Ronda Rousey talks about her body image issues and how she overcame her struggles and ended up feeling much better with herself at the Cosmopolitan.
The 29 year old undefeated UFC Women's Bantamweight Champion explained why she suddenly gained 15 pounds before she posed for the 2015 Sports Illustrated swimsuit edition.
Rousey said, "I felt like I was much too small for a magazine tha t is supposed to be celebrating the epitome of a woman. At 150 pounds, I feel like I'm at my healthiest and my strongest and my most beautiful."
Although it's hard to believe but apparently, the fighter turned actress admitted that she previously suffered from body image issues.
"I grew up as an athlete doing judo, so I didn't really have a conventional, feminine body type," she explains. "I grew up thinking that because my body type was uncommon [i.e., athletic], it was a bad thing."
"Now that I'm older, I've really begun to realize that I'm really proud that my body has developed for a purpose and not just to be looked at," she added.
Rousey then confessed that she felt she didn't look good with her 135 pounds weight, which qualifies her for the category she fights in.
"It took a lot of time to develop a healthier relationship with food and with my weight. My mind was backward. I thought I wanted my body to look a certain way so I could be happy."
But with all of her struggle, Rousey explained that she is the stage of maintaining her weight that makes her happy.
"I maintain a weight where I'm not starving or feeling weak, which makes me happier."
Then Rousey gave her own definition of success and failure.
"If I go to bed happy at the end of the day, then that's success. If I go to bed sad, then I guess that's failure. And in my personal life, I've actually been going to bed happy every single night lately, and I feel pretty successful right now."
