Getting personal.
Bachelor Nation fans met Ben Smith on Season 16 of “The Bachelor” when he bravely opened up to Tayshia Adams about his struggle with bulimia and how he overcame it.
Now, years later, Ben is getting candid about how his eating disorder also manifested as binge eating and anorexia when he was younger.
Alongside a video posted to Instagram, Ben wrote, “I’ve struggled with disordered eating for as long as I can remember. It’s taken many forms, and until very recently I didn’t have the awareness or language to describe why I couldn’t seem to handle myself, when it came to food.”
And in the video, Ben looks back on his childhood and how his eating disorder evolved over the years.
The Bachelor Nation star said, “As a young kid I developed a binge eating disorder. And then the binge eating disorder turned into anorexia when I was in my late teens. Then I joined the military and the army said I was way too skinny and that I needed to get bigger and stronger. I started having to force feed and I was really uncomfortable.”
ABC/Craig Sjodin
Ben went on saying, “Now, as a 33 year old guy, I still deal with all of the feelings, but what I’ve found that disordered eating for me is a symptom of nervous system dysregulation. I am learning how to regulate and I’m noticing that my need to binge eat has gone away for the most part. When I feel a binge coming on, I do three things. I do a body scan, I take a drink of water, and I get outside.”
Ben said that he knows the food will be there when he’s back, but “99.99 times out of 100, when I come back from the walk, I don’t feel the need to binge.”
The U.S. Army veteran asked his followers what works for them when it comes to grounding and regulating the nervous system.
He ended his post writing, “Btw, thank you for being here. Thank you for being you and for being vulnerable and sharing with me and this community. You have no idea how much it means to me and everyone who’s here.”
We know that Ben continuing to be open and share about his struggles will help so many others.
And if you or someone you know is looking for resources, click here for more information.
