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Tess Holliday
Tess Holliday.
“I’m anorexic and in recovery. I’m not ashamed to say it out loud anymore,” Hollidayposted on Twitter. “I’m the result of a culture that celebrates thinness and equates that to worth, but I get to write my own narrative now. I’m finally able to care for a body that I’ve punished my entire life and I am finally free.”
“To everyone that keeps saying ‘you’re looking healthy lately’ or ‘You are losing weight, keep it up!’ Stop,” shewrote on Instagram. “Don’t. Comment. On. My. Weight. Or. Perceived. Health. Keep. It. To. Yourself. Thanks✌🏻”
She added, “I’m healing from an eating disorder and feeding my body regularly for the first time in my entire life.”
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JoJo
JoJo.Matt Baron/Shutterstock
The “Leave (Get Out)” singer revealed in an interview withUproxxthat she wasput on a 500-calorie diet as a teenager.
The “Too Little, Too Late” singer was finallyreleasedfrom her contract with Blackground Records in 2014. Creatively in control of her own career, she has since founded her own record label in association with Warner Records, Clover Music.
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Jameela Jamil
Jameela Jamil.Frazer Harrison/Getty
The Good Placeactressdeveloped anorexia and body dysmorphia at age 14 after a class project required her to be weighed in front of her entire class.
In 2019, Jamiltold PEOPLEof her disorder, “I was really unhappy and I think it contributed to my ability to have an eating disorder for so long, because there was no one kind of monitoring me and I had no one to turn to with my sadness and bad feelings, so I just had a really rough time as a teenager.”
The actress reflected on her disorder in December 2019, when sheposted a photo of herself at the height of her disorder.
“Eating disorders/dysmorphia are so wild,” she said. “I missed my teens/20s.”
“The therapy I used to help me was called EMDR, it works faster so it was much cheaper,” she said. “CBT [Cognitive Behavioral Therapy] didn’t work for me personally. So if it doesn’t work for you, try EMDR. It’s free in some countries.”
Now, the actress is outspoken about diet culture and the celebrities who endorse it and even createdI WEIGH, a community that encourages inclusivity and body positivity.
04of 30Taylor SwiftTaylor Swift.Dave J Hogan/GettySwiftsaid in her 2020 Netflix documentary,Miss Americana, thatshe struggled with an eating disorderthroughout her very successful career.“My relationship with food was exactly the same psychology that I applied to everything else in my life: If I was given a pat on the head, I registered that as good. If I was given a punishment, I registered that as bad,” Swift said. This mentality, paired with public scrutiny, led her to restrict food.Swift didn’t realize at the time that she was not meant to feel fatigued after performing: “I thought that I was supposed to feel like I was going to pass out at the end of a show, or in the middle of it. Now I realize, no, if you eat food, have energy, get stronger, you can do all these shows.”
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Taylor Swift
Taylor Swift.Dave J Hogan/Getty
Swiftsaid in her 2020 Netflix documentary,Miss Americana, thatshe struggled with an eating disorderthroughout her very successful career.
“My relationship with food was exactly the same psychology that I applied to everything else in my life: If I was given a pat on the head, I registered that as good. If I was given a punishment, I registered that as bad,” Swift said. This mentality, paired with public scrutiny, led her to restrict food.
Swift didn’t realize at the time that she was not meant to feel fatigued after performing: “I thought that I was supposed to feel like I was going to pass out at the end of a show, or in the middle of it. Now I realize, no, if you eat food, have energy, get stronger, you can do all these shows.”
05of 30Jackie GoldschneiderJackie Goldschneider.Charles Sykes/Bravo/NBCU Photo Bank via GettyTheReal Housewives of New Jerseystartold PEOPLEabout her struggle with anorexia in November 2018.“I couldn’t stop,” she said. “I would do hardcore cardio no matter what, even if I was sick with the flu. I weighed every single thing that I would eat — down to a piece of gum — because I had to know I had the right amount of calories. I learned really creative ways to satisfy hunger without eating. I got very, very, thin and I became so scared of putting any weight back on. I got myself caught up in it all, in these habits that were incredibly unhealthy. And they stuck with me for the next 10 years.“Goldschneiderdetailed her decision to get treatment after stepping on a scale and thinking, “I’m going to die if I don’t stop.““I’m really proud of coming out of the other side because it was so hard,” she says. “It’s really not a way to live. It’s horrible. It was absolutely horrible. And I’m hoping that I can help people out there like me, who usually just suffer in silence. Because I wish I knew that one day, I’d get through it. That was always a fear of mine that I would never stop doing this.”
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Jackie Goldschneider
Jackie Goldschneider.Charles Sykes/Bravo/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty
TheReal Housewives of New Jerseystartold PEOPLEabout her struggle with anorexia in November 2018.
