Erica Lugo.Photo: Jon Kopaloff/Getty ImagesForErica Lugo, the past year has been all about working on her mental health.TheBiggest Losertrainer, 35,struggled with binging and purging her foodfor a period of eight months in 2016. In the nearly six years since then, it hasn’t happened again. But when she started to have thoughts of restricting her eating as shefilmed the weight loss showin 2019 — thoughts that continued through the pandemic — Lugo knew she needed to reach out for help.“What people don’t realize about weight loss or food addiction or drug addiction or eating disorders is that just because you’re in recovery, that doesn’t mean that that devil on your shoulder goes away completely. It just means that I get better at dealing with it,” she tells PEOPLE.And when she started to deal with those disordered thoughts again over the last two years — the biggest red-flag moment coming during filming when she stopped for a slice of pizza and spent the rest of the night sitting on her bathroom floor, “analyzing” her choice — Lugo “came clean” toher husband Dannyand reached out to her old therapist, who had helped her in 2016.“I had to say to [Danny], ‘Hey, I need to tell you something about my past, because right now I’m starting to feel a bit inadequate with my feelings towards food or working out,’ " she says. “‘This is what happened to me five plus years ago. If you see me acting strangely towards food or acting strangely towards working out, these are signs. I need you to be aware of that. This is what I struggled with.’ “In the last few months, Lugo says she’s “done so much inner work” tochange the way she thinks about food and exercise.“Now I work out because I enjoy it. I’m no longer trying to hit a certain caloric burn. I talk to my therapist every single week. I kind of intuitively eat. I listen to my body and if I’m hungry, I eat. If I’m not, I don’t, and that’s taken a lot of work,” she says.In the process, Lugo has gained about 10 lbs., “but I am the healthiest I’ve ever been in my life,” she says.RELATED VIDEO: Erica Lugo Lost Over 100 Lbs. Before Becoming a Trainer on ‘Biggest Loser’: ‘I Relived My Journey’That’s why, when an Instagram commenter started criticizing her for gaining weight, she decided to speak out andshare her past eating disorder experience.“I’ve built a really thick skin over the years. I think I’ve been forced to do that,” she says. “But that commenter in particular was doing more of a bullying attack — they commented on multiple posts and ‘mooed’ at me — it just went on and on. I felt like it was time to speak up because the last two years for me have been really transformative and I really healed a lot of past traumas that I had.“After sharing her story, Lugo received an outpouring of support.“I can’t tell you how many people have come to me — and I can cry talking about this,” she says. “I’ve had so many women message me and say ‘Thank you,’ or ‘Because of your post, I’ve gone 24 hours without a purge.’ “And Lugo wants people to understand that eating disorders are a “spectrum,” and not as cut and dry as they may seem.“It’s everything from being addicted to your fitness watch, watching your calories, obsessively working out too much, bingeing and purging, restricting: it’s this huge spectrum. And it never goes away,” she says. “You have to work at it for the rest of your life. So it was really important for me to talk about that and put that out there. This was the year of me coming to terms with myself and my issues and no longer hiding it.“If you or someone you know is battling an eating disorder, please contact the National Eating Disorders Association (NEDA) at 1-800-931-2237 or go to NationalEatingDisorders.org.
Erica Lugo.Photo: Jon Kopaloff/Getty Images
ForErica Lugo, the past year has been all about working on her mental health.TheBiggest Losertrainer, 35,struggled with binging and purging her foodfor a period of eight months in 2016. In the nearly six years since then, it hasn’t happened again. But when she started to have thoughts of restricting her eating as shefilmed the weight loss showin 2019 — thoughts that continued through the pandemic — Lugo knew she needed to reach out for help.“What people don’t realize about weight loss or food addiction or drug addiction or eating disorders is that just because you’re in recovery, that doesn’t mean that that devil on your shoulder goes away completely. It just means that I get better at dealing with it,” she tells PEOPLE.And when she started to deal with those disordered thoughts again over the last two years — the biggest red-flag moment coming during filming when she stopped for a slice of pizza and spent the rest of the night sitting on her bathroom floor, “analyzing” her choice — Lugo “came clean” toher husband Dannyand reached out to her old therapist, who had helped her in 2016.“I had to say to [Danny], ‘Hey, I need to tell you something about my past, because right now I’m starting to feel a bit inadequate with my feelings towards food or working out,’ " she says. “‘This is what happened to me five plus years ago. If you see me acting strangely towards food or acting strangely towards working out, these are signs. I need you to be aware of that. This is what I struggled with.’ “In the last few months, Lugo says she’s “done so much inner work” tochange the way she thinks about food and exercise.