Julie Bowenis opening up about having an eating disorder when she was a teenager.
TheModern Familyalum, 52, was a guest on Thursday’s airing ofThe Tamron Hall Showand reflected on what she believestriggered the condition.
“You know, it’s funny because I have three sons, and they’re all so different,” she told the Emmy-winning talk show host. “But I see one of them is very similar to me, and I see him always trying to color inside the lines and get the A+.”
Bowen shares son Oliver, 15, and twin sons John and Gustav, 13, withher ex-husband Scott Phillips.
tamron hall show
She continued, “And I think [as a teen] I interpreted being messy or making mistakes or having an ass or like fat coming out of the top of your jeans [as] a symbol that you couldn’t contain yourself. That you were too much, and that to be good meant staying inside the lines — literally and figuratively. Keeping it tight.”
At the time, she said, she was “struggling” with the changes and hormones that came along with puberty and “not liking that feeling of changing.”
Bowen added that, although her sons are “aren’t afraid” of their changing bodies, her life was much different when she was younger.
When she was growing up, she said, “We didn’t talk about anything, and it just sort of felt like… dirty. And I realized, when you’re really starving, you don’t have any feelings. It’s kind of amazing. The body goes, ‘We don’t have time for that.’ So I think it was a coping mechanism.”
Also during her appearance, she recalled being body-shamed months after giving birth to her twins.
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At the time, she had also been trying to breastfeed after welcoming John and Gustav nine months prior.
Added Bowen: “I felt like I had done something wrong. Like somebody took a picture of you in your most private moment. And [the paparazzi] had no idea my body just did something f—— amazing.”
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 toNationalEatingDisorders.org.
source: people.com