“I couldn’t stop,” she said. “I would do hardcore cardio no matter what, even if I was sick with the flu. I weighed every single thing that I would eat — down to a piece of gum — because I had to know I had the right amount of calories. I learned really creative ways to satisfy hunger without eating. I got very, very, thin and I became so scared of putting any weight back on. I got myself caught up in it all, in these habits that were incredibly unhealthy. And they stuck with me for the next 10 years.”
Goldschneiderdetailed her decision to get treatment after stepping on a scale and thinking, “I’m going to die if I don’t stop.”
“I’m really proud of coming out of the other side because it was so hard,” she says. “It’s really not a way to live. It’s horrible. It was absolutely horrible. And I’m hoping that I can help people out there like me, who usually just suffer in silence. Because I wish I knew that one day, I’d get through it. That was always a fear of mine that I would never stop doing this.”
06of 30Alyson StonerAlyson Stoner.Shannon BeveridgeThe former child staropened up to PEOPLE in 2019about the dark side of her fame — which included anxiety and eating disorders.At one point,Stonersays she got so thin that casting directors wouldn’t even let her read lines when she went on auditions.“They would just tell me that I need help and [need] to go home and take care of my health because my eyes were sunken in and I was tired and lifeless,” she says. “The scary part is I wasn’t even the smallest person on set.“In 2011, Stoner was hospitalized and admitted herself to rehab for further treatment of her eating disorders. At the time, she was 17 years old and a few months away from her 18th birthday.“I chose to keep the process private in order to put legitimate healing first,” she said. “Before treatment, the dietician estimated my caloric intake to be less than 700 calories with an average of two to eight hours of intense exercise a day. I have entire journals breaking down the grams of polyunsaturated fat and added sugar in every bite I ate.“She added: “I still have my hospital gown, binder and letters from other patients tucked in a drawer as a reminder of one of the best choices I’ve made for my health.”
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Alyson Stoner
Alyson Stoner.Shannon Beveridge
The former child staropened up to PEOPLE in 2019about the dark side of her fame — which included anxiety and eating disorders.
At one point,Stonersays she got so thin that casting directors wouldn’t even let her read lines when she went on auditions.
“They would just tell me that I need help and [need] to go home and take care of my health because my eyes were sunken in and I was tired and lifeless,” she says. “The scary part is I wasn’t even the smallest person on set.”
In 2011, Stoner was hospitalized and admitted herself to rehab for further treatment of her eating disorders. At the time, she was 17 years old and a few months away from her 18th birthday.
“I chose to keep the process private in order to put legitimate healing first,” she said. “Before treatment, the dietician estimated my caloric intake to be less than 700 calories with an average of two to eight hours of intense exercise a day. I have entire journals breaking down the grams of polyunsaturated fat and added sugar in every bite I ate.”
She added: “I still have my hospital gown, binder and letters from other patients tucked in a drawer as a reminder of one of the best choices I’ve made for my health.”
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Jeannie Mai
Jeannie Mai.VALERIE MACON/AFP/Getty
BeforeJeannie Maichose to healthfullygain 17 lbs.in 2018, she struggledwith disordered eating.
“I was low-key abusing myself,” saidThe Realco-anchor on the debut episode of her web series on Kin Network,Hello Hunnay. “The idea of being skinny became something that was most appealing to me. Even if you watchThe Real, from season 1 to season 4, I was always 100 lbs. I started to really work hard to stay petite and to not gain weight and to stay sample size.”
It took seeing an unflattering photo of herself to make a change. “I didn’t realize that until I saw a picture of myself where my knees were really pointy and my shoulders were pointy,” Mai said. “I looked weak.”
“Now I’ve totally got a new perspective on body,” she said. “I love how it feels to go into the gym, crank all my favorite music and literally sweat out all of the things that stress me out.”
08of 30Camila MendesCamila Mendes.TheRiverdalestartalked toSHAPEin 2018 about struggling with bulimia when she was in high school, college and starting out in Hollywood. “I was so scared of carbs that I wouldn’t let myself eat bread or rice ever. I’d go a week without eating them, then I would binge on them, and that would make me want to purge,“Mendessays. “If I ate a sweet, I would be like, ‘Oh my God, I’m not going to eat for five hours now.’ I was always punishing myself. I was even anxious about healthy food: Did I eat too much of the avocado? Did I have too many fats for one day? I was consumed with the details of what I was eating, and I always felt as if I was doing something wrong.“Mendesworked with a therapist and a nutritionist to address her disordered eating, and is now open about her experiences with her social media following. “I realized that I have this platform, and young women and men who look up to me, and there is a tremendous power to do something positive with it,” she said. “It was definitely a very vulnerable thing to put that out there to almost 12 million people on social media. But that’s who I am.”
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Camila Mendes
Camila Mendes.
