Former fitness model, Crystal Andrus Morisette, once upon a time traded on her fabulous body in order to keep a roof over her head and food on her table.
She starred in fitness videos and campaigns and claims to have survived on starvation diets to keep the look she was aspiring to reports news.com.au
After she became pregnant to her first husband she let it all go and started to eat for two…or three, until she gained 45 extra kilos on her 167cm body.
“I went from fitness queen to McDonald’s queen,” Crystal, who lives in a small town outside Toronto, Canada, told The New York Post. “I ate cheeseburgers and fries every day. I convinced myself that the iron and protein were healthy.”
Crystal says she was never previously happier.
Her tale is a tragic one.
A story of sexual abuse at the hands of her mum’s boyfriend, and rape by a stranger, both before she was even 15.
Crystal lived on the street, trading shelter and food for sex with men she didn’t care for, for three years until she discovered fitness modelling.
Crystal claims to have felt so demeaned by her life as a fitness model and being judged for her looks that staging a revolt and becoming obese was a form of self-protection.
“Men who would cheat on their wives with me were making jokes about how fat I was,” she says. “I felt safer. It worked for me for a while.”
Eventually this protective layer of fat didn’t feel great any more so Crystal dropped 40 kilos and divorced her husband after her affair.
The ongoing conversation about whether being fat makes you happy or miserable is a crazy concept. Michelle Bridge’s caused great commotion when she said “I’ve never met a happy fat person”, and although Crystal says being fat helped her find happiness this does not strike like a story of contented curves.
Self-confidence, self-esteem and good health give you happiness, and those three things can come at any size.
Crystal has balanced out her weight at a healthy size 10 and found happiness and married “the love of my life”, but more importantly, Crystal has discovered fulfilment by finding her true journey as a “women’s empowerment” speaker and author.
Her five books include last year’s The Emotional Edge: Discover Your Inner Age, Ignite Your Hidden Strengths, and Reroute Misdirected Fear to Live Your Fullest.
