14 DAY TRIAL // For years, she was known as Sporty Spice, so it’s probably hard to fathom that Mel C of the Spice Girls once suffered from bulimia. Luckily, she became pregnant and she can now say that her daughter saved her life.
Mel C (real name Melanie Chisholm) gave birth to her first child in February 2010 – and it was a moment that changed her life in more ways than anyone could imagine.
For one, she started to embrace her changing body and to realize that she needn’t ruin her health to fit some standard set by the industry, she tells She Magazine (quotes via the Daily Mail).
When she became pregnant, Melanie basically learned that beauty and happiness had nothing to do with the dress size, so she stopped eating unhealthy.
“Scarlet hasn’t just changed my life, she's saved it. As my bump grew the more proud I became of my body and suddenly I felt more comfortable eating healthily,” the star says for the magazine.
She maintained the same outlook even after giving birth, taking her time with losing the pregnancy weight so that she could do it without putting her health at any risk.
“I put on almost 50lbs and I certainly wasn’t in any rush to shed my baby weight. There’s too much pressure on mums to ping back into shape,” she says.
As for how she came to develop bulimia, Melanie says it was her way of coping with everything happening in her life and the pressure from being in a group as popular as the Spice Girls.
She always knew she was damaging her health, but she just couldn’t stop, she explains.
“I felt like I wasn’t in control of my life, I was public property and I was fixated on my body image. Controlling my food was my way of fighting back and not feeling powerless,” Mel C says.
The Spice Girls reunion and tour was cathartic in this sense, because it healed many old wounds from her first time around with the girls.