Adi Bonder

L'AMOR WOMEN OF POWER

The main goal of L'amor is to encourage every woman to love herself as she is. Every woman is worthy, full of power, strength, and beauty - she simply needs to look within herself and let it radiate to the outside world. This page spotlights women whose life story serves as an inspiration to others.

Do you also have an empowering story that you would like to share with us? Email us

Adi Bonder

Today, I own a training studio and also provide cold exposure treatments using ice baths. If my old self were to meet me today, she would never believe that I'm still alive, let alone living in happiness and fulfillment. All my life I was involved in sports. I was a competitive gymnast in acrobatics for over a decade—an ambitious girl who never settled for less than perfect. I always felt the need to be in control of everything. During a complex emotional period as a teenager, I developed an eating disorder, anorexia, which accompanied me for eight years. My entire world revolved around weight and food; I wasn’t living, just surviving. I reached dangerous extremes that led to hospitalizations and the loss of my independence, even in basic actions like walking.

Despite being very sick, my routine kept me going. I never gave up on the things I loved, and looking back, that’s what saved me. After years of denying that I even had a problem, when I was physically at my worst, I realized that I needed a change. I was no longer just witnessing my disease—I had become the disease. Though my physical recovery was fast, I soon faced a period of clinical depression. I was alive on the outside but dying on the inside. It was unbearable, and I even tried to end my life. After a period of time I already accepted that this was how my life would always be.

I felt I had nothing left to lose, and that's when the change happened. I told myself, "Adi, give life one last chance." For the first time, I accepted that I had a problem, that it was okay to ask for help, and that I shouldn’t ignore the bad but choose to focus on the good—because there’s always both. Today, every morning, I choose to live. I choose to smile. I still face quite a few difficulties, but I handle them differently. I embrace both the good and the bad and focus on what benefits me and helps me grow, knowing that every difficulty comes to teach me something. I realized that nothing could stop me and that I wanted to live life to the fullest because I had exhausted suffering and pain. I’m grateful every day for being alive and for keeping a routine even in my darkest times. Today, I engage in activities that help me spread positive energy and joy to the trainees and patients I meet daily. Training saved me from myself, and now, it’s my life’s mission to teach others to use movement as therapy.