time, like a very long time and I just need to be healthy, I don’t care what the number on the scale gets to, I want my hormone levels to be normal, I just want to be a healthy girl,’ she admitted.
Side effects: Kendall (pictured left before her recovery and right after) also revealed that since gaining weight she has started menstruating again
Hormonal: Kendall says that she wanted her hormone levels to return to normal
Piece of fluff: She now admits that she doesn’t care if she looks a little ‘fluffy’ (right) compared to when she was suffering from an eating disorder (left)
Thankful: Now at her ‘heaviest’ in her ‘whole life’, Kendall says she feels ‘fabulous’
‘What I just realized is that your body does not define who you are. Like so what if you have a little bit of extra fat. At least you’re able to go out with friends and enjoy meals out. I eat out five or six times a week and I enjoy the food and if that means being a little bit “fluffy” I don’t care. I’m happy, genuinely happy.’
She says that when she trained for her competition, she knew she wasn’t healthy and she had to do some things that didn’t make her happy. And while Kendall admits that it was ‘fulfilling’ to look lean, it ‘didn’t feel good’.
‘You just have to put it into perspective and just see that fitness is not your whole life. Ok you have a fit body but now what?’
Now she says she’s ‘nicer to people’ and doesn’t body check as much. ‘I’m getting boobs, I have a butt and I didn’t have that when I was really thin.’
However Kendall does admit that whether a person is putting on weight during recovery from an eating disorder or after a competition, it’s hard and ‘mentally really taxing’ so in order to stay on track, she focuses on how she feels rather than what she looks like.
She also writes down a list of all the things she feels good about to remind herself of how far she’s come.
‘If you’re struggling with weight gain, your body is not everything. Who you are is not what you look like. Take each day by day and I’m honestly not going to lie, I don’t body check very often, I don’t look to see if I have abs, I know I don’t have abs but guess what, I had Chipotle, I went to BJs Brewhouse and got a Pizookie, but it tasted good!’
She also revealed that since introducing ‘a significant amount’ of carbs into her diet, she has gained a lot of muscle mass and loves her physique and body composition.
‘I’m just trying to keep going,’ she said.