Editing Empress Elisabeth of Austria (section)

===Physical regimen===
At {{height|m=1.73}}, Elisabeth was unusually tall for her time. Through fasting and exercise such as gymnastics and riding, she maintained her weight at approximately 50&nbsp;kg (110 pounds) for most of her life.

In deep mourning after her daughter Sophie's death, Elisabeth refused to eat for days{{snd}}a behavior that would reappear in later periods of melancholy and depression. Whereas she previously had supper with the family, she now began to avoid this; and if she did eat with them, she ate quickly and very little. Whenever her weight threatened to exceed 50 kilos, a "fasting cure" or "hunger cure" would follow, which involved almost complete fasting. Meat itself often filled her with disgust, so she either had the juice of half-raw beefsteaks squeezed into a thin soup, or else adhered to a diet of milk and eggs.<ref name="ReferenceA"/>

[[File:Empress Elisabeth of Austria in dancing-dress, 1865, Franz Xaver Winterhalter.jpg|thumb|Empress Elisabeth of Austria in Courtly Gala Dress with Diamond Stars, by [[Franz Xaver Winterhalter]] (1865)]]

Elisabeth emphasised her extreme slenderness through the practice of [[tightlacing]]. During the peak period of 1859–60, which coincided with Franz-Joseph's political and military defeats in [[Second Italian War of Independence|Italy]], her sexual withdrawal from her husband after three pregnancies in rapid succession, and her losing battle with her mother-in-law for dominance in rearing her children, she reduced her waist to 40&nbsp;cm (16&nbsp;inches) in circumference.

Corsets of the time were split-[[Busk (corsetry)|busk]] types, fastening up the front with hooks and eyes, but Elisabeth had more rigid, solid-front ones made in Paris out of leather, "like those of Parisian [[courtesan]]s", probably to hold up under the stress of such strenuous lacing, "a proceeding which sometimes took quite an hour". The fact that "she only wore them for a few weeks" may indicate that even leather proved inadequate for her needs.<ref>Larisch, Marie, ''My Past'', G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1913, p. 78.</ref> Elisabeth's defiant flaunting of this exaggerated dimension angered her mother-in-law.{{Citation needed|date=December 2011}}
Although on her return to Vienna in August 1862, a [[lady-in-waiting]] reported that "she eats properly, sleeps well, and does not tight-lace anymore",<ref>Corti, Count Egon, ''Elizabeth, Empress of Austria'', Kessinger Publishing, LLC, 2007, p. 107</ref> her clothing from this time until her death still measured only 47–49.5&nbsp;cm (18 ½–19 ½&nbsp;inches) around the waist, which prompted the Prince of [[Grand Duchy of Hesse|Hesse]] to describe her as "almost inhumanly slender".<ref>Haslip, Joan, ''The Lonely Empress: Elisabeth of Austria'', Phoenix Press, 2000, p. 334</ref> She developed a horror of fat women and transmitted this attitude to her youngest daughter, who was terrified when, as a little girl, she first met [[Queen Victoria]].<ref>Corti, Count Egon, ''Elizabeth, Empress of Austria'', Kessinger Publishing, LLC, 2007, p. 425</ref>

In her youth, Elisabeth followed the fashions of the age, which for many years were [[crinoline|cage-crinolined]] hoop skirts, but when fashion began to change, she was at the forefront of abandoning the hoop skirt for a tighter and leaner silhouette. She disliked both expensive accoutrements and the protocol that dictated constant changes of clothing, preferring simple, monochromatic [[riding habit]]-like attire.<ref name="deburgh" />{{rp|292}} She never wore [[petticoat]]s or any other "underlinen", as they added bulk, and was often literally sewn into her clothes, to bypass waistbands, creases, and wrinkles and to further emphasize the [[wasp waist]] that became her hallmark.<ref>Larisch, Marie, ''My Past'', G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1913, pp. 65, 78.</ref>

[[File:Franz Adam - Kaiserin Elisabeth von Österreich zu Pferd.jpg|thumb|Empress Elisabeth on horseback, 1856|left]]

The empress developed extremely rigorous and disciplined exercise habits. Every castle she lived in was equipped with a [[gym]]nasium; the Knights' Hall of the [[Hofburg]] was converted into one, mats and balance beams were installed in her [[Bedroom|bedchamber]] so that she could practise on them each morning, and the [[Kaiservilla|Imperial Villa]] at [[Bad Ischl]] was fitted with gigantic mirrors so that she could correct every movement and position. She took up [[fencing]] in her 50s with equal discipline.  She rode every day for hours on end, becoming a skilled horsewoman, possibly the best-known of her time.  When, due to [[sciatica]], she could no longer endure long hours in the saddle, she substituted with walking, subjecting her attendants to interminable marches and hiking tours in all weather.{{Citation needed|date=December 2011}}

In the last years of her life, Elisabeth became even more restless and obsessive, weighing herself up to three times a day. She regularly took steam baths to prevent weight gain; by 1894, she had wasted away to near [[emaciation]], reaching her lowest point of 43.5&nbsp;kg (95.7&nbsp;lbs). There were some aberrations in Elisabeth's diet that appear to be signs of [[binge eating]].<ref name="Bowers Bahney 2015" /> On one occasion in 1878, the Empress astonished her travelling companions when she unexpectedly visited a restaurant incognito, where she drank champagne, ate a broiled chicken and an Italian salad, and finished with a "considerable quantity of cake". She may have satisfied her urge to binge in secret on other occasions; in 1881, she purchased an [[English country house]] and had a spiral staircase built from her sitting room into the kitchen, so that she could reach it in private.<ref name="ReferenceA" />

It has been suggested by historians that these habits indicate a restrictive eating disorder. Walter Vandereycken, a professor of psychology, has stated that: "numerous documents repeatedly describe her considerable fear of weight gain and the psychopathological changes specific for [[anorexia nervosa]]."<ref>Vandereycken, W., & Abatzi, T. (1996). Das anorektische Leben der Kaiserin Elisabeth von Osterreich (1837–1898). Schlankheitskult im Hause Habsburg [The anorectic life of Empress Elisabeth of Austria (1837–1898). Slenderness cult of the Habsburg family]. Der Nervenarzt, 67(7), 608–613.</ref>