Steph Claire Smith has revealed how her former eating disorder inspired her hugely successful business, Keep it Cleaner.
Steph, who owns the health empire with her business partner Laura Henshaw, said she began developing an unhealthy relationship with food a decade ago during her career as a full-time model.
In the lengthy note, written over a TikTok video, Steph, now 29, said she “continually fell into the comparison trap” between other female models and the beauty standards set in the industry.
“All my worth was attributed to my appearance. “There wasn't a second of the day where I wasn't thinking about food, restricting myself from the foods I loved and overeating everything I allowed myself,” said the mother of one.
She added that she was often sick or upset with herself “out of disgust and disappointment” for having fallen into the vicious circle.
Steph explained it was only when she became friends with her now business partner Henshaw, who had a similar experience, that she decided to pursue a career in health and body positivity.
“By 2015 we had around 500,000 followers on Instagram. By connecting with this online community, we knew we were not alone in our problems and that we wanted to do something about it,” she continued.
“It started with a recipe e-book, then a subscription blog, published a print book, then launched a web program, then a food label, and thennnnnn in 2018 we launched the Kic app.”
Steph Claire Smith has revealed how her former eating disorder inspired her hugely successful business, Keep it Cleaner
In the lengthy note written over a TikTok video, Steph revealed that she “constantly fell into the comparison trap” between other female models and the beauty standards set in the industry. In the picture she can be seen on the left during her modeling days and more recently on the right
The Keep it Cleaner (KIC) app is a health-based app that offers nutritious recipes, exercise programs, and mindful activities like meditation.
Steph said with the help of Henshaw and the “incredible experts” of the KIC team, they had “helped hundreds of thousands of people around the world change their relationship with wellness and themselves for the better.”
She continued her righteous post by dedicating herself to her family life.
Steph and her husband Josh Miller welcomed son Harvey in 2021.
“I'm the wife of a man I've had a crush on since I was 12, been with me for over a decade, and been married for four years,” she said, adding that her journey through motherhood has been “without” “It is without a doubt the most challenging and best thing that has ever happened,” she said.
Steph said it was only when she became friends with her now business partner Laura Henshaw (right), who had a similar experience, that she decided to pursue a career in health and body positivity
The Melbourne-based entrepreneur concluded her post by thanking her long-time fans and followers for their continued support.
Known for her stunning good looks and enviable physique, Steph now exudes good health.
It's not the first time she's spoken openly about her poor relationship with her body.
In 2018, she shared a before-and-after photo showing her as a slim 19-year-old next to her current self.
“This before photo is when I was 19 10kg lighter than I am now,” she captioned a photo of her slim figure.
The model continued her candid conversation and now turned to her family life – Steph and her husband Josh Miller (right) welcomed son Harvey in 2021
“It's crazy how much our bodies can change depending on age and lifestyle,” she captioned her latest photo.
Steph shared the post to talk about her experiences as a then 19-year-old model who felt pressured to look a certain way in order to get a job.
“I was making the most of my fast metabolism at that age, eating a lot of junk food and barely exercising,” she said.
“It was the year I went to America to get a contract, the year BEFORE I fell into restrictive eating and binge eating and hated my body because I wasn't thin enough…”
She said that to recover from thinking about yourself disorderly, you need to find a way to accept that your body changes over time.
Known for her stunning good looks and enviable physique, Steph now exudes good health
“The change in my body was scary at first…The measurements increased, stretch marks and cellulite appeared,” she wrote.
Henshaw has also spoken about her experiences with body dysmorphia early in her career.
Body dysmorphia as a mental illness is characterized by obsessive preoccupation with perceived flaws or flaws in physical appearance when these flaws are either imperceptible to others or are very minor.
In 2018, she shared a before-and-after photo showing her as a slim 19-year-old next to her current self
BD patients affect approximately two percent of the population, most often with a strong focus on the skin, hair, or face. However, it can encompass any aspect of physical appearance.
“Five years ago I was on extreme diets, I was obsessed with the models I followed on social media and I had a really bad relationship with food, but now I have a completely different approach,” said the 25-year-old towards body and soul.
“For me, it’s about eating well, exercising well, and I don’t care about the number on the scale or the calories I’m consuming.”