Truth behind Rachael Finch’s skinny photos

THE model is famous posting photos of her fit body and perfectly healthy meals on Instagram, but she says she wasn’t always so balanced.

Rachael Finch has opened up about her body image issues. Picture: Justin Lloyd

MODEL and fitness influencer Rachael Finch has opened up about her previous battles with body image and unhealthy eating.

The 30-year-old mother-of-two has her own fitness program Body By Finch and regularly shares her nutritionally perfect meals on Instagram, but not too long ago she says she “lived off skinny lattes, diet soft drinks and low-fat foods”.

Rachael Finch walking the runway during the 2011 Mercedes Benz Fashion Festival Sydney. Picture: Lisa Maree Williams/Getty Images

She was lighter than she is now, but living on diet drinks and low-fat food. Picture: Lisa Maree Williams/Getty Images

On the weekend Finch took to Instagram to explain she now weighs about 60kg, more than 5kg heavier than she was while working as a model.

“In 2008, I started to lose my periods,” she said in the Instagram video.

“I didn’t have a period for two years. At the time I was working as a model, and I was incredibly light in terms of my weight. I was about 6 or 7kg lighter than I am now. I was about 52kg — that’s pretty light for my frame.”

Finch said she was “malnourished” and did not feed her body with the right nutrients.

“I lived off skinny lattes, diet soft drinks and low-fat foods,” she said.

“I thought that was healthy, and I felt like I had to maintain that weight in order to continue to get work. I was so obsessed with counting calories all the time. It was a wrong way to look at things. It was a vicious cycle that ultimately cost me the health of my body.

“I was drinking half a bottle of diet soft drink a day. After I stopped drinking it, I got a lot of headaches. I felt worse before I got better, and that made it really hard to push through.”

She said the pressure of the modelling industry messed with her head.

“I was 52-53kg and would aim to sit around that weight permanently. Every meal felt like I was cheating and my periods were irregular. I was worried when clothes wouldn’t fit me in castings or job fittings,” she said.

But now she says she is the happiest and healthiest she’s ever been.

“Fast forward to my 29-year-old self now. I’m 58-59kg, strong, fit, happy and have two amazing children who are also healthy and happy.”