Dancing in glamorous bars in Marbella wearing nothing but a bikini, Danni Levy looks as though she doesn’t have a care in the world.
The Life on Marbs star lives in Spain where she works as a personal trainer – and has enjoyed romantic trysts with the likes of rugby player Danny Cipriani.
But in an exclusive interview with MailOnline, the 31-year-old has revealed her teenage years were far from rosy.
Marred by a dangerous obsession with exercise, her weight plummeted to under 6st and her periods stopped.
She would exercise for six hours a day, feeling terrified if she missed a single session.
And despite eating healthily, the exercise meant there was a huge calorie deficit in her diet – and she believes she would have died had she continued doing so much activity.
But her condition went undetected because she was eating normally.
In fact, ‘over-exercising’ can be a feature of anorexia – without restrictive eating too.
Now, in a bid to help others battling the same problem, Danni has spoken candidly for the first time.
Below, she tells MailOnline her story…
Life on Marbs star Danni Levy, 31, has revealed a dangerous obsession with exercise meant her weight plummeted to less than six stone when she was a teenager (pictured)
Danni said between the ages of 16 and 18 she ate normally but used to exercise for six hours a day – and would be terrified if she missed a single session
She has never spoken of her battle with anorexia athletica – losing weight through excessive exercise – before as it was too difficult admitting she had a problem
DANNI’S STORY
I’m glad anorexia athletica is becoming more recognised as a condition.
People say ‘don’t starve yourself’ but they don’t say ‘don’t exercise’, so many sufferers can go undiagnosed.
I know TV shows like Life on Marbs and the media being full of thin bodies are part of the problem.
I wore a bikini every single episode of the show, and that’s when I was getting emails from skinny girls asking how they can get toned like I was.
I thought “you’ve got less fat than me”.
And on TV shows like Love Island all the girls’ bodies are amazing. Why can’t TV shows have curvy girls on?
I’ve never spoken my anorexia before – not even really with my family – because it’s difficult to admit you have a problem.
But I really want to reach out to existing sufferers to help them identify the root cause of why they want to be thin.
I would encourage them to recognise they do have a problem they need to address – and get help.
-
Wife’s desperate race to raise £200,000 for husband given 3…
Horrific images show 21-year-old ‘burned alive’ after…
Rise of the ‘spornosexual’: Men who can’t get high-powered…
‘Holby City saved my life’: Episode featuring skin cancer…
My weight issues began at 15, when I began to get very body conscious.
I went to a performing arts school so from the age of 12 we were dancing for four hours a day, doing a mixture of ballet, tap, modern and contemporary jazz.
We were always in front of a mirror and spent a lot of time wearing crop tops and tights so naturally
I liked my figure and always had the best six pack in the school – something I was proud of.
But I was always muscular and I thought I’d like to be slimmer.
I went to holiday to Marbella and I saw all the slim women there and I decided “I want to be like them”.
I was going to go running every morning and only eat fish. Before I hadn’t given any thought to being skinnier.
When I got back to school I started to run five miles around the block after the hours of dancing. Then I’d go for a 15 mile cycle ride.
At weekends I’d go horse riding if there was time.
‘Exercise was interfering with my life because it took over everything, like an obsession,’ Danni said of her disorder. Now, she said her life fits around exercise
Her disorder went undetected by doctors because she was eating normally. But the definition of anorexia includes over-exercising. She is pictured now she has recovered
She managed to recovered from her anorexia athletica and is now working as a personal trainer in Marbella. Pictured, the Life on Marbs cast
All in all, I was doing over 6 hours of exercise a day, and if I missed just one of these sessions I’d be in utter panic.
I remember the winter months being really hard to cope with, because it was too dark after school to exercise, but I’d go running anyway and take a torch.
WHAT IS ANOREXIA ATHLETICA?
Anorexia Athletica is a constellation of disordered behaviors on the eating disorder spectrum that is distinct from Anorexia Nervosa or Bulimia Nervosa, according to eatingdisordersonline.com
Although not recognised formally by the standard mental health diagnostic manuals, the term is commonly used in mental health literature to denote a disorder characterised by excessive, obsessive exercise.
Also known as compulsive exercising , sports anorexia, and hypergymnasia, it is most commonly found in pre-professional and elite athletes, though it can exist in the general population as well.
It is more common in people who participate in sports where a small, lean body is considered advantageous.
People suffering from anorexia athletica may engage in both excessive workouts and exercising as well as calorie restriction.
This puts them at risk for malnutrition and in younger athletes could result in endocrine and metabolic derangements such as decreased bone density or delayed menarche.
In anorexia athletica, self-worth is tied to physical performance and although some concern may be present about the size and shape of the body, more emphasis is placed on how lean a person is as compared to his or her successful or professional counterparts.
Source: Eating Disorders Online
I was always slim as a teenager, but I went from 8 stone to 6 stone in a matter of weeks.
My teachers called my parents and said they were worried I had anorexia.
But the thing was, I was eating normally. I ate a clean diet, but I did eat breakfast, lunch and dinner.
And if my mum said ‘have a biscuit’ I’d have one without feeling guilty – I knew it was just 100 calories to burn off.
Then I was one of the first girls to go to a boys grammar school in Essex for A-levels.
I hated being behind a desk, all I wanted to do was exercise. I couldn’t concentrate, I would just stare out of the window.
There were six other girls in my year and they all became friendly.
But I didn’t have any friends because every lunchbreak I would walk to the leisure centre, cram in a workout, eat my sandwich on the walk back for lessons.
Then as soon as the bus ended at 3:30pm I’d race to do more exercise.
My weight dropped to about 5.5 stone and my teachers again told my parents they were worried I had an eating disorder.
My dad took me to the doctor and asked if I was eating and he said ‘Yes she eats dinner every night.’
So the doctor said I must be bulimic but he said ‘No, she’s not going to the toilet after mealtimes.’
The doctor made me an eating plan, but he didn’t ask about exercise and that was the problem for me.
I had complete fat-phobia. I would look in the mirror at my wasting-away muscles and think I looked toned.
My periods stopped for two years, but I didn’t feel tired or anything. Maybe because of all the endorphins from the exercise, I felt great.
It was interfering with my life because it took over everything, like an obsession.
I didn’t make time for a normal life, for normal social things.
My bones were sticking out, I’d get bruises all around the side of my hips and my tail bones. It was horrendous.
For the two years she suffered she said exercise took over her life and her periods stopped. If it was dark when she finished school, she would go running with a torch
She recovered when her mother broke down and begged her to gain weight or she would have to be sent to a rehabilitation unit. ‘I hated seeing my mother so upset,’ she said
‘People say “don’t starve yourself” but they don’t say “don’t exercise” and so it can slip through the cracks,’ she said
Danni admits shows like Life on Marbs are part of the problem as the cast is made up of thin, bikini-clad women
People would stop my mother in the street and tell her I needed help. She refused to take photos of me because I was so thin.
One day I was cleaning out the horses with my mother and she broke down and said ‘Please Daniella stop this starving yourself or you’ll have to be sent away.’
She meant I would be sent away for treatment at rehab, which terrified me. I was so sad to see her in tears.
And it was enough to make me stop. I started to stuff myself, 10,000 calories a day.
I stuffed myself until I had a stomach cake every day. One day I ate an entire carrot cake, a bowl of curry, a dairy milk bar and two chickens.
So I gained weight fast and within a few months I was around 8 stone again.
That’s when I trained to be a personal trainer. Now, exercise fits around my life.
I’ll have days where I think my bum looks massive, and I’ll cut back from booze.