Married At First Sight’s Sara Mesa has opened up about her struggle with an eating disorder, and the devastating effect it had on her body.

Sara, who is now a nutritionist, took to her Instagram Story after she was accused of setting a bad example for her followers by posting photos of herself eating pastries and drinking wine.

She explained that she is in a good state of mind, after years of restricted eating while having an unhealthy relationship with her body.

“I was always trying to improve and look a certain way and I had extreme body dysmorphia,” she began. “I did not think that I looked at the way that I looked, I would look at myself in the mirror and think, ‘Oh my god, I’m so fat, oh my god, this could be better, what can I do to improve this?’. I was never, ever content with the way that I looked.”

The extreme physical effects Sara experienced

The former TV bride told her followers that her unhealthy relationship with food led to an extreme physical change.

“What ended up happening was I was so lean, I had so much muscle, I had very little body fat, and I ended up going through such a stressful time in my life,” she explained.

“I ended up losing my hair, having extreme hormonal acne, and going through a depressive state. Not only that, but what ended up happening was I started binge eating and I was self-sabotaging because I didn’t feel that I looked the way that I looked.

“I couldn’t stop eating and I ended up gaining 10kgs. So I went from one extreme to the other because of all of those years of restricting and stopping myself from doing the things that I love and eating the things that I love.”

Sara shared her story to raise awareness

Sara told her followers that she decided to share her eating disorder battle in order to help other people who may be going through something similar.

“As a nutrition and fitness coach, I know what it’s like to feel the weight of society and ‘health norms’ weigh in on you and make you think you need to look a certain way or restrict a certain food,” she told Yahoo Lifestyle.

She explained to her followers that she’s managed to achieve a healthy relationship with her body and has found her “happy medium”.

“Just like every woman out there, I have struggled with my health, fitness and weight and it wasn’t always easy. And comments like that about someone’s body or what they eat should never be made. Women shouldn’t fear food. That’s what’s wrong with the health industry these days. It’s so damaging and we as women need to do better, always supporting and never bringing each other down.”

Stream Married At First Sight on 9Now.

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