Shalyn Fettes Foster was eating only 300 to 500 calories a day when she agreed with loved ones to seek help at a residential treatment center for annorexia nervosa. "It's the devil in my life," she said.
Shalyn's pursued her compulsive need to weigh herself even after she tried to stop herself by breaking her scale. She went to Kmart on her lunch breaks and weighed herself in the houseware department.
Upset with the scrutiny from co-workers about her eating, Shalyn left the office for lunch in January and agonized in her car whether to eat fat-free crackers.
While her fiance, Brent, fixed himself a hearty lunch, Shalyn settled on a small pile of bran flakes for lunch one Sunday in January.
Shalyn tried an ab lounger she received for her birthday in September. Shalyn said a compulsion to over exercise partially triggered her eating disorder.
Brent says Shalyn's struggles are "a living hell and very stressful. It's frustrating because it doesn't matter what I say or do. It's hard on her and hard on me. It hurts to see her hurt."
Shalyn was initially diligent about planning her meals in the days and weeks after her return from an eating disorder clinic. On a June lunch break, Shalyn picked at and eventually finished a McDonald's salad.
At a bachlorette party, Shalyn pulled out a calorie guide before ordering food with best friends Gwen Boeglin, left, and Emily Schum. During her darkest periods, Shalyn limited contact with her twin friends. "We really felt helpless," Gwen said. "She wouldn't even talk to us to tell us how she's doing."
Shaylyn was excited about her May wedding to Brent and the two had fun picking out makeup the week before the ceremony.
Shalyn and her husband, Brent, released a dove at their wedding to symbolize a new chapter in their life, which she hoped would include gettting control of the thoughts and feelings that trigger her eating disorder.
Shalyn took a more active interest in her and husband Brent's weekly shopping trips so that she could better plan her meals. "No one can make me change," she said. "That's something I have to do. I have to make that decision daily."