Australian model Steph Claire Smith has broken down about her battle with binge eating

AUSTRALIAN model Steph Claire Smith has broken down on her YouTube channel while admitting to a harrowing private battle.

AUSTRALIAN model and social media influencer Steph Claire Smith has broken down during a video posted to YouTube, admitting that she battles with an eating disorder.

Smith, who has more than 1.2 million followers on Instagram and is an ambassador for Adidas, Clinique skincare and Bondi Sands tanning range, said her time in the US triggered her battle with binge eating — after she was pressured to follow a “super strict” diet.

“They told me I needed to work on my measurements and, of course, being a new model, I was like, “Yep, yep, sure, totally understand, I agree,” she said in the 24-minute clip.

“I started working out, even more than I already was.

“I started to not want to eat out. I would say no to friends inviting me out, because I wasn’t in control of what I was eating.

Steph Claire Smith said she would over eat healthy foods.

“I went back to the agency, and I was losing weight. I thought it was amazing. They measured me, and I was still over the measurements they wanted me to be. They told me to stop doing things like squats, and that I should just try running and yoga and eating less protein. They were measuring me twice a week.”

Smith, who lives in Melbourne, said she was expected to do “some pretty unhealthy things” while trying to book modelling jobs in the US, and while her binge eating wasn’t on junk — she was consuming “very unhealthy” amounts of good foods.

“All of that stress of being super strict led me to binge eating,” she said.

“Nothing that entered my mouth was unhealthy; but the amount that I was eating was very unhealthy.

“I would wake up and eat breakfast straight away. It would be something healthy, like a healthy granola ... that was all good stuff with yoghurt, berries and nuts. It was all good.

“But I would have so much peanut butter; like so so so much peanut butter, way over the amount you should have in a serving.

“As soon as I put my breakfast down, five minutes later I would probably make a smoothie. “After that as I put it away ... I’d see the peanut butter again and have another spoonful.

“It would come to lunch time ... I would get my lunch and eat it ... then as soon as I got home I would eat snacks. As soon as I walked through the door, I would eat snacks.

“I would go into the kitchen and grab some corn chips and just eat, and eat and eat. I kept telling myself, “It’s okay because everything’s healthy. It’s fine, you can keep eating, it’s all healthy stuff, it doesn’t matter.”

Model Steph Claire Smith said she battled with an eating disorder while living in the US.

Smith said while the binge eating didn’t impact her weight at the start, it impacted her “mindset about eating”.

Arriving back to Australia, the 23-year-old said her habit of overeating continued — especially during stressful situations.

“Any time that I became stressed about something, whether it was work or my body image, I overate,” Smith said.

“I would put on weight then I would just be depressed. This has gone on and on for years, and it still effects me to this day.

Steph Claire Smith has opened up about her battle with an eating disorder.

“When I say ‘overeating’, I’m not talking about, you’ve gone out with friends, there’s this amazing feast, or you have people over and you’ve got all these amazing cheese platters and beautiful food.

“That’s okay to do now and then. I’m not saying you have an eating disorder.

“My problem was that I was doing that all the time, for every meal of the day, and in my head, I kept telling myself it was okay. But then, I would later hate myself for it. It was such an unhealthy cycle, I cannot even tell you the kind of emotional rollercoaster that I’ve been on for years.”

Parents who are concerned about their children can seek advice, support and access to resources by calling Butterfly’s National Support Line on 1800 33 4673 or [e-mail]