EXCLUSIVE: Candace Cameron Bure Talks Past Struggle With Bulimia: 'I Kind of Lost My Identity'
Candace Cameron Bure has come a long way since overcoming her struggles with an eating disorder, and the Fuller House star is opening up about her past challenges that threatened her life.
"I knew I had a problem but again, it's like being on a runaway train and you wanna get off but you don't know how to get off," Bure, who helped kicked off the Eating Recovery Center’s first-ever "Eating Recovery Day," told ET's Jennifer Peros during a candid sit-down on Tuesday.
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The 40-year-old actress, now a co-host on The View, said that she was one of the 30 million Americans every year who are "affected by eating disorders." The issue arose when she stepped back from the Hollywood spotlight to focus on her marriage to former NHL star Valeri Bure.
"I kind of lost my identity in a sense and what happened was I turned to food for comfort when my husband was traveling and when I was alone," Cameron Bure shared. "I had a very unhealthy relationship with food that turned into bulimia."
"I dealt with it for several years but it wasn't about body image and trying to feel good -- It was about trying to find comfort or fill voids within myself," she explained.
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Cameron Bure revealed that she still recalls the exact moment that she realized she had a problem and decided she needed to get help.
"I was sitting in church and I was by myself my husband was on the road," Bure recounted. "The sermon somehow just spoke to my heart and that's when I went directly to my pastor and said, 'I need help.' It felt so good to admit to someone… That was the moment that I went, 'I don't want to do this anymore.'"
Cameron Bure admitted that she was embarrassed to open up to her husband about her eating disorder, but said that he ended up being incredibly supportive and helping her through her struggle.
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Now, the loving couple are making sure to impart a message about eating right and embracing a healthy body image to their three teenage children -- daughter Natasha, 17, and sons Lev, 16, and Maksim, 14.
"The most important thing for me to teach my children is about health and fitness," Bure shared. "It's about taking care of your body and eating foods that are good for you and getting the right exercise that you need… It's just about living a healthy life for longevity and a healthy heart."
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