Aussie influencer and businesswoman Steph Claire Smith was brought to tears while recalling an interaction she had with her mum as a teenager.
The co-founder of fitness empire Keep It Cleaner opened up about her experience of suffering from an eating disorder while speaking with A Life Of Greatness podcast host Sarah Grynberg in an episode released on Friday.
Smith, 29, had to wipe away a tear as she recalled a moment she screamed at her mum for using olive oil in cooking.
“For a period of time, I would be angry at mum for using certain ingredients like olive oil and stuff,” she said in a clip shared to Instagram.
“I remember even years after I learnt what I was doing was wrong, I would go over for dinner and the things mum would offer me or suggest would be the changes I had made her do at home and I was like ‘Oh you don’t have to do that anymore’.”
She admitted how grateful she was to her mother for not bringing any “diet fads” into the home like some of her school friends mother’s would do.
“‘I was lucky enough that at least in my home space, that wasn’t the case. And I want to be that way as a mum now,” she said.
She said it was an ongoing battle throughout her career as a model during her 20s but admitted meeting her friend and now business partner Laura Henshaw helped her feel less alone.
The pair bonded over similar experiences and together started their successful health platform Keep It Cleaner with a focus on body positivity and acceptance.
In an episode of her KIC podcast in February 2023, she shared how she never was formally diagnosed with an eating disorder but experienced “patterns, habits, thoughts” that she know recognises were unhealthy.
“I had a horrible relationship with exercise and with food and my body image was just at an all-time low in my early 20s,” she said.
“There’s always been times, even past the point where I kind of recovered and moved on from it, that triggered certain patterns and habits.
“And I am not going to lie … when I was thinking about going through pregnancy and having a kid, the thought did pop up in my mind of, ‘Is my body going to bounce back?’”