'Fat Positive' Sharon Maxwell Talks About Her Atypical Anorexia Nervosa Diagnosis And Tess Holliday Shows Her Support

Sharon Maxwell, whose strict parents taught her from a young age that gluttony is a sin, had to work through her inner conflict and guilt surrounding food. She was forcing herself to eat three meals and three snacks a day in order to recover from the adverse health effects she got from anorexia. Maxwell has even burned her esophagus from years of damage due to purging. She had heart palpitations and experienced dizziness from low blood pressure, and the effects of malnutrition were also present in her brittle hair and nails. Eventually, Maxwell started to get the help that she needed and began "eating enough food" to where she was allowed to engage in physical activities – not to "lose weight," but to live a healthier lifestyle. But because of her size, people would have never guessed that she suffered from an eating disorder.