Lubbock joining over 50 cities, hosting National Eating Disorders Association walk

LUBBOCK, Texas (KCBD) - Lubbock is joining more than 50 cities around the nation to host a walk to spread awareness about eating disorders and break up the common misconceptions that come with them.

The NEDA Walk is Saturday at Urbanovsky Park Amphitheater and jogging trail at 11 a.m. Lucy Sayah, a college sophomore in her third year of recovery from her own battle against anorexia nervosa, was willing to share her story to try and provide hope and support to others.

“All of that manifested itself into the one thing i had control over, which was how much food I was intaking,” Sayah said.

There is no singular cause for eating disorders. According to the National Eating Disorders Association, 28.8 million Americans will suffer from an eating disorder at some point in their life.

“Just lots of comparisons on social media, family members or friends that act a certain way around food; it’s really easy to get influenced by other people, and even low self-esteem low self-confidence, negative body image,” Sayah said.

Lucy said no two disorders look the same.

“It quickly turned into a problem that was a lot deeper than about the food. It just became this whirlwind of issues that I wasn’t able to fix on my own. I needed professional help,” she said.

Sayah says it was never about her size or her weight, rather the false narrative that lived with her in the back of her mind.

“Work with therapists, dieticians, psychiatrists to sort of rewire these negative core beliefs that I had in my brain and then move forward from there,” she said.

Lucy says full recovery is possible with support and the right state of mind.

“Everybody wants the person to get better and for them to thrive and remember that no one is trying to work against you, they’re just trying to work with you.”

NEDA holds a walk every year to show people they are not alone and there are resources out there to help you succeed. If you would like to pre-register click here. Or you can register at the walk starting at 10 a.m.

If you are struggling with an eating disorder, you can help here.

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