Lucy Hale Has Learned To Love & Appreciate Her Body After Overcoming Anorexia: 'We Have To Take Care Of Our Temple'
For years, Lucy Hale silently struggled with anorexia, but in 2012, she came clean about her dangerous eating habits and more in a candid interview with Cosmopolitan. Since then, the 32-year-old has learned to embrace her physique, and now, she's using her experience to help others do the same.
"Our bodies are so amazing and resilient, and we don't give them enough credit. I spent much of my teen years and early 20s not loving my body and not being good to it," the actress admitted to SHAPE. "I'm trying to make up for that because we get only one body. We have to take care of our temple."
While the Pretty Little Liars star admitted that she used to go days without food or restricted herself from eating anything but fruit, she now allows herself to enjoy what's on her plate.
"I like eating," she declared. "I find that sticking to a strict diet messes with my head and makes me obsess."
Instead of dieting, the Almay ambassador follows what she calls "intuitive eating."
"If I'm craving chicken, I'll have chicken. If my body is saying, 'Don't reach for the doughnut,' I don't reach for the doughnut. If my body is saying, 'You deserve a doughnut,' then I'll do it. But I'll never give up coffee," she noted. "I'll never give up my lattes or bread. There was a phase in my life when I didn't eat bread. What the hell was I thinking?"
Another factor of the Katy Keene star's healthy and happy new lifestyle is getting in the right amount of exercise, as in the past, she would push herself too hard, spending "three hours" in the gym to try and stay slim.
"I do a lot of strength training because I like to feel strong. I'm 5-foot-2, but I like to feel like a badass and to know that I could kick someone's ass. So I do pull-ups and do squats with the big-boy weights," she explained. "I even flipped one of those big tires once. And I just discovered Pilates. My butt has never been higher, and my abs have never been stronger." You go, girl!