Anorexia after 40: ‘I felt so embarrassed and such a poor role model for my daughter’

T he day Mary* booked to go on a group golfing holiday, she was excited. But in the weeks leading up to the trip, she became anxious and preoccupied. She knew she would have to eat more than usual to be inconspicuous, even if there were self-serve buffet options and she could push salad around on a plate. She wouldn’t be able to weigh herself. She wouldn’t be able to eat only her “safe” foods. “I was thinking: how can I get a feasible excuse so I can get out of it?”