With her dazzling beauty and talent, the actress-turned-entrepreneur Portia de Rossi has left a lasting impression on audiences. She has stepped away from the camera, but fans remember her performances fondly.
Her gleaming smile, however, concealed a deadly secret. She admitted to having an eating disorder in the prime years of her career.
Eating Disorder in Portia de Rossi
Being in front of the camera is not as simple as it may appear. When you’re expected to appear ideal from every camera angle, in every clothing, every day, your image and self-esteem suffer.
Sadly, Portia de Rossi had to go through the same thing. Toxic diets and skinny culture are still popular in the mainstream media, even though they were at their peak in the 2000s and 2010s.
Portia’s career as an actress began to thrive during those years, and she became a victim of the poor eating culture. Body image troubles began for the actress when she was 12 years old.
The ‘Ally McBeal actress appeared on The Oprah Winfrey Show to promote her book ‘Unbearable Lightness,’ and she opened up about her past troubles.
Portia explained that the eating issue arose from her fears and the industry’s rigorous body standards for women, which led her to go on a diet for assignments.
When the job was finished, she’d binge eat to satiate her urges. The unhealthy cycle became unsustainable when she began receiving job offers one after the other, ending in a far worse solution.
She stated,
I needed to lose weight quickly, so I tried laxatives and diuretics, and when that didn’t work, I was compelled to purge…to throw up.
“Purging” is an unhealthy weight loss technique in which you consume something and immediately puke up.
If she couldn’t stick to her diet, Portia would often resort to purging as a fast fix.“I despised binging, but it provided me temporary solace since I’d been starving.”
Psychologically, all I wanted to do was fill the gap.
But the purging, the purging made me feel much more pitiful than failing yet another diet.
Even though she had bulimia, a sort of eating illness, Portia continued to deal with bodily anxieties. So she did everything she could to lose weight.
Her weight dropped to a worrying 82 pounds as a result of her eating disorder’s destructive cycle. She would actively exercise, and her daily calorie intake would decrease to as low as 300, which is six times less than the recommended calorie intake for adult women.
Her physical condition became a major source of concern for everyone around her. This became clear to her when her brother sobbed in front of her at a family dinner.
She said,
I’d never seen him weep before, and he just told me, ‘You’re going to die.’
And it only jolted me awake.
It was the catalyst for me to consider improving.
However, that was not the only motivator for her. The eating disorder’s psychological stress was palpable. But the actress didn’t understand how much physical stress her body was under until she fell on the set of a movie.
Portia was shocked to learn that her health was deteriorating and her organs were failing after being transported to the hospital. She then took the first step toward being a better person by seeking therapy for her eating condition and anorexia.
She met the love of her life, Ellen DeGeneres, this time. Portia grappled with her sexuality when she was coping with health concerns.
She was terrified of revealing herself.
Ellen, on the other hand, came into her life like a beacon of hope and accepted her for who she is. Portia is now married to Ellen, and her health and figure are in excellent condition.
She recovered control of her relationship with food and overcame previous challenges. Portia de Rossi is a true warrior who has valiantly overcome her eating condition. She, like her partner, is now involved in philanthropic endeavors and exudes beauty from within and outside.
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