Bulimia

The pencil-thin models in the glossy Western fashion magazines seemed to beckon to Gcina. A rape victim with low self-esteem, the attractive black teenager began to copy their looks and style. On some days she would starve herself; on others she would binge on junk food, purging later with vomiting or laxatives. She followed a rigid exercise regime--two hours a day, seven days a week.

Want to burn up as many calories as the average world-class female gymnast? All you have to do, says SCATS head coach Don Peters, is spend an afternoon shopping at the mall. The total exertion in terms of calories burned is about equal to a three-hour workout. That is because gymnastics is not a long-duration aerobic sport like, say, distance running. It is anaerobic, which means it is performed in short bursts of high energy, followed by periods of rest.

Polly Williams was 29 years old when she slashed her wrists twice and downed a bottle of sleeping pills. What drove her to the edge? Two pieces of pizza. She hadn't been able to get home in enough time to throw them up.

Alyssa Kitasoe studied herself in the mirror, and the image was shocking. She had been standing near the bathroom sink, vomiting into a plastic container. When she looked up, through eyes blurred with tears, she was disgusted by what she saw. "It was like seeing a ghost of yourself, or a monster," Kitasoe recalled. "I remember just staring at myself. " A year earlier, Kitasoe viewed herself very differently. A striking young woman with long black hair and a radiant smile, she was strong and proud — the UCLA gymnastics logo on her clothes providing instant respect around campus.

I didn't expect much from "Brand X," FX's new "talk show" starring British comedian Russell Brand, and yet I got even less. With his disheveled locks and quasi-bohemian dress, Brand is as much a personality as a performer, having managed to not only survive but leverage a medley of dysfunctions (including ADD, heroin addiction, alcoholism, bulimia, divorcing Katy Perry) to create an image of the bleary-eyed, often low-brow but sometimes surprisingly literate scapegrace. It's a character that has granted him a successful film career - "Get Him to the Greek,""Arthur"and, most recently, "Rock of Ages" - bestselling books, stand-up shows and awards hosting gigs.

Lindsay Lohan, who was hospitalized in Miami this week for an asthma attack, tells Vanity Fair in an interview that she has dabbled in drugs and battled bulimia. The 19-year-old actress and pop singer says that following the success of 2004's "Mean Girls," she used drugs "a little," but quickly adds: "I've gotten that out of my system." The issue hits newsstands Tuesday. When asked if her drug use included cocaine, Lohan denies it, saying, "I don't want people to think that I've done ...

The lineup of must-see videos for the high school class on public speaking was notable: Hitler, Martin Luther King Jr., Mussolini, President Obama - and A.J. Duffy, the former president of the L.A. teachers union and also the instructor. The former, highly visible union leader returned to the classroom in fall 2011 almost as a last resort - landing in almost invisible Phoenix High School adjacent to Venice High in Mar Vista. There, Duffy, 69, retired Friday, after two years of working with students who needed a second chance.

April Dunlap was 17 and weighed 165 pounds when she began a diet and exercise regimen. After three months, the 5-foot-5 teen had lost the 20 pounds she had hoped to shed. But she kept going. "It was like a drug," she said. "I always wanted to lose a little more. " When she hit 120 pounds, Dunlap's mother worried that April was losing too much weight. The family's doctor agreed. Four months after Dunlap's diet began, she found herself in a treatment program for anorexia nervosa. After only 10 days, she had gained enough weight to be discharged from the hospital.