Bikini competitor who once weighed less than 37kg says she looked at fitness blogs and pro-anorexic sites to judge her body before spiralling into an eating disorder

The bikini competitor who once weighed less than 37kg has said fitness blogs impacted her body image and are triggering for the unrealistic bodies they depict.

Kaitlyn Davidson, 24, suffered a two-year battle with an eating disorder that nearly killed her – warned by doctors that her heart could stop, while her hair fell out and her period stopped.

The Sydney woman from the eastern suburbs has since gone on to become a strong bikini competitor.

Ms Davidson shared her experiences of suffering with and overcoming anorexia on ABC2’s Hack Live on Body Obsession with Tom Tilley on Tuesday night.

Scroll down for video  

Kaitlyn Davidson once weighed less than 37kg (pictured). Now recovered, she told ABC2's Hack Live on Body Obsession that fitspo blogs can have negative impacts

Now 24-years-old, Ms Davidson has recovered and is now a bikini competitor (pictured)

She said she had been looking at ‘fitspo’ and ‘pro-ana’ blogs before she became ill – referring to fit-spiration and pro-anorexic, or 'thinspo' social media sites.

Ms Davidson said the blogs were not the reason she became ill, but that unrealistic bodies represented on those sites impacted the perception of her body image.

The 24-year-old said there was ‘a fine line between fitness and obsession’, according to news.com.au.

She agreed with fellow panellist, Megan – who is currently battling bulimia – that it is important for her to avoid fitspo and thinspo blogs which can trigger her body issues.

She was told by a doctor her heart could stop at any time, her hair began falling out and her menstrual periods stopped and daily activity caused her pain

She told ABC2's Hack Live on Body Obsession (panel pictured) on Tuesday night, hosted by Tom Tilley, fitspo and thinspo blogs were not the reason she became ill, but that unrealistic bodies represented on those sites impacted the perception of her body image

‘I avoid fitness blogs and pro-ana blogs,’ Megan said. ‘They’re quite similar.’

The conversation followed an observation from actor and writer Nakkiah Lui, who questioned whether fitness blogger and fellow panellist Ashy Bines would be as successful if she had the same lifestyle but was much bigger in size.

One on Twitter said she would not be successful as a fitness blogger if she had a different body, regardless of her health.

‘You can be fat and fit but you literally never see anyone close to the national average size or above it in “fitspo” circles,’ Catherine Bouris wrote on Twitter.

She added that fitspo makes 'unrealistic demands' that are 'unattainable for so many'. 

'When you just see the photo removed from the "journey", fitspo and thinspo can look identical,' Nora Grets wrote. 

Louise Adams, a clinical psychologist, said on Hack, Triple J, earlier that day: ‘Thinspo and fitspo aren’t that different. We’re being told to look a certain way.’

Kaitlyn came back from the brink in 2013, when daily activity caused her pain.

‘I had to fake it until I made it,’ she told the ABC program about recovering. ‘I can now say I love myself because I almost lost myself.’

 ‘I wake up every day happy with myself,’ she said. ‘I can now say I love myself because I almost lost myself'

‘I wake up every day happy with myself,’ she said.

She is due to compete for the second time in May in the World Bikini Fitness and Fashion.

'My love and passion for the gym and health turned to a deadly obsession,’ Kaitlyn said, Mail Online reported in December.

'Some days I would even exercise three times a day, I would have spent up to five or so hours in the gym overall in one day at times.

'The eating disorder became so out of control that my heart could have stopped at any moment.

'I was addicted to pushing myself beyond my expectation, of completely exhausting myself and viewing food as the enemy.

It was during a Christmas holiday to Hawaii in 2012 that Kaitlyn finally admitted she was sick.

Kaitlyn came back from the brink in 2013, when daily activity caused her pain. ‘I had to fake it until I made it,’ she told the ABC program about recovering

'I am now very balanced in my life and am working with my coach towards my next bikini competition'

Kaitlyn spent hours in the hotel gym alone, had to control every meal, including on Christmas Day, and found that only children's clothes would fit her.

She said: 'I couldn't even enjoy going for a swim because I was constantly freezing let alone be without a jacket.

'My mum gave me [American actress] Portia De Rossi's autobiography and her story was just too similar to mine to ignore.

'I began identifying my habits with hers and the further I got into the book the more boxes I was ticking off in my head.

'This was when it became real to me that there was a problem.'

On her return Kaitlyn agreed to see a doctor and a year later she was chasing her dream of becoming a bikini competitor with the help of her sister, Ashleigh, who also competes.

Kaitlyn shares her journey on Instagram and has more than 11,100 followers. She has been posting before and after shots (pictured) since recovering from anorexia

'It may sound cliche but I am finally where I dreamed and knew I would be. I genuinely wake up every day grateful and happy just to be here, to work hard and live life to the full,' she wrote alongside this image with comparative shots

'I knew I would achieve this goal and it was what motivated me to push through some of the toughest days of my life.

'I knew I would get myself here one day and that day was one I will never forget.

Kaitlyn praised her coach Melissa Zimmerman for making her mental health a top priority.

She added: 'I needed to find a coach that would have my mentality as a priority, not just how I look on stage but would encourage a healthy lifestyle.

'I have learned to accept myself and for that I love myself, I love the way my body feels and what it is capable of doing.

'I am now very balanced in my life and am working with my coach towards my next bikini competition.'

Kaitlyn shares her journey on Instagram and has more than 11,100 followers.

If you or someone you know is struggling with body image, contact The Butterfly Foundation on 1800 334 673 or; Lifeline Australia on 13 11 14. 

'It is crazy to think the person on the left was so mentally and psychically ill yet could still function when at the gym - why? Because my mindset overruled my body. It wasn't an overnight switch but I used that same determination and channelled it towards recovery,' she wrote on Instagram