“Now I work out because I enjoy it. I’m no longer trying to hit a certain caloric burn. I talk to my therapist every single week. I kind of intuitively eat. I listen to my body and if I’m hungry, I eat. If I’m not, I don’t, and that’s taken a lot of work,” she says.In the process, Lugo has gained about 10 lbs., “but I am the healthiest I’ve ever been in my life,” she says.RELATED VIDEO: Erica Lugo Lost Over 100 Lbs. Before Becoming a Trainer on ‘Biggest Loser’: ‘I Relived My Journey’That’s why, when an Instagram commenter started criticizing her for gaining weight, she decided to speak out andshare her past eating disorder experience.“I’ve built a really thick skin over the years. I think I’ve been forced to do that,” she says. “But that commenter in particular was doing more of a bullying attack — they commented on multiple posts and ‘mooed’ at me — it just went on and on. I felt like it was time to speak up because the last two years for me have been really transformative and I really healed a lot of past traumas that I had.“After sharing her story, Lugo received an outpouring of support.“I can’t tell you how many people have come to me — and I can cry talking about this,” she says. “I’ve had so many women message me and say ‘Thank you,’ or ‘Because of your post, I’ve gone 24 hours without a purge.’ “And Lugo wants people to understand that eating disorders are a “spectrum,” and not as cut and dry as they may seem.“It’s everything from being addicted to your fitness watch, watching your calories, obsessively working out too much, bingeing and purging, restricting: it’s this huge spectrum. And it never goes away,” she says. “You have to work at it for the rest of your life. So it was really important for me to talk about that and put that out there. This was the year of me coming to terms with myself and my issues and no longer hiding it.“If you or someone you know is battling an eating disorder, please contact the National Eating Disorders Association (NEDA) at 1-800-931-2237 or go to NationalEatingDisorders.org.
ForErica Lugo, the past year has been all about working on her mental health.
TheBiggest Losertrainer, 35,struggled with binging and purging her foodfor a period of eight months in 2016. In the nearly six years since then, it hasn’t happened again. But when she started to have thoughts of restricting her eating as shefilmed the weight loss showin 2019 — thoughts that continued through the pandemic — Lugo knew she needed to reach out for help.
“What people don’t realize about weight loss or food addiction or drug addiction or eating disorders is that just because you’re in recovery, that doesn’t mean that that devil on your shoulder goes away completely. It just means that I get better at dealing with it,” she tells PEOPLE.
And when she started to deal with those disordered thoughts again over the last two years — the biggest red-flag moment coming during filming when she stopped for a slice of pizza and spent the rest of the night sitting on her bathroom floor, “analyzing” her choice — Lugo “came clean” toher husband Dannyand reached out to her old therapist, who had helped her in 2016.
“I had to say to [Danny], ‘Hey, I need to tell you something about my past, because right now I’m starting to feel a bit inadequate with my feelings towards food or working out,’ " she says. “‘This is what happened to me five plus years ago. If you see me acting strangely towards food or acting strangely towards working out, these are signs. I need you to be aware of that. This is what I struggled with.’ "
In the last few months, Lugo says she’s “done so much inner work” tochange the way she thinks about food and exercise.
“Now I work out because I enjoy it. I’m no longer trying to hit a certain caloric burn. I talk to my therapist every single week. I kind of intuitively eat. I listen to my body and if I’m hungry, I eat. If I’m not, I don’t, and that’s taken a lot of work,” she says.
In the process, Lugo has gained about 10 lbs., “but I am the healthiest I’ve ever been in my life,” she says.
RELATED VIDEO: Erica Lugo Lost Over 100 Lbs. Before Becoming a Trainer on ‘Biggest Loser’: ‘I Relived My Journey’
That’s why, when an Instagram commenter started criticizing her for gaining weight, she decided to speak out andshare her past eating disorder experience.
“I’ve built a really thick skin over the years. I think I’ve been forced to do that,” she says. “But that commenter in particular was doing more of a bullying attack — they commented on multiple posts and ‘mooed’ at me — it just went on and on. I felt like it was time to speak up because the last two years for me have been really transformative and I really healed a lot of past traumas that I had.”
After sharing her story, Lugo received an outpouring of support.
“I can’t tell you how many people have come to me — and I can cry talking about this,” she says. “I’ve had so many women message me and say ‘Thank you,’ or ‘Because of your post, I’ve gone 24 hours without a purge.’ "
And Lugo wants people to understand that eating disorders are a “spectrum,” and not as cut and dry as they may seem.
“It’s everything from being addicted to your fitness watch, watching your calories, obsessively working out too much, bingeing and purging, restricting: it’s this huge spectrum. And it never goes away,” she says. “You have to work at it for the rest of your life. So it was really important for me to talk about that and put that out there. This was the year of me coming to terms with myself and my issues and no longer hiding it.”
If you or someone you know is battling an eating disorder, please contact the National Eating Disorders Association (NEDA) at 1-800-931-2237 or go to NationalEatingDisorders.org.
source: people.com
