“When I got into modeling, I changed. I’d always been super confident, but then I suddenly started having doubts about myself. All because modeling is so concerned with how you look in pictures. You can’t help but compare yourself with someone photoshopped, where women’s bodies are shown in an unrealistic way.
The hardest part was when we went to the agency, where they said: “Well, you need to lose half an inch off your waist by the next week.” And I was like: “How do I do that?” In the modeling industry, either you are comparing yourself to someone else or your agents are comparing you to other models, saying: “You need to be like this.”
That’s when you start thinking that you are bigger than you actually are. And when I looked in the mirror, I started to see my body in a different way. I remember thinking, “Man, this is not what I want, this is not what my agent wants.”
When I was modeling, my eating habits were not healthy. I would eat the right amount of food, at the same time having three-hour workouts every single day. It wasn’t healthy for my body nor for my mental well-being. I felt that I was focused too much on losing weight and inches. So I started thinking that there must be some other way to feel good about myself, but also to eat the right type of food.
Veganism helped me to overcome the problem. I started feeling more confident because I was eating healthy and the way I wanted, and my body was gaining its natural shape. I didn’t have to work out as much and I started to love what I was doing. Although I went vegan due to my personal interests, I soon started to learn about its ethical part and, honestly, I love the idea of not supporting the mistreatment of animals.
I learned that as long as I’m being my true self, loving everything I’m doing, someone will sign me as a model. There is no reason for me to try to alter myself for someone else. You should love the body you are given.”
Photo courtesy of Mária Murcinová