Jameela Jamil describes eating disorder as 'horrifying waste of happiness'

Jameela's insecurities began when she was publicly weighed in school and was revealed to be the heaviest in her class. Picture: AP

Jameela's insecurities began when she was publicly weighed in school and was revealed to be the heaviest in her class. Picture: AP

Published Aug 28, 2019

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Jameela Jamil has described her eating disorder battle as a "horrifying waste of happiness".

The 33-year-old actress has been open about her previous struggles with anorexia, and has said during that time of her life she would weigh herself every day, and her mood would be impacted by what she saw on the scales.

She said: "I ended up weighing myself every single day of my life until last year. That's 21 f***ing years of waking up every morning and my entire mood for the day being determined by the number on a stupid little machine in my bathroom.

"What a horrifying waste of happiness. What a horrifying waste of time. What a sad thing for a bright girl, who technically knew better, to keep as her deep, dark secret for so long."

Jameela's insecurities began when she was publicly weighed in school and was revealed to be the heaviest in her class.

And rather than support her, her parents put her on a crash diet to tackle her weight because at the time, "diet culture was on an aggressive rampage".

She added: "I was depressed. I was weak. I was in chaos. 

"Diet culture was on an aggressive rampage, using fat-shaming, Photoshop and erasure of all curves to pressure us into buying dodgy quick-fix slimming products.

"This all f***ed me up as a young person - and I didn't grow up with social media."

Since fighting back her eating disorder, the 'Good Place' star has been campaigning for body positivity, and says it's important to have "real honest conversations" about weight.

Jameela told Stylist magazine: "So, now more than ever we need to see un-retouched photographs, we need to see ethnicities, we need to see diversity and we need to have real honest conversations.

"We are smart, we are strong, we are resilient, and we are goddam tired of being bullied and lied to."

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