‘How I changed my mindset for happier, healthier life’ — Roz
ROZ Purcell has revealed that reaching a point in life where she is completely comfortable in her own skin has been “a journey and a half ”. Having recently posted unedited photos of stretch marks and her post-meal stomach to her almost 250,000-strong following on social media, the Irish model shared how she has nurtured a healthier new attitude.
“I never thought I would be finally this comfortable with myself,” she says. “It was a compilation of things that seemed to happen in a very short space of time.
“I got kind of sick of putting myself down. Constantly over-thinking everything I did. I wasn’t the fun Roz I used to be growing up, I was down all the time and really difficult to be around, especially if food was involved.
“A huge part was going to get help through Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT). It’s something I decided I wanted to work on and I still do it every day.”
The therapy has grown in popularity among millennials and the baby boomer generation: “It is very different for everyone, so I can only speak from my own experience — I went to CBT to deal with my control issues around food and my attitude towards my weight,” she says.
“Irrational and negative thoughts enter all our minds throughout the day and I’m pretty sure that’s normal, but I guess I’ve learnt how to manage them and filter them so that they don’t fester and ruin my day.”
She explains: “You have to be patient with it and it doesn’t happen overnight but it will get easier.”
She chose to release the unfiltered photos, she says, because of her past propensity to compare herself to others and give herself a hard time about food and weight. This spurred her to go against the ‘picture perfect’ trend.
“I guess I’m the very same [as other girls]. I can come away from Instagram feeling crap about myself. Sometimes you tend to forget the platform is ‘picture perfect’. I have a lot of great followers, especially young followers who are impressionable, so I wanted to make sure they never come away from my page feeling anything but positive.”
Other changes she made in order to bring about her healthy mentality included “not being restrictive [with my diet] like I used to be”.
“Certain foods aren’t just for certain days — such as Sunday — and I don’t over-think or feel guilty if I indulge a little. I eat to fuel myself and not to be smaller.” She says the biggest mistake she ever made in her eating habits was “cutting out carbs for years”.
The new attitude has impacted her relationships too, saying: “Hopefully I’m much nicer to be around,” adding, “I definitely take more opportunities and I don’t let old traits like negative self-talk or a bad attitude towards myself stop me from doing things.
“I’m far more relaxed and easy going as a person. I train because I love it; I’m also really interested in programming and I enjoy meal times.”
She has also honed her exercise regime to train “five/six times a week with a rest day or two. I think training to be a personal trainer helped with how I structure my workouts now and really helped me understand recovery.”
Now in a relationship with Zach Desmond, she says it had no bearing on her new attitude. “It was about me and finding my confidence again and appreciating my body.”