Modern Family star Julie Bowen reflects on her her teenage eating disorder: ‘I was starving’

Julie Bowen has recently revealed that she got an “eating disorder” as a “coping mechanism” during her teens.

The former Modern Family star appeared on The Tamron Hall Show in which she explained how she’d always get anxious about “making mistakes” and wanted to be perfect in every way, and that’s why she began starving and not eating food to “save time”.

“You know, it's funny because I have three sons, and they're all so different. But I see one of them is very similar to me, and I see him always trying to colour inside the lines and get the A+,” said Julie.

The actress continued, “And I think (as a teen) I interpreted being messy or making mistakes or like fat coming out of the top of your jeans as a symbol that you couldn't contain yourself. That you were too much, and that to be good meant staying inside the lines — literally and figuratively. Keeping it tight.”

She remarked, “And that's my attitude: tight. And by the way, that is not fun.It's not a fun way to live.”

Recalling her days of puberty, Julie mentioned that did not “like that feeling of change” however, she noted that when she “was really starving”, she would never “think about things as much”.

“We didn't talk about anything, and it just sort of felt like... dirty. And I realised, when you're really starving, you don't have any feelings. It's kind of amazing. The body goes, ‘We don't have time for that’,” stated the 52-year-old.

“So, I think it was a coping mechanism,” she added.