Former Olympian Stephanie Rice reveals weight struggle

She’s one of Australia’s greatest sportswomen, representing the country in swimming at the 2008 and 2012 Summer Olympics.

But despite her accolades Stephanie Rice hasn’t always been happy with how she looked, revealing on Friday her struggle to control her weight.

The 29-year-old shared a before and after photo to Instagram, detailing how it had taken years of learning to love herself to finally overcome her body image issues. 

‘I was continually beating myself up for not being good enough’: Former Olympian Stephanie Rice reveals weight struggle as she shares photos of stunning body transformation

Confessing that posting before and after photos ‘takes a lot of courage’, Stephanie said she hopes to ‘help lift others out of mentally tough times’ by sharing her own journey. 

In the Instagram post, Stephanie shared a photo of herself taken in 2014 when she was living in America and ‘exercising daily, following programs & eating healthy vegan foods’. 

 ‘I felt like I was doing everything right … so why was my body not responding?? I was continually beating myself up for not being good enough, comparing myself to everyone else and my swimming days of being super fit & believing that I wouldn’t be happy until I lost weight,’ Stephanie recalled.

‘I remember leaving the gym one morning feeling so frustrated that I was putting in all this effort, doing everything right and not seeing results’: Stephanie confessed to struggling with her weight previously. Pictured left in 2009, right in 2012

‘I remember leaving the gym one morning feeling so frustrated that I was putting in all this effort, doing everything right and not seeing results…what was wrong with me?? Why wasn’t I noticing the transformations that other people were??’

Referencing the second photo of herself taken recently, Stephanie revealed that ‘obviously my body has changed … but more importantly my mind has’.  

She had eventually overcome her body battle by changing the way she thought about diet and exercise.

'This feeling of inner peace is what transformed my body': Stephanie said she had overcome her body battle by changing the way she thought about diet and exercise 

‘This feeling of inner peace is what transformed my body’: Stephanie said she had overcome her body battle by changing the way she thought about diet and exercise 

Instead of focusing on what she shouldn’t do, the swimmer ‘stopped putting rules on everything’.   

‘Funny things is, as soon as I allowed myself the mental freedom to not HAVE to workout, I became far more motivated to do so & when I stopped depriving myself of sweets & desert, I found I lost almost all of my cravings for them,’ she wrote.

‘This feeling of inner peace is what transformed my body.’

Wants to help others: Stephanie ended her post by explaining how she had created her Magical Mentoring Program to try and help others overcome the 'guilt, unworthiness and frustration' 

Wants to help others: Stephanie ended her post by explaining how she had created her Magical Mentoring Program to try and help others overcome the ‘guilt, unworthiness and frustration’ 

Sporting star: Stephanie is a winner of three Olympic gold medals and competing at the 2008 Beijing and 2012 London Olympics

Sporting star: Stephanie is a winner of three Olympic gold medals and competing at the 2008 Beijing and 2012 London Olympics

Stephanie ended her post by explaining how she had created her Magical Mentoring Program to try and help others overcome the ‘guilt, unworthiness and frustration’ she had felt for four years. 

A winner of three Olympic gold medals and competing at the 2008 Beijing and 2012 London Olympics, Stephanie retired from swimming in 2014.

In 2013, Stephanie won Celebrity Apprentice despite clashing on multiple occasions with Sydney publicist Roxy Jacenko.  

Early retirement: Stephanie left professional swimming in 2014 

Early retirement: Stephanie left professional swimming in 2014 



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