Iskra Lawrence admits her desire to be perfect made her feel miserable.
Iskra Lawrence
The 27-year-old model - who is renowned for her curvaceous figure - has taken to her Instagram account to post side-by-side pictures of her when she was younger and now, and Iskra insists she's become much happier since she's accepted her natural body shape.
She wrote on the photo-sharing website: "I used to seek approval from the fashion industry and tried to be "perfect". I thought if I looked like "her" (an unrealistic beauty ideal), I'd be happy, successful and loved.
"All I found was failure (because you can't change who you are) emptiness (because my time and energy was being used up trying to achieve something completely self absorbed and shallow sacrificing doing things I loved) and unhappiness (because no restrictive diet or abusive exercise feels good) (sic)"
Iskra decided to share her own experience to offer encouragement to women who are recovering from eating disorders.
She continued: "I share my experiences with you all because if you are feeling like I did there is another way and those recovering from EDs you're not alone.
"The best thing I ever did was focus on looking after myself and being the best me I could be.
"Seeing value in who I was. The impact I could have in the world and people around me. Trying to give, instead of focusing on myself, my image and needing approval from others.
"And accepting that I am meant to be here just like you, and we were all created to be imperfectly perfect. I started Investing time into self-care, doing things that made me happy.
"Listening to my body and mind and nourishing them both, without guilt. (sic)"