A former Miss Universe winner has opened up about her 12-hour sleeping habit and how it turned out to scarily be a warning sign of an eating disorder.
Rachael Finch has told of how she recovered from the eating disorder in her early days of modelling.
The Aussie model and Kissed Earth co-founder was just 15 when she established an unhealthy relationship with her body, describing it to Women’s Health magazine as a “rollercoaster journey”.
“I went through a very unhealthy stage where I was over-exercising; I was under-eating. I was internalising that I was way too heavy and way too big,” Rachael told the publication.
Alarm bells started to ring for her when the then teen was going to bed at 7pm and waking up at 7am.
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While 12 hours of sleep may sound like a dream come true, it was actually a warning sign that something was dangerously wrong.
"I was still waking tired. I lost my menstrual cycle for over two years. I look back now and I think, ‘Well, of course [my cycle] wasn’t happening. My body wasn’t functioning the way it needed to. It wasn’t being given what it needed.’"
Despite already weighing only 57-58kg at the time, Rachael dropped to about 52kg, describing herself as being "so light".
She claims she also felt the pressure to get breast implants at just 17-years-old, to "balance out her body."
Since that time, the 34-year-old has been working on establishing a better relationship with her body, including having her implants removed in 2021.
The mum-of-two told Body + Soul she has been in a better place since having surgery to remove the implants.
"I feel the most content, comfortable and happy that I’ve felt in my whole life," she explained.
“I feel like I’m truly myself. I’m not in any other skin than my own, and that’s a really empowering sensation.”
Rachael has opened up about her personal journey to help break the stigma around eating disorders and encourage others to seek help.
In a recent Instagram post, the wellness influencer said that at one point “it was all about counting calories, restrictive portions and excessive training”. And while it’s “not all perfect now”, she said she feels “a thousand times better than what it was”.
She said it comes down to a few things including education around holistic health, bio-individuality and tapping into intuition.
“It’s taken years of inner self-work to learn how to live in absolute abundance and appreciation and every day there’s still new lessons popping up,” Rachael said in a separate post.
For more information on eating disorders if you or someone you love is struggling, visit https://www.nhs.uk/
