A woman who battled an eating disorder for 12 years is proudly showing off her curves in an underwear selfie, admitting that just a few years ago she would have thought her ‘healthy body was flawed.’
Rini Frey, a 29-year-old fitness instructor and eating disorder recovery coach from Alberta, Canada, took to Instagram over the weekend to share a photo of herself posing on her bed in a black bra and underwear.
‘If I would have seen this body two years ago, I probably would have had a breakdown – that’s how disordered I was,’ she admitted in the caption.
Candid: Rini Frey, 29, from Alberta, Canada, took to Instagram over the weekend to share this underwear selfie, admitting a few years ago she would have thought her body was ‘flawed’
Changes: Up until two years ago, Rini suffered from anorexia, bulimia, binge eating disorder, and orthorexia. She is pictured in 2018 (left) and 2016 (right)
Moving on: The fitness instructor and eating disorder recovery coach admitted that she ‘would have had a breakdown’ if she saw her current body two years ago
‘I would have thought that this healthy body was flawed, because it doesn’t look like the body of my then-favorite fitness model.
I would have beat myself up, because I was “too weak” to follow my food- and workout plan and “just suck it up,”‘ she added.
Rini went on her first diet when she was 15 years old, and two years later, she did a water and juice cleanse that led her to develop a fear of food.
Up until two years ago, she suffered from anorexia, bulimia, binge eating disorder, and orthorexia.
‘Today, I look at this body with love and compassion,’ she explained in her post. ‘This body was never supposed to look like the body of a fitness model, even though I kept manipulating it to appear that way.
‘My body has been through so much, but my period-bloat today tells me that my body feels safe enough to actually get pregnant one day,’ she added.
‘This wasn’t the case for years, because my period went missing for a long time.’
Then and now: Rini went on her first diet as a teenager and eventually developed a fear of food. She no longer weighs herself or restricts her eating
Living her best life: The blogger said she is much happier now than she was when she had a ‘perfect body’
Looking back: In this post, she explained that her ‘relationship with food was rocky’ for most of her teens and twenties
Body positive: Rini proudly shows off her curves in the photos she shares with her 125,000 Instagram followers
Rini ended her post by asking her 125,000 Instagram followers to make an effort over the weekend to stop comparing their bodies to someone else’s.
‘For every mean thought you have about your body, say one nice thing instead,’ she advised. ‘For every “ugh, I hate my belly,” say one thing you thank your belly for.
‘Whether it’s the ability to grow a human being, the fact that it protects your organs or the gut feeling about people and situations that your belly provides every single day. Your body is on your team, I promise.’
At the height of her disordered eating, Rini’s only hobbies were going to the gym and prepping her food.
She would train six times a week and typically would only allow herself to eat six foods: chicken breast, broccoli, green beans, egg whites, protein powder, and oatmeal.
Rini weighed 100lbs and wore a size zero when she hit her breaking point a month after her wedding in 2016.
Give it up: The Instagram star encourages her followers to let go of their ‘diet rules’
Keeping it real: She is a fan of showing her followers the difference between Instagram and reality
Role model: Rini has her own website, Own it Babe, and earlier this month, she launched a podcast, which is dedicated to teaching others how to develop a positive body image
No longer a concern: Although she no longer checks the scale, she estimates that she now weighs about 145lbs and wears a size six or eight
After excessively dieting before her big day, she struggled with severe binge eating episodes and felt like she couldn’t stop consuming food.
Her husband eventually came home one day and found her crying on the kitchen floor, surrounded by empty food containers and wrappers. It was in that moment that she realized she needed help.
Although she no longer checks the scale, she estimates that she now weighs about 145lbs and wears a size six or eight.
In addition to showing off her healthy new body on Instagram, Rini speaks candidly about her past struggles with food while encouraging her followers to learn to love their own bodies.
‘It’s amazing how liberating it is to simply put an end to hating our bodies,’ she wrote in her most recent post.
Rini also has her own website, Own it Babe, and earlier this month, she launched a podcast, which is dedicated to teaching others how to develop a positive body image.