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Demi Moore Says Her Obsession With ‘Excessive Exercising’ Stopped Her Being Able To Breastfeed

"All I could think about was my body, my body, my body." - by Lucy Bode
  • 26 Sep 2019
Demi Moore Says Her Obsession With ‘Excessive Exercising’ Stopped Her Being Able To Breastfeed
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In her new memoir Inside Out, Demi Moore opens up about the years she spent suffering from an eating disorder after succumbing to pressure to ‘bounce back’ to her pre-baby weight. The actress said she developed an “obsession with working out” that began shortly after welcoming her second child, Scout (now 28), to the world.

“I didn’t feel like I could stop exercising,” she wrote. “It was my job to fit into that unforgiving military uniform I’d be wearing in two months in A Few Good Men. Getting in shape for that movie launched the obsession with working out that would consume me over the next five years. I never dared let up.”

This “excessive exercising” lead to a decrease in the fat content of her breastmilk, which soon began affecting Scout’s growth. Demi recalls being “crushed” when she was told by her doctor she would need to supplement with formula. Still, she continued to push her body to its limits and after she landed a role in Indecent Proposal, her mental (and physical state) only got worse.

RELATED: Demi Moore Reveals She Is Missing Her Front Teeth

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My sweet angel Scout LaRue Willis you are as sensitive as you are fierce, you are a goddess a warrior my princess who has bravely been carving out your own path since the moment you were born. You dive in to life with ferocious passion and boundless love that inspires all to rise up and meet you on your wondrous exploration of life. What an honor to have been chosen to be your mother, and magnificent gift to witness the beautiful unfolding of of the ever radiant YOU! HAPPY BIRTHDAY SCOUT LARUE! I Love and Adore You❤️😍🥰❤️

“I would be on display again, and all I could think about was my body, my body, my body,” she wrote. “I doubled down on my already over-the-top exercise routine. I cut out carbs, I ran and I biked and I worked out on every machine imaginable.”

It wasn’t long before she began restricting other areas of her diet too. 

“When I was making Striptease, for breakfast I would measure out a half cup of oatmeal and prepare it with water, then for the rest of the day I would have only protein and some vegetables — and that was it,” she said. If all this obsessing about my body sounds crazy to you, you’re not wrong: eating disorders are crazy, they are a sickness. But that doesn’t make them less real.”

RELATED: What Is Orthorexia And What Are The Signs You Might Have It? 

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Because it's Tuesday!

Demi only learned to embrace her natural bodyweight after being forced to bulk up to play a naval officer in G.I Jane a year later.

“My usual reaction would have been to start starving myself again, to begin an exercise regime designed to reduce the bulk, but I did neither. I had reached my limit,” she wrote. “When I got home to Idaho, I had an epiphany in the shower one day: I just need to be my natural size.”

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I don't go out much but if you are gonna do it... #MetGala #SaintLaurent @anthonyvaccarello @harrywinston

Meditation was also an instrumental part of her mental and physical recovery.

“I added into my daily prayer a new mantra: to have the courage to be seen without padding or protection,” she said. I couldn’t go on fighting my body and my weight; I had to make peace. I started by giving up hard exercise. I never went back into the gym in the house. Never. … The room it occupied is now my office.”

If you are worried about yourself or someone in your care, the best thing you can do is talk to someone. Please contact the Butterfly Foundation 1800 33 4673 or chat online.

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Lucy Bode
Lucy Bode
Lucy is Women Health’s digital editor, social media specialist and the go-to girl for all things holistic wellness. Her background as a journalist and passion for food, fitness and integrative medicine has led her to write for some of Australia’s leading publications over the course of her career.

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