39-year-old, Valeria Levitin is the thinnest woman in the world. At that age, she is expected to weigh between 126 to 168 pounds, which mounts to between 57 kilograms to 76 kilograms.
However, she weighs only 59 pounds which is 26 kilograms only. The most alarming thing is that there are girls who want to be like her. “I have received emails from young girls who want me to teach them how to be like me. All the letters I’ve had are from women, mainly in their twenties, who see me as some kind of inspiration,” she said.
Levitin was originally from Russia but now lives in Monaco. Valeria developed the eating disorder as a teenager after her mother got terrified that she would grow up obese like her other relatives. She was often weighed by her mother to make sure he had not gained any weight.
Right now, what started as weight watching has turned out to be an illness which has changed her life, for the worst. Valeria suffers from an illness called anorexia, a disease which has made her ‘lonely, unattractive and repulsive for the people around me’.
At the age of 16, Valeria moved to Chicago with her parents, at the time, she was weighing 150 pounds or 68 kilograms. She wanted to fit in, just like any other girl at school and decided to lose weight. From her diet, sugar or carbohydrates were thrown out. Right now, even though she wants to eat such foods, her body is intolerant to them and could not process them even if she wanted to, which probably arose from not eating the foods for a long time.
Her determination to lose weight saw her dress size change from a healthy size 12 to a tiny size six at 23. She wanted to be a model but was told she was still too fat and at the age of 24, she was weighing just six stone, she was banned from dancing over concerns she would injure herself.
Valeria’s life has been affected so much; she has been single for a decade because relationships are difficult to maintain because she is unable to do the normal things that couples do, as going to restaurants. She still wants to be a mother but it would not be right for her. “I would love to have a family because I feel I have so much to give. But obviously it wouldn’t be right to have a baby when I am ill. It wouldn’t be fair on the child. I want to stand up to anorexia. I’ve never given up on anything in my life and I’m not about to give up now,” she said.
Valeria before the eating disorder.
Levitin was originally from Russia but now lives in Monaco. Valeria developed the eating disorder as a teenager after her mother got terrified that she would grow up obese like her other relatives. She was often weighed by her mother to make sure he had not gained any weight.
Right now, what started as weight watching has turned out to be an illness which has changed her life, for the worst. Valeria suffers from an illness called anorexia, a disease which has made her ‘lonely, unattractive and repulsive for the people around me’.
At the age of 16, Valeria moved to Chicago with her parents, at the time, she was weighing 150 pounds or 68 kilograms. She wanted to fit in, just like any other girl at school and decided to lose weight. From her diet, sugar or carbohydrates were thrown out. Right now, even though she wants to eat such foods, her body is intolerant to them and could not process them even if she wanted to, which probably arose from not eating the foods for a long time.
Her determination to lose weight saw her dress size change from a healthy size 12 to a tiny size six at 23. She wanted to be a model but was told she was still too fat and at the age of 24, she was weighing just six stone, she was banned from dancing over concerns she would injure herself.
Valeria’s life has been affected so much; she has been single for a decade because relationships are difficult to maintain because she is unable to do the normal things that couples do, as going to restaurants. She still wants to be a mother but it would not be right for her. “I would love to have a family because I feel I have so much to give. But obviously it wouldn’t be right to have a baby when I am ill. It wouldn’t be fair on the child. I want to stand up to anorexia. I’ve never given up on anything in my life and I’m not about to give up now,” she said.
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