Roz Purcell has opened up about body image, and revealed why she doesn’t care about her stretch marks.
In a recent interview, in which she unveiled her new beauty brand Ripe by Roz, the brunette beauty told how she’s been plagued by stretch marks since she was young – just like plenty of Irish women.
However, as a former Miss Universe Ireland, you’d think the scars would have been Roz’s worst nightmare – but, it was quite the opposite.
“I will never forget the moment I realised I had stretch marks. I was probably 11 or 12. Growing up, all my best friends were guys, because I went to a mixed school and I was such a tomboy,” she told the Sunday Independent.
Happy: Roz isn’t bothered by her stretch marks | VIPIRELAND.COM
“One of my friends was over and he said, ‘Your cat scraped you’, and pointed at my side. I knew it wasn’t my cat, but I said, ‘Oh, maybe she did’, thinking, ‘I must look back at this later and see what it is’.”
“I was quite a small child until I was eight or nine, and then I shot up, and I got stretch marks on my sides. You’d think with all the modelling that I would have been just so fixated on them, but it got to the stage where I was like, ‘I have them, I can’t get rid of them, so just cover them up. I don’t even care.’
“There’s still times that people go, ‘What’s that?’ about all the random scars I have all over my body, and I just go, ‘This is my body, I can’t change it . . .’ You can change your size, or your shape, but there are certain things you can’t change without surgery, so why fixate on them?” she said.
Fitness Fanatic: Roz is known for her fit and healthy lifestyle | INSTAGRAM
In recent years, Roz has become well-known for her fit and healthy lifestyle, thanks to her debut cookbook Natural Born Feeder.
However, it was Roz’s poor eating habits back in the early days of her modelling career that encouraged her to write the book in the first place.
“I wasted so much time feeling guilty because I ate that one thing… it’s just a nightmare. The whole reason I started Natural Born Feeder was to share my story of how many years I wasted feeling guilty about what I’d eaten.
“How many years you can waste feeling consumed about what you’re consuming. It’s time to go back and enjoy real food, good food. To stop thinking about all the foods you can’t have, and think about all the food you can have.
Positive Changes: Roz wasted so much time feeling guilty about food in her early career as a model | VIPIRELAND.COMÂ
“I spent so many years being hungry and not being in great shape. When I was in the best shape of my life, I was eating huge plates of wholefoods and I never felt hungry.”
The 26-year-old also admitted that she received tonnes of messages from young girls struggling with body confidence, which urged her to make a difference.
“Growing up, I was so into sport and I never over-thought food. I went through that when I was modelling, and it stole so many years from me, but by then I was 18, 19, 20. These girls are so young.
“They are 14, 15 – in the best years of their lives – and they’re going to look back and think to themselves, ‘what a waste’.”
Inspiring: Roz wants to be a positive influence on young women | VIPIRELAND.COM
Once Roz realised that she wanted to make a change, she began researching and experimenting in order to become her own expert.
“I took notes, after eating, of my body’s reaction. I used to think I was gluten intolerant. I wasn’t, I was just overeating! I can eat dairy, wheat, anything, and I’m fine. As most people can.
“Diets are the one thing that f**ked me up. I would advocate wholefoods. Cut out processed foods – and I advocate for local food over ‘superfoods.’ Try to keep it simple. It’s cheaper, too,” she added.
