Amelia Gray Hamlin has opened up about her battle with anorexia before, but now she’s bravely sharing new details about her moment of clarity that led down the difficult but rewarding road to recovery.
The 19-year-old talked about her journey to a happier, healthier life on the podcast The Skinny Confidential. She said she first began developing a negative self image attending all-girls school, where class discussions centered around how models are bad for society and how her own mother, Real Housewives star Lisa Rinna, was a poor representation for women.
Related: Amelia Says She’s ‘Forced’ To Be On RHOBH
This negative mindset stayed with her even after being pulled out of the school, and eventually developed into an eating disorder — which began after the young model was triggered by unflattering paparazzi photos of herself with her mom. She began doing a “Master Cleanse,” recommended publicly by a model she admired, which led to further disordered eating and unhealthy amounts of working out. Though her sister Delilah began to suspect Amelia had a serious problem, the young model thwarted her mother’s concerns by saying, “Delilah just doesn’t want me to ever be skinnier than her.”
Eventually, her family held an intervention of sorts. She explained:
“I woke up one morning at my best friend’s house. My parents, my sister, they’re all outside, like waiting to pick me up. And I’m like, ‘What are you doing here?’ Like it’s Saturday morning. And they’re like, ‘Get in the car. We’re going to UCLA [to get treatment].’ And I was like, ‘Oh my God.’ And in that moment, I was like, ‘I’m going to rebel, like, they’re crazy.’ … We show up, it’s like this really scary old man’s office. … He looked at me and he was like, so yeah, basically at this rate in about four months, you’re going to be 45 pounds and you’re going to be dead.”
Hamlin continued:
“I just snapped out of it. Like I was so lucky that I was just like, ‘Yeah, I don’t want to be 45 pounds.’ I’m not going to be, you know, this type of person, I’m not going to ruin my life because of whatever issues I’m having. You don’t need to be skinny to, like, live your best life. Like it’s either be skinny and die or like happy and be who you are.”
Unfortunately, the process of recovery was not simple or linear for Amelia. She explained:
“I just remember working out eating like I did when I was anorexic and not allowing myself to heal because I was gaining even more weight than I had ever gained in my life. And then I just remember one day I was like breaking down and I was laying down on my parents’ kitchen counter, and I was like, something’s wrong. … I tried doing all those things for a little bit, still nothing. I’m just gaining and gaining and gaining. And that I think was so hard, being in the public eye, gaining weight at such a young age. Like, that’s just so f**ked up. Like, I hated that so much. Then I went to a doctor and he was like, ‘Whoa, like your levels are crazy.'”
Amelia was later diagnosed with Hashimoto’s disease, a thyroid condition, which was exacerbated by her anorexia.
Related: Lisa Rinna SLAMMED Critic Who Suggested She Was Responsible For Amelia’s Eating Disorder!
Thankfully she got better — you can see the results from her first year of recovery from 2017 to 2018 in the photos (above)! And today she’s happier and healthier than ever!
In working through her eating disorder recovery, taking care of her mental health, and treating her autoimmune disorder, it seems that Harry Hamlin’s daughter has found a much better balance for a healthy life.
We are SO glad Amelia’s doing better, and grateful she’s choosing to share her story! We hope her honesty can touch other young women who are struggling with similar issues.
[Image via Amelia Gray Hamlin/Instagram]
Related Posts
