About 

Biting Back was born from lived experience.

I created Biting Back after my own journey with an eating disorder, a journey that changed my life in ways I never could have imagined. For a long time, I struggled to find the words to explain what was happening, to understand that I was unwell, and to believe that I deserved help.

Now, recovered and on the other side of that experience, I have found my voice and I want to use it.

Biting Back is my personal eating disorder advocacy initiative, created to raise awareness, challenge stigma and change the way we talk about eating disorders because eating disorders are still so misunderstood.

They don't have a particular gender, age, body shape or size. They don't always look the way we expect them to. They can affect anyone, including boys and men, who are often overlooked in conversations about eating disorders.

I believe we need to start talking about eating disorders before someone becomes critically unwell.

We need to give young people the language to recognise when something isn't right. We need to help friends, parents and teachers know what to look for and how to respond. We need to challenge the idea that someone has to “look sick” to deserve support and need to make it easier for people to find their voice.

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From lived experience to advocacy

What started as sharing my own story has grown into something much bigger.

Through Biting Back, I share lived experience alongside education and awareness to help people better understand eating disorders and the realities of recovery.

But Biting Back isn't just about sharing information.

It's about starting conversations.

It's about asking the uncomfortable questions, challenging misconceptions and speaking up about the things we still don't talk about enough.

It's about reminding someone who is struggling that they aren't alone.

And it's about turning my experience into something that might help someone else's journey look different.

 

Taking the conversation further

Biting Back is now growing beyond social media and into the community.

One of my biggest goals is to bring eating disorder awareness and education into schools, giving young people the opportunity to have these conversations before they need them.

Through school presentations, advocacy, lived-experience storytelling and community education, I want to create spaces where eating disorders can be spoken about openly, safely and without shame, because I often think about the younger version of myself sitting in a classroom.

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What if someone had talked to me about eating disorders then?

What if I had understood the warning signs?

What if I had known that I didn't have to fit a certain stereotype?

What if I had known that asking for help wasn't something to be ashamed of?

Maybe my story would have looked different.

That's why I'm doing this now.

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If one young person recognises themselves in my story, if one friend knows how to start a conversation, if one parent recognises that something isn't right, or if one person finds the courage to say “I need. help”, then Biting Back is doing what I created it to do.

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This is more than awareness.

This is advocacy.

This is about breaking the silence, challenging what needs to change and making sure that people experiencing eating disorders are seen, heard and supported because sometimes finding your voice is the first step towards finding your way back.

This is Biting Back.