Lisa Rinna from The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills put her foot down for the sake of her daughter Amelia Hamlin, who has spent years fighting anorexia. A recent interview with Amelia revealed the extent of her serious condition and just who triggered it. After an intervention, it appeared that Amelia's health concerns ran deeper than originally thought.
Lisa Rinna and Harry Hamlin got married back in 1997 and have since had two daughters, Amelia, 19, and Delilah Hamlin, 22. The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills is very popular, so their family has shot to reality television stardom. Lisa and Harry's fame jumpstarted Amelia and Delilah's modeling careers. The pressure of paparazzi and the day-to-day of balancing fame with being a teenager has definitely made an impact.
Lisa and the rest of her family have kept a close eye on Amelia since her dramatic weight loss became a cause for concern. According to Daily Mail, during an interview for the podcast The Skinny Confidential Him + Her, Amelia revealed an array of health concerns that have recently plagued her. It wasn't necessarily just her body image that led to her anorexia, according to Amelia. She cited the stress of high school as a likely cause. These struggles first began when Amelia was 14 or 15. The pressures of being an adolescent, along with the constant spotlight (including the paparazzi), sent her down a path that eventually led to anorexia. Stringent diets were part of her life. Amelia Gray Hamlin began the Master Lemonade cleanse diet, which consists of pure sugary fluid intake and no solid foods for at least 10 days. In Amelia's case, she was on the diet for a full 25 days and occasionally eating only a sweet potato French fry here and there. On top of that, she worked out obsessively. Despite this, Amelia didn't feel like there was anything really going on with her. She was at the gym when her mother finally confronted her.
Amelia was taken to a specialist at UCLA, who gave her a wake-up call. According to Amelia, the "really scary old man" very bluntly told her, "So, yeah, basically, at this rate in about four months you're going to be 45 pounds and you're going to be dead." Amelia's first instinct was to blame her sister Delilah for trying to sabotage her for looking good and getting into shape. However, upon hearing the news, she found it hard to comprehend the situation. It wasn't "humanly possible." According to Amelia, she, "just snapped out of it."
The thought of being 45 pounds scared her enough that she wanted to get her health back. It didn't help Amelia's recovery that she had apparently gained 50 pounds in a matter of six months. At that point, she was still eating healthy and consuming lots of fruits and veggies. This is when they knew something else was wrong. Amelia has since learned that she's suffering from Hashimoto's disease, which is an autoimmune disease that attacks the thyroid. The effects of this disorder were made worse by her anorexia. Amelia's thyroid is inflamed and, furthermore, she suffers from a hormone imbalance, depression, and anxiety.
While Amelia's health is on the upward swing, her fight isn't over yet. Her newly discovered conditions may make it harder for her to feel good, so fans can only hope that she continues her trajectory towards a healthy life. Lisa Rinna and the rest of her The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills family seem to be there to offer the support Amelia needs, alongside the necessary professional intervention.
Sources: Daily Mail, People