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Wednesday May 9. 2001 THE OAKVILLE BEAVER B1 el M I f t M M S M W U lft! foaJcA/CUes There^ no denying it, sprmg has finaDy anived Time to get youseJ together for h s glorious season1 Before you pay those inflated retail prices, come and see ustoryourfebufous designer spring wardrobe. MANY ITEMS NOy# 25% TO 50% OFF. C o n s ig n m e n t I 'pscale R c s ^ L a tfe . Wear 115 T ra fa lg a r R d. 3 3 8 -3 4 7 4 OP8N 7 DAYS WEHK Bv 11* ^0 Oakville Beaver Focus A IX O F F IC IA L M E D IA S P O N S O R O F T H E O A K V IL L E W A T E R F R O N T F E S T IV A L F ocus [W a te rfrtm t Ip e ittv a i/ 3 = 2 SyElj Editor: WILMA BLOKHUIS 845-3824 Ext: 250: Fax: 337-5567; Email: blokhuis@ haltonsearch.com B y Z ita T a k s a s - R a p o n i SPECIAL TO THE BEAVER Amie's silent rebellion began innocent ly when in the spring of 1999, at the age of 12. weighing 117 pounds, she decided that she wanted to eat a little healthier. As part of this health kick, she eliminated choco late. chips and junk food from her diet. She was delighted when she lost a few pounds and absolutely thrilled when every one noticed. Her parents and family thought it was just great that Amie was becoming more health conscious. About this time Amie (not her real name) attended a 30-Hour Famine to raise money for Third World countries. This served as her introduction to starving. "It gave me a sense of accomplishment to know that I had the self-discipline to endure the fast," explained Amie. "It was like overcoming a challenge." Now more committed than ever, Amie cut protein from her diet and became a vegetarian. She lost more weight, but still it w asn't enough. Gradually, Amie started dropping entire food groups from her meal plan. "I thought it was so amazing that I could lose weight so easily. I felt so in control," recalled Amie. "At first, I was scared of gaining the weight back. Then I wanted to see how far I could push myself. It was the ultimate challenge." By this time. Amie's parents had become concerned that their daughter's determination to lose weight was more than just a typical teenage diet. Their fears were substantiated later that summer when they picked her up from camp. "She looked emaciated, her bones stuck out and her fragile body was all bruised from windsurfing. I knew we needed help desperately, but I had no idea where to turn." recalled Amie's mom. How could a teenage diet go so out of control? "You have preconceived ideas about who these types of disorders can affect, but it can happen to anyone. In our case, it was a collision of events and personality traits. Amie is a perfectionist, very determined and bright - always such a good kid," explained her mother. "We never saw it coming. We didn't recognize the signs." Things went from bad to worse when Amie stopped eating and started to hide it. She would skip lunch and then try to miss dinner. "She'd make up all kinds of excuses like `I had a big lunch.' I tried tempting her with her favourite foods. I even tried to force her to eat -- but nothing worked." said her mother. "That summer was hell for all o f us. It became a real power strug gle. We'd just end up with these horren dous fights." Amie was in denial. Although, she kept telling her mom she could eat whenever she wanted to -- deep down, she knew that it wasn't true. "Food was all I could think and talk about. I used to pour over the cookbooks for hours -- especially the pictures. I even dreamed about food. I was so hungry... all the time. "I didn't want to be `just' ordinary. I wanted my own thing. Because of my low self-esteem, I did not like who I was, the way I acted or what I looked like. Dieting became my identity. It was the one thing in my life that I felt I could exert control over. It was my silent rebellion -- my way of dealing with things that bothered me and getting attention and sympathy from the people around me," explained Amie. "Your mind starts playing games with you. Your body image gets distorted, and you start hearing a voice arguing with you not to eat. No matter how low my weight was, when I looked in the mirror, I did not like my reflection," explained Amie. "I was constantly comparing myself to oth ers. especially the `perfect images' of the models and stars I saw on magazine covers and I just couldn't measure up. Inside, Amie was in constant turmoil. "If I ate, I felt like a failure and if I didn't, I felt hungry and frustrated," said Amie. "I became very depressed and anxious. My life was gone and for that I was sad." By the time she was admitted to the Hospital For Sick Children in Toronto, that summer. Amie had lost 42 pounds, her temperature and pulse rate had both dropped dras tically. and she had an irregular heart beat. She was totally with drawn from her family and friends. "I had no energy and I felt like I had no life. I didn't care about anything, except food and losing weight." "Thank God for Sick Kids. They were the ones who kept her alive and for that I will always be grateful," said Amie's mother. "She was force fed through an eating tube in order to get her out of the danger zone." But, it was a long hard road back to recovery. While Amie started coming home for visits with her eating tube, these first visits were really rough for both her and family. "It was an emotional roller coaster. Just when it looked like she was making real progress she'd have a relapse and she'd have to be re-admitted." recalled her mother. ( S e e T e e n r e a c h e d tu r n in g p o in t. . . ' p a g e B 3 ) F R O M M A Y 9 T O 1 8 O N L Y T h e B o d y S h a p in g Fitness S tu d io F o r W o m e n . All sewing accessories s e w i n g '© o s fX H e rx te fc a n d F tta is . . -- v r a u e r y Drapery hardware M S G f in ia is a n d p o le s e t s m fc . Dirk Gtbhardt Maria Kinlough a¥ (ndwduai sconce) Is there a special lady in your life who is always giving to everyone and doesn't take any time for herself? Here is the perfect opportunity to show her how much you love her by Blinds R e g u la r 60" Polyesters Regular Laces («T - i»')/<y, starting R egular Lace p a n e ls giving her the gift o f health and time. T h e Studio is a beautifully appointed fitness and .health facility exclusively designed for a woman's needs and com fort. 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N e v e r p a y t h e r e g u la r p r ic e w h e n u s in g y o u r Subscribe or renew before Jura 30 . at any BouCUr wvvwboudair.com 1WOT!»-»», O A K V IL L E 4 ! 1 2501 H am pshire G ate Road - (9 05) 822-8444 For more information please call (905) 849-1919 183 Lakeshore Road West, Oakville, Ontario L6K 1E7 (Between Kerr St. & Dorval Dr.) 1 lo «C mt 1 OAKVILLE ·AJAX-ANCASTER · B A R R IE· BRAM PTON· CAM BRIDGE · KINGSTON · LAW RENCESQUARE · M A RK HA M ·M ISSISSAUGA(2 STORES) · OSHAW A· RICHM OND H ILL · SCARBOROUGH· STONEYCREEK· SU D BU RY-VAUGHAN· l-SOftflouChir Inth eo em o fap m titijenaffie # 1b e « Itf«onwp n c * hn p fo ttnrdK K O o nrr** a ryirc rrc o r*x K s rt- 9 'ccear* rb rb ejtse to c tc n n a e rv eth ertfatota ritwrttw A Ju iep rx H Jf» 4 p p k ib * e» rittd.` riera^jrt3i*!c»^jndw rotippk^*otu^»dF aS hotM t-H om tN oD e*a