Vicroria’s Secret models may make perfection look easy, but former VS star Erin Heatherton recently opened up about just how hard it is to live up to the runway’s unrealistic standards.
In 2013, Heatherton and Victoria’s Secret parted ways after a tumultuous few years during which the pressure on Heatherton to lose weight led to depression and an unhealthy relationship with food. “I got to a point where one night I got home from a workout and I remember staring at my food and thinking maybe I should just not eat,” she recently explained to Time. “I was really depressed because I was working so hard and I felt like my body was resisting me.”
Heatherton also felt like she could no longer perpetuate unrealistic standards of beauty for her young fans.
“I realized I couldn’t go out into the world — parading my body and myself in front of all these women who look up to me — and tell them that this is easy and simple and everyone can do this,” she said.
Now she’s using the experience to help others, posting to Instagram: “I made a choice to redirect my energy to be a catalyst for change. To create a channel for women to become the truest versions of themselves, along with me. (Stay tuned for more).”