TheRiverdalestartalked toSHAPEin 2018 about struggling with bulimia when she was in high school, college and starting out in Hollywood. “I was so scared of carbs that I wouldn’t let myself eat bread or rice ever. I’d go a week without eating them, then I would binge on them, and that would make me want to purge,“Mendessays. “If I ate a sweet, I would be like, ‘Oh my God, I’m not going to eat for five hours now.’ I was always punishing myself. I was even anxious about healthy food: Did I eat too much of the avocado? Did I have too many fats for one day? I was consumed with the details of what I was eating, and I always felt as if I was doing something wrong.”
Mendesworked with a therapist and a nutritionist to address her disordered eating, and is now open about her experiences with her social media following. “I realized that I have this platform, and young women and men who look up to me, and there is a tremendous power to do something positive with it,” she said. “It was definitely a very vulnerable thing to put that out there to almost 12 million people on social media. But that’s who I am.”
09of 30Ireland BaldwinIreland Baldwin.ISO/SilverHub/REX/ShutterstockThe daughter ofAlec BaldwinandKim Basingeropened up about her paststruggles with anorexiaon Instagram in 2018 when she shared an old photo of herself along with the caption, “Anorexia throwback.” Ireland also posted a photo of her younger self posing in a bikini, writing, “Nope.““I battled with many eating disorders and body issues as a younger girl and it took me a long time to find self love and acceptance! Trust me, all of that pain and destruction I inflicted on myself wasn’t worth it. Turning down so. Many. Sides. Of. Fries. Wasn’t worth it!!” the model wrote.
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Ireland Baldwin
Ireland Baldwin.ISO/SilverHub/REX/Shutterstock
The daughter ofAlec BaldwinandKim Basingeropened up about her paststruggles with anorexiaon Instagram in 2018 when she shared an old photo of herself along with the caption, “Anorexia throwback.” Ireland also posted a photo of her younger self posing in a bikini, writing, “Nope.”
“I battled with many eating disorders and body issues as a younger girl and it took me a long time to find self love and acceptance! Trust me, all of that pain and destruction I inflicted on myself wasn’t worth it. Turning down so. Many. Sides. Of. Fries. Wasn’t worth it!!” the model wrote.
10of 30Hilaria BaldwinHilaria Baldwin.Sean Zanni/Patrick McMullan/Getty ImagesThemother of sevenshared an unretouched bikini photo of herself and newborn son Romeo onInstagramin June 2018 along with a message of celebrating all body types and empowering women to embrace their true selves — while revealing her own struggles. “I opened up about growing up with an eating disorder. I turned to yoga, health and wellness to heal my body and my mind,” Baldwin said, referencing her 2016 book,The Living Clearly Method.“I think back to my old self and how much I would have struggled with gaining weight during pregnancy and being patient with healthfully losing it. I’m so happy I can be a strong and happy mommy now, completely accepting of my body,” she added.
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Hilaria Baldwin
Hilaria Baldwin.Sean Zanni/Patrick McMullan/Getty Images
Themother of sevenshared an unretouched bikini photo of herself and newborn son Romeo onInstagramin June 2018 along with a message of celebrating all body types and empowering women to embrace their true selves — while revealing her own struggles. “I opened up about growing up with an eating disorder. I turned to yoga, health and wellness to heal my body and my mind,” Baldwin said, referencing her 2016 book,The Living Clearly Method.
“I think back to my old self and how much I would have struggled with gaining weight during pregnancy and being patient with healthfully losing it. I’m so happy I can be a strong and happy mommy now, completely accepting of my body,” she added.
11of 30Whitney CummingsWhitney Cummings.Xavier Collin/Image Press/SplashWatching both her mother and stepmother diet when she was a child,Cummingsinsists that from age 14 to 18, she ate a diet consisting of primarily rice cakes, apples and nonfat yogurt. “I became irrationally terrified of fat,” shewrites in her memoir,I’m Fine … And Other Lies.Despite becoming “alarmingly thin … I looked like the shadow ofJared Leto” and her hair falling out, Cummings could not shake her obsession with being skinny and admits her own perception of her body was very skewed. “It was as if I were looking in a funhouse mirror that makes your hips comically large,” she writes. “I literally could not see myself how others did.“The comedian finally turned a corner with the support of her friends and realized how much happier and healthier she could be with proper nutrition. “And even crazier… my hairbrush no longer looked like Chewbacca.”
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Whitney Cummings
Whitney Cummings.Xavier Collin/Image Press/Splash
Watching both her mother and stepmother diet when she was a child,Cummingsinsists that from age 14 to 18, she ate a diet consisting of primarily rice cakes, apples and nonfat yogurt. “I became irrationally terrified of fat,” shewrites in her memoir,I’m Fine … And Other Lies.
Despite becoming “alarmingly thin … I looked like the shadow ofJared Leto” and her hair falling out, Cummings could not shake her obsession with being skinny and admits her own perception of her body was very skewed. “It was as if I were looking in a funhouse mirror that makes your hips comically large,” she writes. “I literally could not see myself how others did.”
The comedian finally turned a corner with the support of her friends and realized how much happier and healthier she could be with proper nutrition. “And even crazier… my hairbrush no longer looked like Chewbacca.”
