A woman who dropped to five stone during her anorexia battle could soon be crowned Miss England.
Jess Hynes said she now wants to help others after struggling with the eating disorder. The 21-year-old became obsessed with obtaining the perfect body image due to social media.
She said she was completely focused on her weight and began training excessively during lockdown while watching fitness videos.
The psychology student became obsessed with gaining the "perfect healthy lifestyle" but was unknowingly harming herself as her total body weight plummeted to 34kg. She only realised her problem after visiting a GP who told her she was fine and should "eat a few more pies".
However, due to only consuming 700 calories a day, she later ended up in hospital and underwent cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) for her condition. Soon enough, Jess' weight went back up to a healthier eight stone.
Following her return to a healthier lifestyle, Jess plucked up the courage to enter the Miss Cheshire beauty pageant. Last week, she was crowned the winner at a ceremony in Manchester, throwing her into the final running to be Miss England 2022.
Now, Jess wants to use her platform as a beauty queen and anorexia survivor to help and inspire others who may be living with an eating disorder. Jess, from Chester, said: "I have come a long way and I look back now and can't believe what I used to be like.
"I started having eating problems at the age of 18 when university life had started but it got worse during the first lockdown. I was seeing all these fitness gurus saying you can do all these home workouts. With too much time on my hands I got obsessed with the perfect healthy lifestyle.
"I was working out excessive amounts - it was mainly Joe Wicks videos and YouTube influencers like Chloe Ting - but I was cutting food too. The misconception with anorexia is that we don’t eat anything but we obviously do.
"I would have Weetabix for breakfast, some toast at 3pm and then something lean for dinner, like one chicken breast. Snacking never happened. You get these food rules in your head. A by-product of anorexia is OCD. You have your safe foods that would work for you.
"I would say it was 700 calories in a day. I did track it for the first few months. My lowest weight was 34kg, which shocks people. Biologically you are living but you're not living.
"I knew that I wasn’t living and I was not just hurting myself but others who cared about me. When I was at my lowest weight I didn’t go to the doctors for a while. I was 40kg, and the doctor weighed me and just told me I was fine and to eat some more pies.
"It's quite difficult to change your life when you’re so stuck in the (mindset of) losing weight. I used cognitive behavioural therapy which I still have remotely and go in for appointments every few weeks.
"I got my social life back and saw food again as something to enjoy and nourish my body. I would say I have 2,000 calories a day now. My metabolism has changed. I starved it for so long that I wanted to eat everything. I snack a lot more now."
Speaking about the trigger for her illness, she said: "I would say social media is the main cause behind it. I'm a perfectionist and on social media you have unrealistic versions of what is supposed to be 'perfect'. It's a good environment social media but it can be quite toxic.
"So instead of being ‘perfect’ I want to show that we all have insecurities too and make mistakes because everybody is different and you never know what anyone is going through."
Entering the Miss England competition wasn't a lifetime goal. "I didn’t even know what Miss England was", she said. "I was told about it through word of mouth. I didn’t actually think it would be an option for me until I recovered from anorexia when I figured I should just enter because I might never do it.
"I entered Miss England because I was hoping to firstly show myself I can be confident and now I have the strength that I did not have last year to do it this year. I lost a sense of self worth for two years and I wanted to get that back.
"I wanted to spread awareness of anorexia and the damage it can do but to also inspire other sufferers to find the strength to recover. I have always been about living in the moment and this is why Miss England for me is so exciting because you never know what you could achieve with ambition.
“I’m looking to get involved with Beat, the eating disorder charity, as they have close links with Miss England. I also applied for a modelling agency in London and I got signed two months ago so I want to see where that takes me too.
"My goal from the start has always been to inspire young women who may be in the same position I was."
Jess will be taking part in the Miss England final on October 17 at the Heart of England Conference and Events Centre in Coventry.
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