現年39歲的瓦萊里婭對《太陽報》表示:“我收到很多年輕女孩的來信,她們都想讓我教她們如何才能變成我現在的身材。我收到的這些信都是女性寫的,主要是20多歲的女孩,她們把我當成激勵她們的榜樣?!?/div>
As a result, she has taken the brave step to speak out about her condition and campaign against anorexia – and says she refuses to teach young girls how to die.
She says she wants to share her story to prevent other people falling victim to the same fate, saying anorexia has made her ‘lonely, unattractive and repulsive for the people around me’.
她說她想分享她的故事,阻止其他人也落入和她同樣的命運。厭食癥使她“孤單寂寞,沒有魅力,周圍的人都非常排斥她?!?/div>
She believes the roots of her condition lie with her mother, who was terrified Valeria would grow up obese like her relatives. Even as a young child, her diet was curtailed.
瓦萊里婭的飲食失調問題根源可能出在她母親身上,母親害怕她會變得像自己親戚一樣身材臃腫,所以從小就嚴格控制她的飲食。
At 16, and weighing 10st, Valeria moved to Chicago with her parents. Desperate to fit in at a new school, she thought that if she lost weight, she would be accepted and liked. As a result, she restricted her diet even further, cutting out sugar or carbohydrates.
16歲的瓦萊里婭體重10英石(約為127斤),她隨父母一起搬到了芝加哥。當時的她極度渴望想融入新學校新環境,所以她覺得如果自己能減肥變瘦,新同學們就會接受她喜歡她。所以她更加注意控制飲食,不吃糖分和碳水化合物。
When a classmate made a cruel comment about Valeria’s figure, she became even more determined to lose weight. By the time she was 23, Valeria’s dress size had plummeted from a healthy size 12 to a tiny size six.
當時還有一位同學曾嘲諷過瓦萊里婭的身材,這更加堅定了她減肥的決心。23歲的時候,她穿的衣物號碼由正常的12號劇減到非常小的6號。
Deciding to become a model made the situation even worse, as she was told she was still too fat to succeed. As her weight continued to plummet, by the age of 24 and weighing just six stone, she was banned from dancing over concerns she would injure herself.
而想成為一名模特的決定使她的情況愈發惡劣,因為有人告訴她,她身材太胖不會在模特行業成功。她的體重持續下降,到24歲的時候只有6英石(約為76斤)。因為太瘦可能容易傷到自己,所以她被禁止參加舞蹈訓練。
For the next ten years she saw more than 30 health specialists, though once dipped to a dangerously low 3st 10lbs. Today, even if she wanted to eat certain foods, she would be unable to.
在接下來的十年間,她去看過30多位的健康專家,但她的情況還是每況日下,體重一度降到了3英石10磅(約為47斤),情況非常危險。如今就算她想吃某些食物,她也根本不能吃。
Many foods have to be avoided because they don’t agree with her body any more. It has been so long since she ate bread that she can no longer remember what it tastes like.
很多食物她都得避免吃,因為它們已經完全與她的身體相排斥。瓦萊里婭 已經很久沒吃過面包了,她說自己完全想不起來面包的味道了。
Her illness has also made her life a very lonely one. Single for a decade, she says relationships are difficult as she is unable to do the normal things that couples do, as going to restaurants.
她的厭食癥也使她的生活非常孤單。她已經單身有十年了。因為身體的關系,談戀愛也成為很困難的事情,因為很多正常情侶會做的事情她都無法完成,就比方說一起去餐廳吃飯。
For the incentive of wanting a child could be a trigger to get healthy again. She said: 'I would love to have a family because I feel I have so much to give. But obviously it wouldn’t be right to have a baby when I am ill. It wouldn’t be fair on the child. I want to stand up to anorexia. I’ve never given up on anything in my life and I’m not about to give up now.'
想要成為一名母親的愿望,是刺激她變健康的主要因素。她說:“我非常想有個孩子,因為我覺得我能給予孩子很多東西。但現在我生病了,不是要孩子的合適時機,這對孩子不公平。我要站出來面對厭食癥,在我的生活里我從來沒有放棄過任何事情,我現在也不會放棄?!?/p>