Marissa, from British Columbia, Canada, is now a nutrition coach determined to help women ditch diet culture and heal their body image.This is a far cry from where Marissa was personally just a few years ago.READ MORE: Curvy model called 'obese' by vile trolls has last laugh by becoming body positivity iconWhen she was a bodybuilder, she said she was “barely surviving” but is now thankfully “fully thriving”.With more than 27,000 followers on Instagram, she has opened up about the harsh realities of the industry.“On the left, I was deep in bodybuilding culture – where I would starve for months on end and kill myself with cardio, only to have months of intense binging and self-hatred.
And yet so many people glorified what I was doing,” she wrote in a caption.“I remember receiving so many compliments around show time because people noticed how good I was at shrinking myself“So I fully immersed myself in being the best I could possibly be at controlling my body.“But it didn’t matter how lean I got, it was never enough, and I had such terrible body dysmorphia that I would look in the mirror for hours and pick myself apart.”Marissa says ditching the toxic lifestyle was incredibly difficult as she was plagued with self-doubt.While the journey was filled with ups and downs, she knew that the decision to stop dieting was the correct one.She continued: “Now I can honestly say I’ve never felt happier, more free [sic] and more ALIVE.“I appreciate my body for all it does for me and I fall in love with nourishing it every single day.“So if you’re struggling right now, please know there IS a way and you CAN free yourself.“Also, remember that compliments solely based on someone’s body are often times more harmful than anything,.
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