12of 30Sadie RobertsonSadie Robertson.Michael Stewart/FilmMagicIn 2017, theDuck Dynastystar got personal abouta secret eating disordershe battled for nearly a year in a candid post on her blog, speaking out for the first time about the private pain she experienced.“I struggled with an eating problem connected to a negative body image,“Robertsonsaid, adding that she kept the disorder from everyone in her life including her mother. “It was dark. It was ugly. It was insanely difficult. It was done in secret. It was hidden. … My self-worth was demolished, and I began to lose sight of my true identity.” At the time she posted on her blog, Robertson said she’s 15 pounds heavier than she was after competing onDancing with the Starsin 2014. “I am feeling good,” she said. “If it means being ‘less beautiful’ in the world’s eyes, that’s okay with me. As long as I still get to seek out real beauty — the kind that is found in God’s word, and is painted out in the world before me.““Do these old thoughts come back from time to time? Absolutely, but it is my job to take authority over them,” she continued.
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Sadie Robertson
Sadie Robertson.Michael Stewart/FilmMagic
In 2017, theDuck Dynastystar got personal abouta secret eating disordershe battled for nearly a year in a candid post on her blog, speaking out for the first time about the private pain she experienced.
“I struggled with an eating problem connected to a negative body image,“Robertsonsaid, adding that she kept the disorder from everyone in her life including her mother. “It was dark. It was ugly. It was insanely difficult. It was done in secret. It was hidden. … My self-worth was demolished, and I began to lose sight of my true identity.” At the time she posted on her blog, Robertson said she’s 15 pounds heavier than she was after competing onDancing with the Starsin 2014. “I am feeling good,” she said. “If it means being ‘less beautiful’ in the world’s eyes, that’s okay with me. As long as I still get to seek out real beauty — the kind that is found in God’s word, and is painted out in the world before me.”
“Do these old thoughts come back from time to time? Absolutely, but it is my job to take authority over them,” she continued.
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Troian Bellisario
Troian Bellisario.David Livingston/Getty Images
ThePretty Little Liarsstar has long been open about her battle with anorexia as a teenager, first in an interview with Seventeen in 2013, and then in a PSA in November 2016. “With anorexia, a lot of it is presenting a front of ‘everything is okay’ as you’re slowly killing yourself,” she says in the voting PSA for ATTN. “Gone were the days when I was just a happy, carefree kid who was running around, and suddenly I felt this inability to interact with people and to nourish myself.”
14of 30Gabourey SidibeGabourey Sidibe.Eric OgdenIn addition torevealing that she underwent weight-loss surgery, theEmpirestar opens up about her bouts with depression and bulimia inThis Is Just My Face: Try Not to Stare. “Often, when I was too sad to stop crying, I drank a glass of water and ate a slice of bread, and then I threw it up,“Sidibewrote in her 2017 memoir, explaining that her bulimia was a way to cope with her depression, not to lose weight. “After I did, I wasn’t as sad anymore; I finally relaxed. So I never ate anything, until I wanted to throw up — and only when I did could I distract myself from whatever thought was swirling around my head.“The actress is doing much better now, she revealed. As for dealing with the eating disorder, “I have to eat every day. I have to eat several times a day, forever,” added Sidibe. “I have a nutritionist that I really like. I haven’t felt like purposely going to throw up. For years, I have not felt that way. But if I ever do, I just have to remember to do the things that make me feel good as opposed to the things that make me feel bad.”
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Gabourey Sidibe
Gabourey Sidibe.Eric Ogden
In addition torevealing that she underwent weight-loss surgery, theEmpirestar opens up about her bouts with depression and bulimia inThis Is Just My Face: Try Not to Stare. “Often, when I was too sad to stop crying, I drank a glass of water and ate a slice of bread, and then I threw it up,“Sidibewrote in her 2017 memoir, explaining that her bulimia was a way to cope with her depression, not to lose weight. “After I did, I wasn’t as sad anymore; I finally relaxed. So I never ate anything, until I wanted to throw up — and only when I did could I distract myself from whatever thought was swirling around my head.”
The actress is doing much better now, she revealed. As for dealing with the eating disorder, “I have to eat every day. I have to eat several times a day, forever,” added Sidibe. “I have a nutritionist that I really like. I haven’t felt like purposely going to throw up. For years, I have not felt that way. But if I ever do, I just have to remember to do the things that make me feel good as opposed to the things that make me feel bad.”
15of 30Lily CollinsLily Collins.The actress shared a very intimate connection with her character inTo the Bone— like Ellen in the 2017 movie,Collinssuffered from an eating disorder as a teenager.While speaking to IMDb Studioabout her film, she opened up about her illness for the first time. “This was definitely a more dramatic role for me; I suffered with eating disorders when I was a teenager as well,” she said. “Iwrote a booklast year and I wrote my chapter on my experiences a week before I got the script and it was like the universe putting these things in my sphere to help me face, kind of dead on, a fear that I used to have. And, a way to explain it as someone who’s gone through it and to open up a topic that is considered quite taboo with young people nowadays, male, female, and to really start a conversation.”
