**Trigger warning - mentions of eating disorders, self-harm and suicide**

Hello beautiful people!

If you know me, you know that I suffered with a mix of anorexia, bulimia and Binge Eating Disorder for three years during and after my time at university. I have always been fairly outspoken about my experiences with anorexia and bulimia, but even as an Ambassador for the UK's eating disorder charity Beat, I have found Binge Eating Disorder to be the hardest to open up about. 

The theme of this year's Eating Disorder Awareness Week (1st March - 7th March) is Binge Eating Disorder, which affects 1 in 50 people, even if they don't know it themselves. There is a stigma and shame around BED which makes it difficult for sufferers to admit what they are going through, and it is often dismissed as 'over-indulging'.

When suffering with BED, my mental health was at its lowest point since the start of my eating disorder. I was totally ashamed and embarrassed by my binges and completely isolated myself from my friends, flatmates and family. By convincing myself that nobody would understand, I drove myself deeper into my head and became paranoid about what others thought about me. 

I began self-harming as I felt so out of control of my own body and emotions. This culminated in an attempt to take my own life when I was 21 years old, after a binge. I felt like I would never be free of the demons in my head and couldn't imagine a world in which I wouldn't feel the need to binge. 

Three years on and I am happy to say that I am fully recovered and have the coping mechanisms in place to deal with any unwelcome emotions around food and exercise. It is vital that people be able to openly talk about their experiences with Binge Eating Disorder and that we combat the stigma surrounding it. So many people suffer in silence because they don't fit the general public's view of what an eating disorder 'should look like' and feel like they don't deserve the help. It's so easy to convince yourself that you are the problem and that you are unworthy which is so dangerous, especially when there is little awareness around this particular eating disorder.

I was supposed to be stepping for 24 hours for this challenge. However, due to a knee injury, I am no longer able to do so and will instead be challenging myself to watch 19 films in five days, from the 1st of to the 5th March. To make it more fun, each of the films will begin with the first letters of B-I-N-G-E-E-A-T-I-N-G-D-I-S-O-R-D-E-R. Any suggestions for film titles beginning with these letters are welcome, as are of course any donations to help me reach my target. 

I will be posting regular updates with each film I watch on my Just Giving page, Instagram and Facebook, as well as a little Q&A about my experience with eating disorders and what you can do to help.  

All my love, Amelie x