Candace Cameron Bure is in the best shape of her life at 40 after overcoming bulimia and maintaining her 22-pound weight loss for six years.
Candace said the years she spent battling her eating disorder were a nightmare.
“It’s like being on a runaway train and you wanna get off but you don’t know how to,” Bure told ET (see video).
Candace, now a co-host of The View, said her bulimia went into overdrive when she was a stay-at-home mom to her three children.
“I kind of lost my identity and I turned to food for comfort when my husband was traveling and when I was alone,” said Cameron Bure. “I had a very unhealthy relationship with food that turned into bulimia.”
In 2010, Candace lost 22 pounds, and has maintained her weight loss with a mostly vegan diet and regular workouts that include weightlifting, cardio exercise, yoga and Pilates, as Celebrity Health Fitness has reported.
While Cameron Bure is healthy now, she abused diet pills as a teen and began battling bulimia. Candace recounted her bulimia struggles in her 2011 memoir, Reshaping It All:
“When I was 16, I filmed an episode of ‘Full House’ where my family goes to Disney World. I remember putting on baggy overalls just to hide my stomach. When I watched it, I was pretty disappointed and bummed out looking at myself. I didn’t feel good about my own body.”
Cameron Bure’s bulimia flared up again in her late 20s, when she had a hard time adjusting to being a housewife after “Full House” ended in 1995 and she was living in Canada with her husband, Russian-born hockey player Valeri Bure.
“[Bulimia] wasn’t about me trying to lose weight,” said Bure, a devout Christian. “It was all about emotions.”
These days Candace works out for an hour four to five days a week, and emphasizes weightlifting as much as cardio exercise.
“I lift heavy weights for about 25 minutes with 35 minutes of cardio on the treadmill or elliptical,” said Bure.
“Lifting weights has changed my body tremendously and I’d never go without it again. The combo of both [cardio and weights] is everything.”
Candace Cameron Bure revealed her weight loss secrets and how she juggles motherhood, marriage, and career in her books, Balancing It All, and Dancing Through Life.
“This book is a culmination of years being asked by many women how I’ve managed to have three kids and be in better shape now than I was at 18,” said Candace.
Related: Lori Loughlin flaunts ripped abs at 51: Diet and workout tips