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Lily Collins
Lily Collins.
The actress shared a very intimate connection with her character inTo the Bone— like Ellen in the 2017 movie,Collinssuffered from an eating disorder as a teenager.While speaking to IMDb Studioabout her film, she opened up about her illness for the first time. “This was definitely a more dramatic role for me; I suffered with eating disorders when I was a teenager as well,” she said. “Iwrote a booklast year and I wrote my chapter on my experiences a week before I got the script and it was like the universe putting these things in my sphere to help me face, kind of dead on, a fear that I used to have. And, a way to explain it as someone who’s gone through it and to open up a topic that is considered quite taboo with young people nowadays, male, female, and to really start a conversation.”
16of 30Zayn MalikZayn Malik.Kevin Tachman/GettyThe former boy bander spoke out about his struggle with an eating disorder in his 2016 book, Zayn.Maliksaid the intensity of his jam-packed schedule at the height ofOne Direction’s popularity led him to skip multiple meals in a row, sometimes for multiple days. “Something I’ve never talked about in public before, but which I have come to terms with since leaving the band, is that I was suffering from an eating disorder,” he wrote. “It wasn’t as though I had any concerns about my weight or anything like that, I’d just go for days — sometimes two or three days straight — without eating anything at all. It got quite serious, although at the time I didn’t recognize it for what it was.”
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Zayn Malik
Zayn Malik.Kevin Tachman/Getty
The former boy bander spoke out about his struggle with an eating disorder in his 2016 book, Zayn.Maliksaid the intensity of his jam-packed schedule at the height ofOne Direction’s popularity led him to skip multiple meals in a row, sometimes for multiple days. “Something I’ve never talked about in public before, but which I have come to terms with since leaving the band, is that I was suffering from an eating disorder,” he wrote. “It wasn’t as though I had any concerns about my weight or anything like that, I’d just go for days — sometimes two or three days straight — without eating anything at all. It got quite serious, although at the time I didn’t recognize it for what it was.”
17of 30Demi LovatoDemi Lovato.Broadimage/REX/ShutterstocLovatofamously battledan eating disorderin the spotlight, entering a treatment facility in 2011 for anorexia and bulimia at 18 years old. “I’d be lying if I said there weren’t days where I just want to stay in bed all day because I’m ashamed of my body,” she told PEOPLE shortly after leaving the facility. “It’s a struggle I’ll probably have to deal with for the rest of my life. But I have so much life to live; I don’t want to waste it.” During an interview with American Way, the singer candidly discussed growing up with a mother who suffered from an eating disorder and how an early introduction to the beauty pageant scene affected her self-image. “Even though I was 2 or 3 years old, being around somebody who was 80 lbs. and had an active eating disorder … it’s hard not to grow up like that,” she told the magazine. “I’m nowhere near having children, but already I ask myself questions. My grandma had bulimia, my mom had it, I had it, and hopefully my kids won’t have it, but it’s kind of like addiction. It’s hereditary.” As for beginning her pageant career at the age of 7, Lovato says, “My body-image awareness started way before that, but I do attribute a little of my insecurities to being onstage and judged for my beauty.”
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Demi Lovato
Demi Lovato.Broadimage/REX/Shutterstoc
Lovatofamously battledan eating disorderin the spotlight, entering a treatment facility in 2011 for anorexia and bulimia at 18 years old. “I’d be lying if I said there weren’t days where I just want to stay in bed all day because I’m ashamed of my body,” she told PEOPLE shortly after leaving the facility. “It’s a struggle I’ll probably have to deal with for the rest of my life. But I have so much life to live; I don’t want to waste it.” During an interview with American Way, the singer candidly discussed growing up with a mother who suffered from an eating disorder and how an early introduction to the beauty pageant scene affected her self-image. “Even though I was 2 or 3 years old, being around somebody who was 80 lbs. and had an active eating disorder … it’s hard not to grow up like that,” she told the magazine. “I’m nowhere near having children, but already I ask myself questions. My grandma had bulimia, my mom had it, I had it, and hopefully my kids won’t have it, but it’s kind of like addiction. It’s hereditary.” As for beginning her pageant career at the age of 7, Lovato says, “My body-image awareness started way before that, but I do attribute a little of my insecurities to being onstage and judged for my beauty.”
18of 30Ginger ZeeGinger Zee.Richie Buxo/Splash newsZeestruggled to find contentment with her body in her adolescence. On the semi-final night ofDancing with the Stars, she opened up about her battle with anorexia, which she says was at its worst from ages 10 to 14. “It’s a moment in my life that I’ve not shared with a lot of people,” shetold PEOPLEin 2020. “It’s not something I’m proud of because it’s a disease that I chose.” She credits her mother and stepfather for helping her through. “My stepfather is a saint. He came into our lives and he taught me about nutrition and self love and once I started to learn about taking calories in and working calories off, then I got obsessed with working out,” she said. “Everybody goes through those stages. He helped me to get out of that moment in my life.”
