Freddie Flintoff reveals the eating disorder he has kept secret for over 20 years - BBC

Thanks for sharing, I wish you the best! You're helping others.

Great role model for speaking his truth - will help so many people to speak up and seek help

This hits home hard

this is interesting here lately i've been hearing that alot of athletes male and female suffer eating disorders i never knew that. i suppose all the pressure to be in a certain shape caneasily lead to disordered eating.

I know I have it and I know I need help 😢

First time I done this I was 18, last time I done it to lose weight I was 45

I have just finished his booked and he talked about the feelings he had when he did this documentary and the reasons so I thought I´d like to watch it.

My son is a teen athlete and we had to put him in residential treatment for anorexia he almost died and then he was bullied in treatment for being a male and that took its own toll on him and he is struggling so much even now I wish more men would speak out

Top man. Thank you for everything. Love from Chorley, Lancashire

Got facial scars. Also skinhead due to baldness. People do judge. Struggled with employment due to this. I hope the world changes.

I feel so lost. I have been binge eating 3 -4 times a day , it's getting so out of control. I can't even look at myself anymore. I feel disgusted. He broke up with me after 5 years of relationship and I couldn't share my feelings with anyone and kept eating non stop , gained 8 kga in 3 months and I take laxative after eating. I don't know how to stop.

I’m really afraid because I’m struggling with same issue right now and honestly don’t know how it gonna end… :)

Thank you for this! I been bulimic for 8 years and it's the most difficult habit to brake! Sending good vibes ✨️

That's a surprise.

👏👏👏

❤

We all have issues, most of us just deal with it. What is the big deal on this? Can the guy just not deal with it like the rest of people or is he on some Sort of pedestal to increase awareness for something that frankly is not new and normal people manage to deal with on a daily basis without crying about.. if he feels he needs medical care I get that, but where is the big deal?

He's hot

Thank you so much for this

WHEN I TURNED 48 YRS OLD AND FINALLY REALIZED...MY BODY WAS CHANGING.."WHAT HAPPENED TO MY FLAT STOMACH"...I REALIZED I LOOKED EQUALIVENT TO A WOMAN AT 6 MONTHS PREGNANT...MY HIGHEST..209 PDS...MIND U I HAVE ARMS LIKE ALIEN...A BUTT LIKE A 20 YR OLD MY WEIGHT NOW DONT DONT CARE...CUZ I REALIZE U HAVE TO WORK WITH WHAT U GOT...AND DO IT HEALTHY BOTH INSIDE AND OUT...SLOWLY AND FIND WHAT WORKS FOR YOU...I PERSONALLY HAVE TRAINED MY SELF TO THE WATER FAST DIET...I ONLY DRINK WATER IN THE MORNING...I EAT MY FIRST MEAL AT NOON (MOSTLY FIBER AND PROTEIN FOODS)... THEN I WATER FAST AGAIN UNTIL 6 PM...THEN I EAT AND DONE TILL THE NEXT DAY...THIS ROUTINE WORKS FOR ME PERSONALLY BUT THE TRICK IS FIND WHAT WORKS FOR YOU AND MAKE SURE ITS HEALTHY ONE...WE AS MEN NEED TO REALIZE OUR BODIES CHANGE AFTER EACH 15 YR CYCLE...U CANT DO IT OVER NIGHT BUT U DO IT SLOWLY AND AT THE SAME NURISHING UR INSIDE AS WELL AS OUT...I CUT ALL.SUGAR...ALL SWEETS...NO SODA...AND NO PROCESS FOODS... THE FIRST THING I DID AND REALIZED U HAVE TO PUT UR MIND TO IT...BE STRICT AND U U HAVE TO WANT TO DO IT...ONCE U FIND WHATS RIGHT FOR YOU... I FEEL SO MUCH HEALTHIER MORE ENERGY AND FOCUSED...DO UR REASEARCH...WATCH VIDEOS AND FIND THE RIGHT OPTION...✌

The hardest thing about bulimia is everyone around you thinking you're doing well, but you're too ashamed to tell anyone the truth.

The UK tabloids and every single person who writes the articles, takes the photos and buys them - have a special place waiting in hell for them.

I didn’t think I ‘was serious enough’ for treatment. At that time I was in hospital for malnutrition and starvation syndrome. The doctor told me I would have been dead within a month as my blood pressure was 70/30. Yet I still felt I was fine and it was perfectly ok for someone ‘my size’ to not eat food and consume only hydrolyte. Eating disorders lie to us.

I suffered from this for about 1 year, and that was one of the worst years of my life. I somehow convinced myself that it was either bulimia or starving, and if I didn't do either of these I would become obese. I really thought there was no way out. Now, I am fully recovered. Life does have a light, it's hard to find but it is there. 💫💛 Never give up hope.

