Ex-Model Jeremy Gillitzer

Jeremy Gillitzer

He had looks to die for, a hunky male model with a totally ripped body, a six-pack with bulging muscles and Hollywood good looks.

It's frightening to imagine that the frail and emaciated man INSIDE EDITION spoke with is the same person. Jeremy Gillitzer is virtually skin and bones; his skin is paper thin.

Gillitzer is fighting for his life.

The 36-year-old Minnesotan, who weighs a dangerous 92 lbs., says, "I do want to live, definitely." Gillitzer is battling anorexia. Only 1 in 10 anorexics is a man. A popular term being used is "manorexic."

"I want to inspire everyone, but especially men," he tells INSIDE EDITION. "Males have the same pressures as females as far as maybe not being skinny, but looking ripped and muscular."

Gillitzer was an adorable, healthy little boy, and grew into a ruggedly handsome young man. His friends suggested he model. Though he says he was nervous in front of the camera, Gillitzer appeared in numerous ads, many featuring his athletic body.

"It was never good enough," he says. "I felt the need the need to be perfect in my body shape and size and muscles."
Nutritionist Joy Bauer doesn't treat Gillitzer, but says that obsession over body image is a common trigger in male anorexics. "The same way that women are looking at magazines and rail thin models, men are looking at those very same magazines, men with six-packs and ripples of muscles."

Gillitzer says he slipped into anorexia's deadly grip after suffering a string of personal setbacks. He began combining an almost fanatic exercise routine with a near-starvation diet.

Toward the end, he says, he ate half an apple and half a sandwich all day. "I'd have a few bites that was it." Soon, the muscles disappeared and his body took on an emaciated look. His hair thinned and his teeth began falling out.

Gillitzer says he went online looking for other guys with the eating disorder, but says he found mostly women. He says one woman even taught him how to binge and purge. He says his faith is helping him to turn his life around. His refrigerator is now full of food and he's starting to eat more. His portions are small, but it's a big step.

"People ask me, 'Don't you want to look like you did in those pictures?'" Gillitzer says. "I'd rather be happy than buff. Life is looking better."