Photo: Courtesy of New Harbinger Publications

When she was 18, Lucy Howard-Taylor knew she was letting anorexia eat away at her life, her body and her brain. Now, a year later, she's published a memoir ("Biting Anorexia") about living in the grips of an eating disorder -- and how she was able to set herself free. In an interview with a AOL Health, she discusses the competitive (and addictive) nature of posting on pro-ana forums, how she was able to recognize she had a problem and what treatment and healthy eating are like for her today. Read the full interview about anorexia recovery here.

Anorexia and bulimia are serious eating disorders, yet there are hundreds of pro-anorexia and pro-bulimia Web sites that encourage the lifestyle. Disturbing.

According to Julie's Health Club, Optenet reported a 470 percent increase in pro-ana/mia Web sites between 2006 and 2007. On these sites, many view anorexia as a lifestyle, providing tips and 'thinspiration' to deal with daily starvation or purging. This is dangerous -- one 2006 study found eating disorder patients using pro-ana sites suffered longer from the condition and had more hospital admissions than non-users. Experts are strongly against pro-ana sites. The non-profit Anorexia Nervosa and Related Eating Disorders, Inc. explains exactly why pro-ana is destructive.

Here's where the Internet is a dual-edged sword -- you're just one click away from finding a pro-recovery site or learning a new purging technique.

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