Former bulimic lectures students

Approximately 5 percent of college females finish a meal by inducing vomiting, according to the University of Minnesota Medical School. These women suffer from the disease bulimia nervosa. \nLizzy Cameron, a senior at the University of Utah, was once one of them. Last night Cameron spoke to an audience at the Foster Quad formal lounge about her struggles to overcome bulimia as a part of the program "Killing Us Softly."\nThe event was organized by Chad Marriott, a supervisor at Foster. Marriott's staff puts together a program each semester and felt eating disorders would be an appropriate topic this semester. The program coincides with National Eating Disorder Awareness Week.\n"We really wanted to connect with students before it becomes a problem," Marriott said.\nFor Cameron, bulimia became a problem when she was a freshman attending the University of Florida. She exceeded the famed "freshman 15" by gaining 20 pounds. As a result, Cameron became a self-described "hermit" and went through several different diets, including the Atkins diet, which was all the rage at the time.\n"Don't do that diet," Cameron said. "I didn't know what was good or bad anymore. I didn't know what to put in my mouth."\nUnable to lose weight with her diet plans, Cameron turned to bulimia. She described her inability to vomit the first time she tried shoving her finger down the throat. The audience squirmed as she told her struggle just to throw up her meal for the first time.\nSoon after becoming a bulimic, Cameron was able to lose the 20 pounds she had gained as a freshman.\n"I looked into a mirror and said 'This is so worth it,'" Cameron said.\nA change in scene via transferring to the University of Utah for her sophomore year did not improve Cameron's health. By that point, she did not even have to stick a finger down her throat -- her body reacted by naturally vomiting following a meal. \nLike an addiction to drugs or alcohol, eating disorders affect the brain by releasing serotonin improperly, Cameron said.\n"I didn't need to think about what I was doing," Cameron said. "I scheduled my time around my eating disorder."\nFinally, Cameron saw that she needed professional help or her life would be in jeopardy. While an inpatient at a treatment center in Florida, Cameron met young women who went into cardiac arrest and mutilated themselves.\n"I was lucky to have supportive friends and a boyfriend," Cameron said.\nCameron's story was preceded in the program by the showing of the video "Killing Us Softly 3." The event also discussed what various advertisements were trying to portray about the image of women.\nFreshman Naura Keiser found the program to be enjoyable and useful.\n"It was interesting to hear a personal story," Keiser said. "I've never heard (a story like that) in person"