Candace Cameron Bure appeared on Mayim Bialik’s Breakdown podcast.They discussed how child acting contributed to periods of disordered eating in their lives. “I’ve gotten into a healthy place for the most part … but I’m still very aware of it,” Bure said.
Today, Candace Cameron Bure is an accomplished actress and newfound producer-director who is quickly establishing herself at GAC Media after leaving the Hallmark Channel. But she was once a child star who, like many kids in the industry, was molded by the structured, public-facing nature of her work. That structure, combined with her shift into motherhood and married life, led to disordered eating—a struggle she recently discussed with Mayim Bialik on her podcast, Mayim Bialik’s Breakdown.
Bure and Bialik were actually able to relate to one another on the topic, because Bialik, too, was a child star in NBC’s Blossom, which led to her own complicated relationship with food. They both admitted that the impulse to control their eating was exacerbated by very disciplined professional upbringings.
“Food is still something that’s a comfort for me but also a battle for me,” Bure explained. “It’s like, you know, I’ve gotten into a healthy place for the most part … but I’m still very aware of it. And there’s days like, ‘Oh, this is a trigger for me. And if I pick this up to eat this, this is not going to end well.’ And then I have to consciously make a good choice.”
Bialik then explained that she once preferred to graze on food. “I was an expert grazer, like I either could eat nothing or all day a handful in 20-minute intervals,” she said. “I was really good at that because it’s a form of restricting that doesn’t feel out of control.”
Bure went on to say that she has replaced her unhealthy coping mechanism with one that’s better for her: working out.
“Exercise has become a good form of comfort for me. Because it really helps my mental state. When I don’t exercise and it’s been, you know, seven to 10 days and I haven’t gotten some kind of sweat in, I notice it immediately in my mind, just my mental state, and I need that release of those endorphins,” she said. She added that she doesn’t work out to lose weight.
“Obviously, the exercise has a benefit in how I feel or look in my clothes, but my motivation for exercise is not that,” she said.
Bure has previously opened up about her experience with bulimia, which took off after she got married to her husband, professional hockey player Val Bure, and joined him on the road. At that point, she had a bit of an identity crisis and didn’t know how to handle being away from her strict on-set schedule.
“I sat lonely so many nights not knowing what to do with myself,” she told People in 2016. “But there was always one friend that was always there, that was so readily available anytime I wanted, and that for me was food.” She continued: “It was never about the weight for me. It was an emotional issue.”
If you believe you are struggling with an eating disorder and need support, call the National Eating Disorders Association helpline at (800) 931-2237. You can text HOME to 741741 to message a trained crisis counselor from the Crisis Text Line for free.
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Kayla Blanton is a freelance writer-editor who covers health, nutrition, and lifestyle topics for various publications including Prevention, Everyday Health, SELF, People, and more. She’s always open to conversations about fueling up with flavorful dishes, busting beauty standards, and finding new, gentle ways to care for our bodies. She earned a bachelor’s degree in journalism from Ohio University with specializations in women, gender, and sexuality studies and public health, and is a born-and-raised midwesterner living in Cincinnati, Ohio with her husband and two spoiled kitties.
