For three years, UW-Whitewater graduate Mary Donohoo seemed to follow the same pattern every day.

When she woke up in the morning, the first thing she did was pull the covers off herself to check the size of her stomach. If she felt like her stomach was small that day, she would eat breakfast, yet not nearly enough to fuel her body for what she planned to do.

After, Donohoo would weigh herself, for the first of many times that day. The number on the scale would set her mood; a half pound weight gain made the difference between a good and bad mood.

During the day, Donohoo somehow found the will to stay energized through multiple classes, hours of practice and extra workouts until she fell into bed later that night, exhausted, self-loathing and often crying herself to sleep.

Yet no one ever saw this side of Donohoo for the first two years of her college career.

The only side anyone saw of Donohoo was the 4.0 student who made playing two intercollegiate sports at the same time look easy.

To her coaches and teammates, Donohoo was the energetic guard on the basketball team and the hardworking forward on the soccer team who came to practice everyday with a strong work ethic.

She was even the athlete who received awards for being an Academic All-American in 2007 and a first team all-conference player in 2006 and 2008.

“She was an Energizer Bunny during practices,” women’s basketball head coach Keri Carollo said. “She always played her heart out.”

To teachers, Donohoo was the student who turned every assignment in on time, and aced every test.

To her parents, she was the successful college student who was doing just fine.

It wasn’t until the summer between her sophomore and junior year when Donohoo decided to seek professional help for the eating disorder that had consumed her life for two years.

Donohoo’s eating disorder developed the summer before her freshman year at UW-Stevens Point.

“I started exercising a lot and eating less,” Donohoo said. “I wanted to get into really good shape for soccer.”

During the summer and throughout her freshman year, Donohoo’s habits, including excessive exercising and a diet that turned into eating nothing at all, developed into anorexia.

After transferring to UW-Whitewater her sophomore year, Donohoo played as a guard on the basketball team. Still suffering from anorexia and depression, Donohoo continued with her barely-there diet and excessive workout routine.

“I would go to basketball practice, and after that I would go run miles and miles on the treadmill,” Donohoo said.

After basketball season really started to pick up during her sophomore year, she could no longer continue to not eat.

“That’s when I started bingeing,” Donohoo said.

Donohoo kept her eating disorder a secret for the entire two years it lasted. Donohoo said the only person who knew what she was going through was her boyfriend at the time, though he wasn’t aware of the extent of her problem.

“I was very ashamed of it, so nobody knew,” Donohoo said.

Not being able to take another night of crying herself to sleep, or another basketball game where she had to force herself to climb off the bench to get in the game, Donohoo decided she needed to talk to someone about what was really going on.

“I had hit rock bottom and knew I needed help,” Donohoo said.

Donohoo started her road to recovery by telling her parents, who took the news quite calmly. The family had helped Donohoo’s older sister overcome an eating disorder just years earlier.

After talking to her parents and coaches about what was really going on, Donohoo began outpatient care with both a psychiatrist and a nutritionist.

“Once I got help, I started opening up,” Donohoo said. “I was so wrapped up in my disease, and I felt trapped.”

Donohoo’s feelings of depression and stress soon improved with help, and continue to improve today.

Donohoo graduated from UW-Whitewater with a degree in elementary education in December 2009, and is now working in Madison for a software company.

Donohoo has since made a full recovery from her eating disorder and continues to see a doctor, therapist and nurse regularly. She can also proudly say she hasn’t weighed herself in more than two years.

“[An eating disorder] is a silent disease,” Donohoo said. “What is important for not only athletes to know, but anyone who went through something similar is that body image is a thing a lot of people struggle with.”

Donohoo couldn’t be more right. Today, one in five women struggle with an eating disorder, according to a 2010 study conducted by the National Institute of Mental Health.

“Many eating disorders go unreported because there is a great deal of stigma and embarrassment attached to the idea of seeking help,” UCHS licensed psychologist Jill Mallin said. “The No. 1 risk factor for the development of an eating disorder is dieting.”

Not all of the people who have dealt with an eating disorder live to tell their story. That’s why Donohoo said she feels it is important to share hers.

Donohoo is just one of the millions of people who have dealt with this disease, and is lucky enough to be considered a survivor.

According to the Renfrew Center Foundation for Eating Disorders, “Twenty percent of people suffering from anorexia will prematurely die from complications.”

“I want to let people know that there are ways to get help without announcing it to the world,” Donohoo said.

Donohoo will tell her story at 7 p.m. tonight in the University Center Room 275A.

This is Donohoo’s first time speaking publicly about her eating disorder. She said she hopes to get involved and do many more events like this in the future.

“This is my first big opportunity and it’s something I really want to focus on in the future,” Donohoo said. “This is just the first door that’s opened.”