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Ginger Zee
Ginger Zee.Richie Buxo/Splash news
Zeestruggled to find contentment with her body in her adolescence. On the semi-final night ofDancing with the Stars, she opened up about her battle with anorexia, which she says was at its worst from ages 10 to 14. “It’s a moment in my life that I’ve not shared with a lot of people,” shetold PEOPLEin 2020. “It’s not something I’m proud of because it’s a disease that I chose.” She credits her mother and stepfather for helping her through. “My stepfather is a saint. He came into our lives and he taught me about nutrition and self love and once I started to learn about taking calories in and working calories off, then I got obsessed with working out,” she said. “Everybody goes through those stages. He helped me to get out of that moment in my life.”
19of 30Alexa PenaVegaAlexa Penavega.Gustavo Caballero/GettyZee wasn’t the onlyDWTScontestant to open up about an eating disorder on the show. After experiencing a childhood in the spotlight,PenaVegadeveloped bulimia in response to a movie producer telling her she was too fat. For six years, she struggled to overcome the disease. “You read textbooks and it’s just so, well, textbook. ‘This is how you get over bulimia.’ But it is so much deeper than that,” she said in 2015. “I wish I’d had somebody who could have told me, ‘It’s scary.’ You struggle giving it up. You want to get rid of it but you struggle because, in a strange way, you enjoy it.”
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Alexa PenaVega
Alexa Penavega.Gustavo Caballero/Getty
Zee wasn’t the onlyDWTScontestant to open up about an eating disorder on the show. After experiencing a childhood in the spotlight,PenaVegadeveloped bulimia in response to a movie producer telling her she was too fat. For six years, she struggled to overcome the disease. “You read textbooks and it’s just so, well, textbook. ‘This is how you get over bulimia.’ But it is so much deeper than that,” she said in 2015. “I wish I’d had somebody who could have told me, ‘It’s scary.’ You struggle giving it up. You want to get rid of it but you struggle because, in a strange way, you enjoy it.”
20of 30KeshaKesha.Jamie McCarthy/GettyWell before her legal troubles with her label and allegations of sexual assault against Dr. Luke,Keshawas struggling with another issue —her eating disorder. The star completed a rehab program for her disorder in 2014 andopened up toVogueabout her darkest times a year later. “There was a lot of not eating — and I started to think being hungry to the point of feeling almost faint was a positive thing,” she said. “The worse it got, the more positive feedback I was getting. Inside I was really unhappy, but outside, people were like, ‘Wow, you look great.'” Kesha ended up going to a rehab facility specifically for people experiencing eating disorders. “I realized being healthy is the most important thing I can do for myself. Now, I’m trying to embrace the skin I’m in. It’s difficult sometimes,” she toldVogue. “Every day I have to look in the mirror and make the choice to be kind to myself. This is who I am — I have to love that.”
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Kesha
Kesha.Jamie McCarthy/Getty
Well before her legal troubles with her label and allegations of sexual assault against Dr. Luke,Keshawas struggling with another issue —her eating disorder. The star completed a rehab program for her disorder in 2014 andopened up toVogueabout her darkest times a year later. “There was a lot of not eating — and I started to think being hungry to the point of feeling almost faint was a positive thing,” she said. “The worse it got, the more positive feedback I was getting. Inside I was really unhappy, but outside, people were like, ‘Wow, you look great.'” Kesha ended up going to a rehab facility specifically for people experiencing eating disorders. “I realized being healthy is the most important thing I can do for myself. Now, I’m trying to embrace the skin I’m in. It’s difficult sometimes,” she toldVogue. “Every day I have to look in the mirror and make the choice to be kind to myself. This is who I am — I have to love that.”
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Zoë Kravitz
Zoë Kravitz.
22of 30Beverly JohnsonBeverly Johnson.Alberto E. Rodriguez/WireImageDecades after she became the first Black woman to appear on the cover ofVogue, iconic supermodelBeverly Johnsonopened up about the dangerous diets she employed to stay on top in the modeling world. “I was eating nothing, zero,” she said in her 2015 book,The Face That Changed It All. “I drank black coffee, a sip of broth if things got tough, and in the evening, a glass of champagne as a pick me up. We didn’t even drink water. We thought it was fattening.” This sort of toxic behavior was wrongly encouraged: “The skinner you were, the more fabulous you were.”
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Beverly Johnson
Beverly Johnson.Alberto E. Rodriguez/WireImage
Decades after she became the first Black woman to appear on the cover ofVogue, iconic supermodelBeverly Johnsonopened up about the dangerous diets she employed to stay on top in the modeling world. “I was eating nothing, zero,” she said in her 2015 book,The Face That Changed It All. “I drank black coffee, a sip of broth if things got tough, and in the evening, a glass of champagne as a pick me up. We didn’t even drink water. We thought it was fattening.” This sort of toxic behavior was wrongly encouraged: “The skinner you were, the more fabulous you were.”
