James Argent looks slimmer than ever after revealing he was admitted to eating disorder unit

James Argent, 34, took to Instagram on Sunday to wish ex-girlfriend Lydia Bright’s mother Debbie, 58, a happy birthday.

The former TOWIE star, who recently lost 14 stone following weight loss surgery last year, looked happier and healthier than ever in the candid snap.

James who dated Lydia from 2008-2016, looked smart in an alabaster sweater as he cosied up to Debbie writing: ‘What would I do without you?’.

The reality star beamed for the camera as he showed off a much slimmer more defined face. 

He captioned the sweet snap: ‘Happy birthday @Debbietowiex I don’t know what i’d do without you, I love you with my whole heart’.  

The TV personality revealed that he struggled with binge eating for years – once tipping the scales at 27stone, before having a gastric sleeve fitted and has since lost 14stone and hopes to gain a stone.  

Admitting he was shocked when he was placed in an eating disorder unit during his first trip to rehab in 2014 after going to treat drug addiction. 

And speaking to MailOnline, the star – who is now happily sober, has revealed that staff at a rehab centre, were the first one to identify his issues with food, and tried to teach him coping strategies such as mindful eating.

‘When I actually went to rehab for the first time, I went there initially for my problems with drink and drugs or whatever, and after a few days I got put in the eating disorder unit,’ James explained of his unexpected diagnosis.

James said he has continued with the techniques he was taught, revealing: ‘They tried to teach me to do mindful eating instead of shoving it down, put your phone away, relax, chew your food plenty of times, let the meal last 20 minutes, don’t rush your food so that’s what I’m trying to do now.

 But he added that his binge eating struggles felt like a lot to deal with alongside his issues with alcohol and drugs. ‘You start to go a bit mad, cos you’re like, “Oh how many problems have I got, how many issues can one man possibly have,”‘ he said.

‘With a lot of addicts, you’re not specifically addicted, like for example for alcoholics if alcohol is taken away, they can get addicted to something else whether it be food, love, gambling, so it’s not necessarily the specific drug or alcohol, sex or gambling, it can be addiction as a whole.’

 ‘For me, when I took away the drink and the drugs that led me back to food, it can be a vicious cycle.’  

James also revealed to MailOnline that he still has to be mindful when it comes to his diet, despite having his gastric band fitted. 

‘I do actually still get hungry, people think do you still get hungry anymore but I do,’ he pointed out. ‘I just have to be careful that I don’t shove it in too quickly or take too big mouthfuls, I need to eat, they say it’s 20/20/20, so you have on your fork you have food the size of a 20 pence piece, 20 chews and then you wait 20 seconds until you go again.’

‘And I’ll be honest with you, I can’t do a great deal in one hit but I try and eat little and often so I embarrass my friends. Basically anyone I go out for dinner with, I embarrass because I go for dinner, order what I fancy or want.’

‘But I can’t just go to nice restaurants and order a nice meal and then only have a few bites and that’s it, I always get doggy bags, every single time what I don’t manage to get through I take it home with me.’ 

James has said that his drink and drug abuse has in the past had ‘terrible effects’ on his loved ones – even leading some to seek therapy to cope. 

He explained how his mother and best friends would worry that he would die due to his addiction – at a time when they had distanced themselves in order to not enable him. 

James said his family are happy he is ‘doing well’ in his sobriety, as he spoke encouragingly about how he has managed to stay clean and his focused on recovery, using tactics to combat his cravings when they arise. 

Source: | This article originally belongs to Dailymail.co.uk

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