A six stone anorexic who came dangerously close to death is preparing for his fourth bodybuilding competition after putting on more than 12 stone.
Ollie Orchard, who battled anorexia triggered through bullying at 14 and is now a bodybuilder
Ollie Orchard’s weight plummeted when he was bullied as a 14-year-old and by the age of 18 was eating just enough calories to survive and often passed out through exhaustion.
But when a former girlfriend and a doctor persuaded him to attend his local gym, he met a strength coach who introduced him to bodybuilding and it turned his life around.
Mr Orchard, of Clifton, Bristol, is now 22 now weighs an impressive 18st and takes on board 5,000 calories a day, six days a week, and up to 10,000 on Sundays – a far cry from the days when a Diet Coke for breakfast would fill him up with gas.
He said: “You are very alienated with anorexia and although there are people in the gym it is still very much a personal journey.
“I started by barely being able to lift 5kg because I was so small so I had to first work at putting some meat back on my bones.
“I started reading body building mags and based my diet around that so would eat things like oats and egg whites but also started eating food like ice cream.
“It was tough on my stomach because it had been so small but I was determined to put weight on.”
Mr Orchard put on 10st during his first year of training and in his first bodybuilding competition was placed second in the junior class, going on to compete in the British finals.
He is now looking forward to his fourth bodybuilding competition which takes place in Portsmouth on April 27 next year.
Mr Orchard added: “I’m fit and healthy and focusing on doing something to my body that does not put my life at risk.
“Eating disorders are a bigger problem than people realise and all I would say is try and find something that can give you the same control and satisfaction.
“For me it was bodybuilding because I need the focus of the training and meals but anything that helps you beat it can only be a good thing.”
Mr Orchard’s battle first began in 2006 when bullies began to comment on how he looked.
“It started when I was about 14 years-old with anorexia and as it progressed it just got uglier,” he said. “I was getting bullied at school at the time and that was certainly part of the trigger.”
Mr Orchard became increasingly sneaky and was taking on a tiny amount of calories – barely enough to survive.
His parents and school tried their hardest to encourage him to eat but his deception – including hiding food under potato skins – and determination to starve himself would always prevail.
Despite passing out from lack of eating, Ollie was able to convince himself everything was fine when actually he was putting his life in real danger.
He said: “I was having a Diet Coke for breakfast and that would fill me up because it would make me gassy. At school the nurse would sit and watch me eat but as soon as I could I would throw it up.
“At night I would eat hardly anything and would hide food under a baked potato skin. I was disgusted by food, it repulsed me.
“You pick up on the sound of people eating. If I saw people eating I would wonder how they could do it. For me it was all about being as small as I could. It was a form of control. It was an addiction.
“It was weird. I enjoyed it, I revelled in it. It was about pushing myself as far as I could. I would pass out through lack of eating but I would convince myself it was fine. Nobody could convince me otherwise.”
Mr Orchard puts another part of the reason for his eating disorders down to the image he was trying to portray amongst his friends.
“I was an Emo kid with long hair and piercings and I was going to be as skinny as I could,” he said. “Not eating was part of the fashion – it’s a big thing – it dictates a lifestyle.”
But when he met a strength coach he put some fat back on his bones he started to lift some weights.
“I shaved my hair off, took out my piercings and started lifting weights, it was a move that saved my life,” he added.
Agencies
