Gaining Perspective
Soap Opera Digest: Have you ever felt pressure to be thin for the camera?
McKenzie Westmore: With our jobs as actors, we have to be the lowest weight we can possibly be for the camera. I wanted to get to that lowest weight, but not have my electrolytes out of balance, not have my potassium thrown off, not be sick. So, I finally, through this nutritionist, [got] to a normal place, and even though I’m right where I want to be, I still go to her just to keep everything in check. I keep a food journal to keep accountable for what I am eating and what I’m not eating.Digest: What diet are you on now?
Westmore: For breakfast, I’ll have a bowl of bran cereal with soy milk and half of a banana. Lunch will be a peanut-butter-and-jelly sandwich on whole-wheat bread. For dessert, a Sunrider [nutrition bar] or Carbolite yogurt with some fruit and nuts on it. For dinner, I’ll have either fish, chicken breasts or a turkey burger and some vegetables. Very simple, very clean, well-balanced. Then, once or twice a week, I’ll have a piece of cake or some Cold Stone Creamery. Even on a regular basis, I might have pizza or french fries. It’s normal. I’m living and eating a normal life. It’s no longer about dieting; it’s about living.Digest: Do you have a personal trainer?
Westmore: It’s so funny because I know how to train other people, but when it comes to training myself, I need a little guidance and that extra push. I’ve been training with yoga coach Steve Ilg. He’s great. He’ll e-mail me different exercise plans for whatever events I have coming up. It’s three days on, one day off. During those days, one day will be either light weights or Pilates and 40 to 50 minutes of steady cardio, which is another thing I’m not used to. I’m used to killing myself on the treadmill, so I learned to calm down on my exercising. The next day will be a major ab routine and 45 minutes of cardio with about 20 minutes of what he calls “minutes are forever,” which is interval training, then more of an ab routine. The next day is a varied form of cardio – 15 minutes on one machine, 15 minutes on another, 10 minutes of interval training, 15 minutes of running up and down stairs. It confuses your body, which is what you want. Then, a few yoga moves and stretching. The fourth day I take off. It really helps me. I’ve come to a different place in my spirit and mind that I don’t have to kill myself on the treadmill. I can take a day off, and because I’ve been doing that, my body has responded so well and my muscles are able to relax. Doing cardio every day was making me very puffy. I finally got rid of the water weight and the extra bulky muscle.Digest: How long did that take?
Westmore: That took a good six months. I started doing the yoga in December.Digest: You’ve mentioned that you suffered from anorexia. When was that?
Westmore: That was through high school. Probably around age 12, it started. I had baby fat, but I was told by a casting agent, “You’re an incredible actress, but you’re never going to work in this business because you’re too fat.” That hit me so hard psychologically. I always carried it with me. Then, at about 15 or 16, I went through a really hard time of anorexia and was telling everybody that I was eating and, of course, I wasn’t. Finally, my mom and sister sat me down and said, “We can tell something is wrong. It’s obvious; we can see it in your face, and your bones are popping out. You need help.” If it wasn’t for them…I’m so thankful that they were there to help me through it.Digest: Were you hospitalized?
Westmore: I didn’t have to be hospitalized, but I did have to go through treatments and get the supplements. It was really bad. It’s been a long, hard, uphill battle, but I’m almost glad that it happened. It created such a fire inside of me to have so much knowledge and to help people suffering from an eating disorder.Digest: Is that why you became a personal trainer?
Westmore: Absolutely. I had become so angry about what I had done to myself and to my family, the pain I put them through. Some of the destruction that I did to my body, I was so upset and so angry that I wanted to make sure nobody else goes through this.Digest: Have you fully recovered?
Westmore: Yeah, well, I don’t think you’re ever fully recovered. Eating disorders are one of those things that’s like a disease; you always have it there. But through mental strength and proper eating habits, I’m the best I’ve ever been.Digest: Is this something you discuss with fans?
Westmore: I’m seeing more [about this] on message boards, and I get more fan letters about these girls with eating disorders, and they start so young € mine started at 12. But I’m seeing some start at 7. It’s so sad to see. I don’t want to see this up-and-coming generation go through some of the things that our society puts upon us. And it affects women my age and older than me. I want to be able to help people.
Conversation
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