A SWANSEA skating coach who says she went an entire summer without eating a proper meal has lifted the lid on living with anorexia.

Sarah Perrot said she would nibble on apples and grapes as the condition took hold of her life.

It started after she was laid up with an injury and began to comfort eat.

But anorexia took over her life and she shed four dress sizes in a short space of time.

It wasn't until she overheard friends talking about her and was horrified at what she saw in the mirror that she took action. She has now spoken out to try to make others aware of the problem.

She said: "One day I overheard some friends speaking about me and they were brutally saying how thin I was and how they noticed I never ate.

"I turned to a mirror and looked and for the first time I saw me and I was horrified. My clavicle bone was so bony, my face was sunken in the cheeks.

"I went from hating it because it was too fat to horrified at how bad it looked. No coach had ever told me I was too small at this stage, they had said it was good how much weight I had lost."

The city-based 20-year- old first started having issues with her weight as a teenager. She went from being an average-sized 14-year-old competitive figure skater but saw the pounds pile on after breaking her shin during training.

Sarah was left immobilised by the cast and started feeling depressed, leading her to turn to food for comfort. But her determination to be the same weight as the other girls on the ice saw her weight spiral downwards. She said: "I decided I would be as trim as those other girls, no matter what.

"During my first set of AS exams we had eight weeks off school to revise.

"There was nobody to show that I was eating — no lunch time, no friends, no teachers — so I just stopped."

She added: "Comments would be passed by family members that I was losing weight but I would say I was stressed due to exams."

Sarah went from a size 16 to a size 12 but was determined to slim even further as the girls she was competing alongside were size four or six.

She said because of the amount of time she was out clubbing during the summer of 2008, she hardly touched any food.

"The constant hangovers took away my appetite even more. During the summer I can't remember eating a meal — maybe grazing on some grapes or apples, but that's about it," she added.

Her waistline shrunk to a size six after doing 12-hour shifts on the ice.

She started eating again — at first she would have a meal in college, then two meals in college and one at home in the evening.

Sarah managed to build up to a healthy size eight and said after meeting fiance Daniel in June 2008 she was determined to live a normal life.

"I eat five small healthy meals a day and a protein shake to help maintain my muscles," she added.

"I have found a healthy balance in my life. Nothing is restricted from me, I don't cut anything out."

She said she would talk to youngsters she was coaching if she noticed they were displaying the same habits as she did.

"Coaches and mentors need to realise that their behaviour and what they say has a reaction to pupils," she added.

elizabeth.perkins@swwmedia.co.uk