23of 30Candace Cameron BureCandace Cameron Bure.Daniel Zuchnik/WireImageThough she shot to childhood stardom onFull House,Buresays that it wasn’t until the show wrapped that she developed an eating disorder. She moved to Montreal — a city where she didn’t know many people — for her husband’s hockey career, and not working for the first time since she was 5 years old, Bure felt isolated and lost. “My husband would play away 41 games out of 82 during hockey season,“she said. “I sat lonely so many nights not knowing what to do with myself. But there was always one friend that was always there, that was so readily available anytime I wanted, and that for me was food.” She fell into a cycle of binging and purging that continued on-and-off for years. “It was never about the weight for me,” she told PEOPLE in May 2016. “It was an emotional issue.”
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Candace Cameron Bure
Candace Cameron Bure.Daniel Zuchnik/WireImage
Though she shot to childhood stardom onFull House,Buresays that it wasn’t until the show wrapped that she developed an eating disorder. She moved to Montreal — a city where she didn’t know many people — for her husband’s hockey career, and not working for the first time since she was 5 years old, Bure felt isolated and lost. “My husband would play away 41 games out of 82 during hockey season,“she said. “I sat lonely so many nights not knowing what to do with myself. But there was always one friend that was always there, that was so readily available anytime I wanted, and that for me was food.” She fell into a cycle of binging and purging that continued on-and-off for years. “It was never about the weight for me,” she told PEOPLE in May 2016. “It was an emotional issue.”
24of 30Zosia MametZosia Mamet.Gregory Pace/BEImagesGirlsstarMametopened uptoGlamourin February 2016 about her eating disorder, which she said is something she’s battled since childhood. TheGirlsactress was told she was fat for the first time when she was just 8 years old. “I’m not fat; I’ve never been fat,“she said. “But ever since then, there has been a monster in my brain that tells me I am.” Mamet says that her mother’s issues with eating shaped her own view of her body. “I know that my mother’s treatment of me stemmed from her own issues with her body,” she said. “She struggled, so I struggled.”
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Zosia Mamet
Zosia Mamet.Gregory Pace/BEImages
GirlsstarMametopened uptoGlamourin February 2016 about her eating disorder, which she said is something she’s battled since childhood. TheGirlsactress was told she was fat for the first time when she was just 8 years old. “I’m not fat; I’ve never been fat,“she said. “But ever since then, there has been a monster in my brain that tells me I am.” Mamet says that her mother’s issues with eating shaped her own view of her body. “I know that my mother’s treatment of me stemmed from her own issues with her body,” she said. “She struggled, so I struggled.”
25of 30Shawn JohnsonShawn Johnson.Allen Berezovsky/WireImageAlong with her chance at Olympic gold came monumental pressure forJohnson— starting at a young age. While training as an adolescent and teen, she severely restricted her diet, eating no carbs or as few as 700 calories a day. “I was always the very strong, powerful, muscley, bulky gymnast and I felt like people always wanted me to be thinner and lighter and leaner,“she told PEOPLEin 2015. “And as a 12-year-old, the only way I really understood how to achieve that was to eat less and restrict myself. I remember kind of obsessing over it.“Once the 2008 Olympics were over, Johnson stopped her unhealthy eating habits and gained 20 lbs. But in March 2009, she was again thrust into the spotlight as a competitor onDancing with the Stars, when she came under scrutiny from viewers. After a drop in self-confidence and relapse into drastic weight loss methods, Johnson became more confident in herself and her body with the support from a nutritionist, family, and then-fiancé/now-husband,Andrew East. “Before him, I didn’t voice any of this to anybody,” Johnson told PEOPLE. “I knew I had unhealthy habits, but I don’t think most people knew. There was an open honesty with him. I felt like I could just be me and I knew he was still going to love me.”
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Shawn Johnson
Shawn Johnson.Allen Berezovsky/WireImage
Along with her chance at Olympic gold came monumental pressure forJohnson— starting at a young age. While training as an adolescent and teen, she severely restricted her diet, eating no carbs or as few as 700 calories a day. “I was always the very strong, powerful, muscley, bulky gymnast and I felt like people always wanted me to be thinner and lighter and leaner,“she told PEOPLEin 2015. “And as a 12-year-old, the only way I really understood how to achieve that was to eat less and restrict myself. I remember kind of obsessing over it.”
Once the 2008 Olympics were over, Johnson stopped her unhealthy eating habits and gained 20 lbs. But in March 2009, she was again thrust into the spotlight as a competitor onDancing with the Stars, when she came under scrutiny from viewers. After a drop in self-confidence and relapse into drastic weight loss methods, Johnson became more confident in herself and her body with the support from a nutritionist, family, and then-fiancé/now-husband,Andrew East. “Before him, I didn’t voice any of this to anybody,” Johnson told PEOPLE. “I knew I had unhealthy habits, but I don’t think most people knew. There was an open honesty with him. I felt like I could just be me and I knew he was still going to love me.”
