Jessy Mendiola gets real about her weight struggles and suffering from eating disorders in a new Instagram post. “I used to hate my thighs and arms. I would always kill myself at the gym just to achieve unrealistic body goals and starve myself just to reach my weight goal, 100 lbs.”
The actress shares a series of photos showing her toxic cycle of weight gain and loss over the years. In 2013, she was “depressed and heartbroken” and “gained 25 lbs.”
“Desperate to lose weight in a short period of time,” Jessy went down from 135 lbs. to 103 lbs. At the time, she was suffering from binge eating disorder, which is compulsive over-eating, and bulimia nervosa, which is characterized by binge eating followed by “purging” through vomiting, taking meds, or exercising excessively. Both disorders can be life-threatening if left untreated.
Jessy says, “I still kept pushing myself to work out every day. I starved myself just to lose unwanted weight and look ‘perfect,’ but I was so unhappy. I couldn’t live my life the way I wanted to. I was usually weak and lutang because I didn’t have enough nutrients in my body."
“This kept going until 2016 when I suddenly gained all the weight back and eventually hit my heaviest weight, 140 lbs. Because of all the hate online, the struggle with myself kept going until 2017.”
Over the years, Jessy struggled with finding a balance and dealing with comments about her weight. “It’s so hard to be in tip-top shape especially when a lot of people try to put you down and tell you how you’re supposed to look. Sometimes you’re too thin, sometimes too fat.”
Jessy reveals that it was only last year that she started changing her food and exercise habits with the help of celeb trainer Kat Geronimo-Garcia a.k.a Mama Kat, celeb nutritionist Nadine Tengco, and her boyfriend, Luis Manzano. “He made me feel better every time I felt so insecure about myself. He helped me recover from my depression and made me feel loved every single day.”
“I am far from perfect, but this is who I am and this is how I love myself. I love myself enough to eat what I want to make myself feel good. I love myself enough to move every day because I want to live my life as best as possible.”
Her advice for those who are struggling with weight issues: “It doesn’t matter how long it takes for you to find inner peace, and whatever works for you, just stick to that. I know it’s hard sometimes, but you just gotta stand back up and try again. To whoever is reading this, accept yourself and work hard to be the best version of yourself. You do YOU.”
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