‘Precious Life' - From Purge To Pro

We often hear histories of eating disorders and how these shape the individual’s lives forever… but never has a story resonated quite so profoundly as Elisa Pecini’s

- Bruna Bueno

The twenty-two-year-old Brazilian IFBB Bikini Pro Athlete, that went from a young woman near death, suffering with a severe eating disorder, to the Mr. Olympia stage, a dream never thought possible before.

It all started at around thirteen years of age when Elisa and friends created a routine of weighing themselves after school. Unbeknownst to Elisa, she was creating a path that would taint her life forever; the one of not being good enough. Despite never being overweight, Elisa began comparing her weight to her friends and become upset that she was the heaviest in her group. Her desire to have toned abs catalysed her weight loss journey. The routine become a habit, that then became a dangerous competition between teenage girls. Elisa started adjusting her eating patterns, which led to a small weight loss.

A report of a model that passed away with severe anorexia caught the attention of Pecini. The report was telecasted by a major channel in Brazil, intended to alert youths and families about the problem that it was (and still is) an underrated and underexposed issue. Unfortunately, it also gave insights for those looking for ways to lose body weight. They described all the forms the young woman used to force a purge, how she avoided eating and over-exercised. Not long after the broadcast; paying special attention to those details, Elisa gorged on chicken nuggets and for the first time she forced herself to try and throw up, pushing a toothbrush down her throat. She went onto hurt herself, without managing to elicit any vomit. It was enough to make her promise herself to never try anything similar again. She didn’t know the promise would be broken soon after.