26of 30Molly SimsMolly Sims.Milla Cochran/startraksphoto.comThe formerSports Illustratedswimsuit issue modelsays that during her earlier days in the industry, she would do pretty much anything to stay at a size 0 — walking up to 14 miles a day to do so. “It was very difficult to stay the weight that you were supposed to stay,“she told theHuffington Postin 2015. “For me, I’m genetically blessed in certain ways, but in terms of having the weight be a certain size 0, it was very hard. I didn’t eat sometimes for a couple of days.” After getting married and having children, Sims re-channeled her focus about her size into caring for her family.
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Molly Sims
Molly Sims.Milla Cochran/startraksphoto.com
The formerSports Illustratedswimsuit issue modelsays that during her earlier days in the industry, she would do pretty much anything to stay at a size 0 — walking up to 14 miles a day to do so. “It was very difficult to stay the weight that you were supposed to stay,“she told theHuffington Postin 2015. “For me, I’m genetically blessed in certain ways, but in terms of having the weight be a certain size 0, it was very hard. I didn’t eat sometimes for a couple of days.” After getting married and having children, Sims re-channeled her focus about her size into caring for her family.
27of 30Portia de RossiPortia de Rossi.Jordan Strauss/Invision/APShe’s been working since her childhood, andde Rossican date her struggles with eating back to the beginning of her career. “I didn’t eat for 10 days before,“de Rossi saidin 2015 of her childhood modeling days. “I’m up on this catwalk, and I’m a little kid and posing and trying to be sexy and strutting around and all the other models are making fun of my bushy eyebrows.” She then continued to struggle with her eating disorder into adulthood, which she chronicled in her 2010 book,Unbearable Lightness.
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Portia de Rossi
Portia de Rossi.Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP
She’s been working since her childhood, andde Rossican date her struggles with eating back to the beginning of her career. “I didn’t eat for 10 days before,“de Rossi saidin 2015 of her childhood modeling days. “I’m up on this catwalk, and I’m a little kid and posing and trying to be sexy and strutting around and all the other models are making fun of my bushy eyebrows.” She then continued to struggle with her eating disorder into adulthood, which she chronicled in her 2010 book,Unbearable Lightness.
28of 30Hilary DuffHilary Duff.Craig Barritt/GettyLike many young stars,Duffadmits that back in her teenage years, she definitely slipped into unhealthy territory when it came to eating. “I was too thin,” Duff told PEOPLE in 2015. “That was not a healthy place for me. I was so unhappy. I remember my hands cramping because I wasn’t getting enough nutrients.”
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Hilary Duff
Hilary Duff.Craig Barritt/Getty
Like many young stars,Duffadmits that back in her teenage years, she definitely slipped into unhealthy territory when it came to eating. “I was too thin,” Duff told PEOPLE in 2015. “That was not a healthy place for me. I was so unhappy. I remember my hands cramping because I wasn’t getting enough nutrients.”
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Tallulah Willis
Tallulah Willis.Mireya Acierto/Getty
30of 30Nicole ScherzingerNicole Scherzinger.JUSTIN TALLIS/AFP/GettyIt’s not all song and dance for the former Pussycat Doll andMasked Singerjudge.Scherzingerbattled bulimia for eight years, at the height ofPussycat Dollsfame. “It is such a horrible, paralyzing disease and it was such a dark time for me,“she toldCosmopolitan U.K.in August 2014. “I didn’t think anyone knew in my group or in my family because I hid it that well, I was so ashamed. I knew it wasn’t normal or healthy because I was hurting myself through this cycle of disordered eating. It was my drug, my addiction. It’s an endless vicious cycle.” She’s committed to doing things differently: “I’m never letting that happen again.“If you or someone you know is battling an eating disorder, please contact the National Eating Disorders Association (NEDA) at 1-800-931-2237 or go to NationalEatingDisorders.org.
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Nicole Scherzinger
Nicole Scherzinger.JUSTIN TALLIS/AFP/Getty
It’s not all song and dance for the former Pussycat Doll andMasked Singerjudge.Scherzingerbattled bulimia for eight years, at the height ofPussycat Dollsfame. “It is such a horrible, paralyzing disease and it was such a dark time for me,“she toldCosmopolitan U.K.in August 2014. “I didn’t think anyone knew in my group or in my family because I hid it that well, I was so ashamed. I knew it wasn’t normal or healthy because I was hurting myself through this cycle of disordered eating. It was my drug, my addiction. It’s an endless vicious cycle.” She’s committed to doing things differently: “I’m never letting that happen again.”
If you or someone you know is battling an eating disorder, please contact the National Eating Disorders Association (NEDA) at 1-800-931-2237 or go to NationalEatingDisorders.org.
source: people.com
