During her younger years, Tammin Sursok struggled with body image issues and focused on the physical side of health, but now the Aussie actress is all about embracing looking after your body inside out.
“When I was in my early twenties, health and wellness was all about losing weight but now it’s more about putting things on my body, in my body and my mental health,” Tammin, 37, tells WHO.
The former Home and Away star, who is based in the US with husband Sean McEwan and kids Phoenix, seven, and Lennon, two, says that though she normally loves to whip up delicious and healthy meals, it’s been tough during the COVID-19 pandemic as she and her family have been in and out of lockdown for 14 months.
“I love cooking in general but I was cooking every single meal for about four to five months and it got really old after a while. This pandemic has definitely been difficult for people to cook every single meal,” she says.
“We all eat different things so it’s like four meals per meal as well!”
Tammin adds that she and her family stick to a vegetarian, mostly vegan lifestyle.
“Lots of whole grains, fruits, vegetables, shakes, stir fries, non-animal protein. We are very lucky that where we live has an abundance of healthy meat substitutes.”
Exercise-wise, Tammin says she likes to work out in tune with her monthly cycle.
“At the beginning of our cycles we’re craving new exciting workouts so in that week I try to change it up. Whether it’s in class activities or over an app, I focus on workouts that are new to me.
“In the middle of the month is when our energy peaks so that is when I optimise high-intensity HIIT workouts. Then near the end my body wants to slow down so that when I incorporate yoga, Pilates and long walks.”
Aside from eating well and regularly exercising, Tammin, who is the global ambassador for Edible Beauty, believes that self-care plays an important role when it comes to health as well.
“Sleep, water, nutrition, affirmations are all wonderful things – but also what you put on your body matters to your overall health.
“I’m such a big advocate for talking about mental health and ways we can take care of it. It’s when we feel good inside that we really start to practice self-care on the outside. Clean health and beauty products are so important to me and why I have gravitated to Edible Beauty- which I have used for around five months now.”
Tammin has previously spoken about the “eight years of torture” she experienced when she suffered from an eating disorder.
“I was dying to be perfect. The illusion of perfection that one cannot attain. For perfection is a road that never reaches a destination,” she wrote on Instagram in 2019.
“I was not well for eight years. 15yrs old – 23 years old. Eight years of torture I put myself through to remain slim after I had been tormented as an overweight kid. For I feared that if I went back to that then the emotional pain would be worse than the physical one I was putting myself through.”
Tammin added that “your secrets make you sick,” and that she believes “the more we talk about our truth the less isolated we become.”
“No one is walking around without demons. Remember that. For being human is being flawed. And when we embrace those imperfections we ARE ‘perfect’. Because we are our truth,” she added.
“If you are going through something like I did, know that you can get better. At 23, I hit rock bottom. I stopped wanting to be sick. And I’ve been healthy every day since. Never looked back.”
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