Thank you

i feel where he’s coming from it’s so hard to see your self the way you are when you were 450 pounds and now 175 i just hate myself

It’s funny cos the helpline listed isn’t even active, very helpful… that’s not even the first one I’ve seen that’s not active

I'm always amazed at how bulimics get away with having a secret eating disorder. If you're not noticeably underweight people don't look twice.

Aah thankyou so much you are so ooooo brave I’ve been battling for years and can relate so much and I’m a women and no one that hasn’t been through it really cannot and will not understand and now I’m born again Christian I cry to the lord for deliverance from the demons that influences me and my fears in my body I pray this will be more spoken about that many could be freed 🙏🏻

The lady said it right. Gender sociology plays a role in treatment.

people who never cry (I have been one) very, very often are controlling so many parts of themselves and their lives that those emotions and grief are simply not allowed to exist. The moment that armour comes off the tears can hit so hard

It’s such a hard thing for me to admit too. Thank you, Freddie, for your courage to share your quite identifiable story.

Facebook won't allow me to share this video. Apparently it goes against their 'community standards'. That's disgusting.

I’ve been bulimic on and off for over a decade. It is so addicting and so so hard to break free from the cycle. I was diagnosed with anorexia binge/purge subtype once I became underweight. You get to eat all the junk food you could possibly want and not have to worry about gaining weight, and this is one of many reasons why it’s so hard to stop. I am 100% addicted to ultra-processed food. I crave it like a drug, and I can’t talk to anyone about it unless I want to be looked at like I’m a disgusting pig.

I have bulemia end i worck like sex worker end me life is boulshet im no like that please help me

I never use the word bulimia but it has controlled my life since I was 11. I am now 39 and have been hospitalised 3 times on 3 months and I am at risk of a heart attack. Freddie is so brave to speak honestly about this as no one understands.

Legend - men suffer like this in silence

I like frddies big hit, he hit sixes very easily

I know exactly how you feel, 41 and going through the exact same thing. I dont know how to stop 😢

:( <3

A central symptom in eating disorders is denial, and, esp when I was hospitalized back in the late 80s, there was some belief that men didn't even GET them, or that if they did it was somehow tied to , I guess you'd say, "transgender" issues. As well, secrecy and shame are part of it all, and so to be a man with it meant you were somehow ''girly", what then-as-now is rooted in the ultimate insult a man can face, and with homophobia and male-targeted sexism feeding it. And when it's not something people associate with men, it's far easier to engage in it and few would even consider it as possible.

Kados to this man for speaking out ❤

Brave yes, but him saying ‘don’t know when it will happen again..’ to me it’s like- not even close to the real thing. SORRY
But good for him I guess

I’m 39 and suffered with binge eating/ bulimia since I was 8/9 years old, I tried to get help but feel like it’s something I have to live with now, I have lost and gained weight so rapidly over and over again it’s soul destroying
It feel like a really bad coping mechanism I can’t break
I go to the gym, I train and do cardio, ran half marathons and triathlons but all to counteract the binges. I just feel like I’m not good enough or never doing enough, everything I do is extreme. It makes me deeply unhappy when outside I look like I’m really happy and I love helping others just not myself 😢

i'm really sorry you are going though this Freddie. i also am and i also don't cry but maybe that's a part of the problem.

as a bulimic, this is so validating… I’ve often felt I was an impostor…

I try keeping it secret but at a certain point people can tell. But I'm not bulimic. I'm anorexic. Although years ago I used to binge and purge so I understand that as well.

Bulimia is no joke. I'm a 29 year old male who has had issues with bulimia for 11 years now. Growing up, I was overweight and got made fun of. To this day, I still feel the same way, like people are looking at me and judging me on my weight. Lately, I have been going back to the gym and ao far I've lost 15 lbs in three weeks, meal prepping and just eating less. I will say though, eating less has made it harder for me, since when I tend to eat a lot, I feel guilty and...you know the rest. I am thankfully going to a psychiatrist and taking medication (for OCD, Anxiety and Depression), so next session, I plan on bringing that up.

Just remember, there is help. You deserve to love yourself for who you are. Don't let your mind tell you otherwise, even though it is hard to not believe those intrusive thoughts. Believe me, I know it all too well.

Freddie, I’m Collin. I was Bulimic for 4 years. I was hospitalized multiple times, my potassium dropped to dangerous levels and my heart couldn’t beat. Pulled out of highschool to go to a clinic for a year. Being the ONLY MAN… there. It killed me.

I recovered, I cried, I worked my ASS off and I became a United States Marine. You are not alone and I love you

He’s a really likeable guy, has been through a lot