Kylie Padilla gets real about the standards of beauty and her past eating disorder. A lot of moms can definitely relate to what she said!
What can you read in this article?
- Kylie Padilla opens up about her eating disorder
- How the world’s beauty standard affected how she saw herself
- Her message to other moms
As women, we have been held to impossible standards by society. We were expected to look good when we’re single, give birth to beautiful healthy babies, and bounce back like our bodies didn’t take a beating from the pregnancy and labor. What’s worse, we pass on this expectation, this pattern of thinking to our daughters who also become so self-conscious about their bodies, and the cycle continues.
But it’s a good thing that young women, young mothers are now speaking up about the standards of beauty that we have been held up against. One of them is Kapuso actress and celebrity mom Kylie Padilla.
In her latest vlog entitled, “Beauty,” the mom of two opened up about her journey with recognizing her self-worth and breaking free from the expectations that she had growing up.
“I’ve been through my own beliefs, my own standard of beauty that was taught to me by society, by the people around me while I was growing up,” Kylie shared. “And it causes a lot of suffering, a lot of self-torture,” she added.
Kylie Padilla talks about her past eating disorder
In her vlog, Kylie shared that 2021 has been a year of growth and healing for her, which is why she felt it was very important to her to talk about how she put herself against a certain standard of beauty that led her to do some unhealthy things to herself.
A toxic pattern of thinking
Growing up in Australia where the standard of beauty centered on skinny blondes with caramel skin, Kylie didn’t feel happy and confident about how she looked.
“I was a chubby girl, so I really felt, noong andoon ako sa Australia, that I was not beautiful,” she said.
This toxic view of herself persuaded her to think that she needed to do something about her body, which later on developed into an eating disorder.
“I had such low self-esteem when I was a little girl. I felt like I can’t be me. Being me is not beautiful. So naging eating disorder siya for a long time,” added the 28-year-old mama.
Kylie shared that she has already recovered from it, but she could not believe how long it took for her to finally realize that her worth was not based on these beauty standards.
“I’m recovered now, but for 10 years, I was hungry. Iniisip mo you’re never enough, and that’s the root of the problem,” she shared. “I hated myself for 10 years. I was really thin for 10 years of my life, that I was so hard on myself because I felt like I was not beautiful.” confessed the celebrity mom.
Her eating disorder got so bad that she admitted that there would be days that she would starve herself, she wouldn’t eat and just chew on gum to keep herself satisfied. And not only did it take a toll on her physically, it also affected the way she views herself.
“In my personal journey, I hurt myself a lot – I’d go hungry, I wouldn’t eat. Dumadating ‘yong point minsan na puro bubble gum na lang,” Kylie said. “And the smaller I got, I felt like, the more beautiful I got. The less space I took up as a human being, I felt like I was beautiful,” she added.
Seeing herself in a different light
Image from Kylie Padilla’s Instagram account
It was only when she got pregnant that Kylie really learned to see her body in a different way and look at herself in a better light. She used the excuse to eat for her baby’s health and because of the support system that she had, she finally felt that her worth is more than what she looks like.
“I developed so much respect for what my body can do, which I’m very thankful for because I never thought I’d get to that place,” said the celebrity mom.
However, Kylie admitted that ditching that pattern of thinking was more difficult than she expected. After losing all the baby weight on her first pregnancy, she got pregnant again and gained back all the weight. This time around, it was harder for her to lose weight and it took a toll on her confidence.
“Parang napagod ‘yong katawan ko. Mas nahirapan akong magpapayat this time around,” she admitted. “The sad thing is it’s still not to a point na proud ako. Nagtago ako nun. Hindi ko nakita na nag-gain ako ng weight kasi I felt so much shame.” she confessed.
Larawan mula sa Instagram account ni Kylie Padilla
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Ang mga babaeng may gwapong asawa ay mas nanganganib sa unhealthy eating habits
Be kind to yourself
Despite the destructive thinking pattern she had growing up and pressure from being a public figure, Kylie fought all the negative self-talk and worked on seeing herself in a positive light.
“We have our own standard of beauty, and we have to be brave enough to fight for that and change the way we think,” said the celebrity.
She admits that there are days when she feels really happy and days where she can hear bad thoughts, which makes her angry because she knows she shouldn’t be feeling that way.
Now, Kylie shares that she is taking care of herself better this time around, still wanting to lose some weight, but the healthy way. That kind of thinking radiates on how blooming and confident she is at the moment.
To other moms and other women, Kylie Padilla gives this important piece of advice:
“Be kinder to yourself. You have to know that your worth is more than your body, your weight, your hair, all of this. Once you get past that unhealthy way of thinking, you can get in touch with your authentic self.”
“There’s nothing wrong with wanting to be beautiful. It’s just that sana you do it in a way that makes you healthier, make you feel confident as a person and make you happy to be who you are.”
We’re with you on that, Kylie! Here’s to self-love and self-care, mommies!
Image from Kylie Padilla’s Instagram account