At a Glance
- Lizzie Ens left her Amish community at 19 after being shunned.
- She struggled with an eating disorder rooted in twin comparison and manual labor.
- In 2020 she launched UnDiet You, a six-week program that teaches food freedom.
Why it matters: Her story shows how early life pressures can shape body image and how intentional education can break that cycle.
Introduction
Lizzie Ens grew up in a Swartzentruber Amish community, surrounded by 18 siblings and a culture that dismissed vanity. After leaving at 19, she battled an eating disorder that began in childhood and was intensified by modern diet culture. Now, as the founder of UnDiet You, she offers a program that prioritizes food freedom over calorie cutting.
Early Life and Escape
Ens was raised Amish until the age of 19, when she fled the night with a boyfriend who was also leaving his community. The escape left her shunned and forced her to start a new life in a world full of technology and convenience. In the new environment, her old habits clashed with modern cooking methods, and she struggled to adapt.
Twin Comparison and Eating Disorder Roots
From a young age, Ens and her twin sister were constantly compared. “I was bigger than she was. She was the tiny one,” Ens recalls. “I wasn’t obese or anything like that, but there was a period in my early teenage years that I was chunkier than she was, and I would get bullied for that.” The pressure to be lighter led to an eating disorder that began during her teenage years. “I would eat very little at meal time and then sneak-eat between meals,” she explains. “Then I told myself that I will work harder than anybody else in this family, just so that I can lose the weight.”
Manual Labor and Body Image
The Amish lifestyle demanded intense physical work: farming, milking cows, plowing fields, and butchering animals. “Everything’s manual labor. You have to chop your own wood for firewood for stoves to cook and to heat the homes,” says the Amish Renegade author. “In the summer, it was hard work out in the gardens all the time. Mowing the yard was the hardest thing ever, because we had those push-mowers that don’t have any power.” This constant exertion, combined with a lack of focus on appearance, shaped her early perception of body image.
Transition to Modern Dieting
Upon leaving the community, Ens discovered diet culture. She tried the Lemonade Diet, also known as the Master Cleanse, which involves water, lemon juice, maple syrup, and cayenne pepper for several days. “Anytime I wanted to lose weight fast, that’s what I would do, but eventually it starts wrecking you because you’re doing it wrong,” Ens says. She lost 10 pounds in seven days but became addicted to the crash diet, realizing that such quick fixes never provided lasting results.
Education and the Birth of UnDiet You
After earning her GED, Ens pursued a certification as a personal trainer. Two months into her career, she realized exercise was only a fraction of what people needed for health. She returned to school, studying holistic health and nutrition. In 2020, she launched UnDiet You, an online business that blends her personal journey with evidence-based nutrition.
The program offers a six-week beginner portion that covers fundamentals about food and the body. Ens believes these concepts should be taught to high schoolers before they enter adulthood. “Food is energy. It’s not something to be feared,” she explains, noting an overload of misinformation and an underload of correct information.
Core Philosophy and Impact
UnDiet You prioritizes maintaining a lifestyle over radical calorie cutting. “I teach people how to feed their body to feel good, sleep amazing, have energy all day, get your thyroid and your hormones regulated,” Ens says. “It has nothing to do with dieting,” she adds. “At the end, it’s diet freedom and food freedom as well.”
With over 580,000 followers across Instagram and TikTok, Ens reaches a broad audience. She encourages anyone struggling with an eating disorder to seek help: The Alliance for Eating Disorders offers a fully-staffed helpline at 1-866-662-1235 and free, therapist-led support groups.
Key Takeaways
- Early life pressures, especially twin comparison, can seed eating disorders.
- Manual labor and a lack of focus on appearance can distort body image.
- Crash diets provide temporary loss but often lead to addiction and health risks.
- Holistic education that respects individual biology can foster lasting food freedom.
- UnDiet You offers a structured, evidence-based program that emphasizes long-term health over quick fixes.
Lizzie Ens demonstrates that with the right knowledge and support, people can break free from harmful dieting cycles and reclaim control over their bodies.
