'I weighed 46 kilos': Baker, 22, whose severe anorexia saw her obsessively exercising and measuring her food reveals how she overcame the disease to launch a successful cake business
- Eden McPhillips, 22, weighed 46kg before she turned her life around
- She then won My Kitchen Rules NZ and launched her own vegan treat business
- The home baker recalled darker days as she reflected on her business success
- Now, Eden's tasty vegan treats are stocked in cafes across the country
A talented home baker has revealed how she overcame severe anorexia to launch a booming cake business stocking cafes around New Zealand.
Eden McPhillips, 22, weighed just 46 kilograms at her lowest point, before she turned her life around and went on to win My Kitchen Rules NZ and then launch her own business.
'I weighed 46 kilos, I weighed everything I ate, gymed twice a day, had absolutely no life, no chat, no love for my body,' Eden recalled on her Instagram page recently.
A talented home baker has revealed how she overcame severe anorexia to launch a booming cake business stocking cafes around New Zealand (pictured in 2015 and today)
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Eden McPhillips (pictured), 22, weighed just 46 kilos at her lowest point, before she turned her life around and went on to win My Kitchen Rules NZ and then launch her own business
'Moving forward nearly four years and I'm 70kg, I eat what I want, when I want, how much I want, I love my body and everything that it is, I respect it, I nourish it and I'll be damned if I ever weigh a single calorie again.'
Now, Eden runs a raw vegan treats business (pictured)
The 22-year-old said she started struggling with an eating disorder four years ago, when thoughts of how many 'calories and macros' were in food started dominating her mind.
While Eden did go into recovery around three years ago, she said it was 'twice as hard' to get better.
'Recovery sucked,' she said.
'It took over a year for me to figure it how to eat intuitively and it took even longer for me to accept new jiggly bits on my body.'
Today, Eden weighs around 70kg, but more importantly, she said she has learned to respect and love her body.
'I weighed 46 kilos, I weighed everything I ate, gymed twice a day, had absolutely no life, no chat, no love for my body,' Eden recalled (pictured in 2015 and now)
'Moving forward nearly four years and I'm 70kg, I eat what I want, when I want, how much I want, I love my body and everything that it is, I respect it, I nourish it,' she said (pictured now)
And personal success only went on to build career success.
After winning My Kitchen Rules NZ in 2018, Eden started her raw vegan baking business Garden of Eden Cakes five months ago.
She now has 15 cafe stockists, as well as country-wide frozen freight delivery to people's homes.
The business offers all sorts of treats - from picture-perfect berry cakes to a Snickers option and a decadent salted caramel offering.
'It's actually going better than I thought it was going to go,' Eden told Stuff.
After winning My Kitchen Rules NZ in 2018, Eden started her raw vegan baking business Garden of Eden Cakes five months ago (pictured with her cakes)
'I don't think I knew what stress was until I started this business,' Eden (left) said - she said she usually starts work at about 4.30am and doesn't finish till 6.30pm
That being said, it hasn't always been plain sailing:
'I don't think I knew what stress was until I started this business,' she said.
'I'm usually in there about 4.30am and get out about 6.30pm.
'I haven't slept in about five months but it's rewarding and it's kind of like one of those things where the harder you work the harder you do get rewarded.'
Eden also has more than 14,000 followers on Instagram, where her followers keep updated with her baking.
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