Erin Heatherton, Former Victoria’s Secret Model, Told To Lose Weight

Erin Heatherton decided to walk away from serving as a Victoria’s Secret model when she realized that the experience left her with body image issues.

Erin Heatherton Told To Lose Weight

Heatherton completed her final Victoria’s Secret runway show in 2013, opting to walk away from the gig after facing pressures to drop the pounds. “My last two Victoria’s Secret shows, I was told I had to lose weight,” Heatherton told Motto. “I look back like, ‘Really?’”

“I was really depressed because I was working so hard and I felt like my body was resisting me. And I got to a point where one night I got home from a workout and I remember staring at my food and thinking maybe I should just not eat,” Heatherton revealed. “I realized I couldn’t go out into the world—parading my body and myself in front of all these women who look up to me—and tell them that this is easy and simple and everyone can do this.”

Heatherton added, “I’m willing to sacrifice my pride, in a sense, and my privacy because I know that if I don’t speak about it, I could be withholding information that would really help women. It hurts too much to keep it in, and that’s why I’m not keeping it in now.”

A few weeks ago, Heatherton took to Instagram to open up about her struggles with body image throughout her modeling career. She used the platform to reach out to young women to encourage them to feel empowered and to love themselves, no matter what their body looks like.

“The breakdown to breakthrough moment in my life has allowed me to become the truest version of myself. In my moment of “failure,” I stood in the face of adversity. I was struggling with my body image and the pressures to fulfill the demands of perfectionism upon me,” Heatherton wrote. “I am not perfect. Through this struggle, however, I found the strength to love myself. I stood in my power.

“This feeling I once perceived as “failure” was, in truth, a powerful awakening for me to stand behind my purpose in life. I stepped away from hiding behind a fabricated version of myself,” she went on. “I no longer put actions behind my fears and insecurities. I made a choice to redirect my energy to be a catalyst for change. To create a channel for women to become the truest versions of themselves, along with me.”