You might know Alexis Ren from her Instagram adventures. She's constantly 'gramming herself in a sunny paradise or flexing in some athleisure. But behind the scenes, Alexis has been dealing with some body issues. On Twitter, Alexis opened up about how she's grown to love herself in the past year, becoming the happiest and healthiest she's ever been.
Alexis posted a series of tweets about how she used to have a "toxic" mindset that hurt her relationship with food and her body.
"This is the healthiest and happiest I've ever been," Alexis posted, just before she put up a photo of herself on a hike. "I've gone through a lot as far as health. I overworked myself to the point of malnourishment, (as you can tell from images from last year)."
Alexis goes on to say that she used to feel guilty about what food she ate, and used exercise as a form of punishment.
"I was in a toxic state of mind, and I'm so grateful to be out of that f***ing mindset," she wrote. "I am now healthy and able to eat full meals without guilt. I workout because I love it...not to punish myself."
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Food should never be a source of guilt, and we should be working out to feel healthy, not to counteract what we ate or to "punish" ourselves for eating. We all need food to sustain ourselves, but even if we indulge in treats, it doesn't mean we should feel bad about our bodies. That's exactly why Alexis said she had to overhaul her state of mind and start thinking about food and her body in a different, more accepting, way.
"I had to seperate myself from what was not serving me, and take a huge step of acceptance," she wrote.
Opening up about learning to manage her mental health and loving herself by taking care of herself is so important because we could all stand to remember if we're feeling bad about ourselves, there are always options even if it doesn't always feel like it. Alexis's honesty is also a reminder that you never know what someone is going through, no matter how their life appears on social media. We're glad to hear Alexis is feeling happy and healthy.
Images courtesy of Instagram/@AlexisRen
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