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Hilary Duff dealt with an eating disorder during her teenage superstar years. That How I met your father Star, 35, opened up about her past struggles with eating and body dysmorphia in a new interview for Women’s Health Australiarevealed she suffered from an eating disorder for about a year when she was 17.
That Disney Channel star explained how life as an actress affected her self-image and mental health. She told them, “Because of my career, I can’t help but say, ‘I’m in front of the camera and actresses are skinny.’ It was appalling.”
Hilary has been in front of the camera for almost as long as she can remember. She was a breakout star in the 1998s Casper meets Wendy and then starred in the hit Disney Channel series Lizzie McGuirewhich ran for two seasons from 2001 to 2004 and inspired a feature film in 2003.
Today the mother of three has come to terms with her body and feels stronger than ever. (Daughter Mae James is just 20 months old while daughter Banks Violet is 4 and son Luke is 10, which means she’s on the go all the time.)
“[I’m] I value my health, do activities that make me feel strong, rather than just improving the outside of my body,” Hilary said. “Spending time with people who make me feel good and share similar beliefs about health and body positivity, and getting enough sleep and a balanced diet.”
That A Cinderella story Star was pure confidence in May as she posed for her in the buff women health. In the accompanying article, she said: “I’m proud of my body. I have arrived at a place where I am at peace with the changes my body has gone through.”
“I think at 34 I just got a lot of respect for my body. It has taken me to all the places I need to go. It helped me build a beautiful family. I feel like the older I get, the more confident I become in my own skin. And my body was a lot of different shapes and sizes and I’m really just fascinated with being a woman. And second, all the changes your body can go through over the course of your lifetime.”