Lisa Curry opens up about her secret struggle
Lisa Curry is choosing to be honest about body image and has revealed that, despite her healthy lifestyle, she too deals with her physical condition.
“I do really struggle with my weight,” Curry explained to 9Honey. Over the span of her career, she won 15 gold, seven silver and eight bronze medals. Curry is also the only Aussie swimmer to hold Commonwealth and Australian records in almost every stroke. However, it hasn’t stopped her from dealing with her own personal body issues.
“I struggle with the pull between sleeping and going to the gym, or eating properly and eating out,” she says.
“I'm not the same body shape as I used to be and it's frustrating sometimes, but that's the choice I'm making.”
Despite the internal struggles the former athlete might face, Curry is truly thriving in her personal life. Her first grandson, Flynn turns one next month and the 56-year-old says she wants more.
“I told my daughter, ‘You make great babies. You have to make more!’”
Even at a young age, Curry exceeded in her sports life – being one of the fastest swimmers in the world at age 12 for her age group. She also represented Australia 16 times, winning 15 national long course open titles and competing in world championships between 1978-1992 and at the Commonwealth and the Olympics in 1980, 1984 and 1992.
The mother-of-three shows no signs of slowing down anytime soon either, and explains maintaining her health is just as important to her now she has a grandchild.
“It's a really big shift that you have at a certain age, when you start to think about how you want to live in your 60s, 70s and 80s,” she says.
“You start to think about how to keep yourself fit and healthy all the way through so you can be a fun grandmother and grandfather,” she says.
Admitting to her struggle with body image, Curry says it’s something woman should not focus on so much.
“It doesn't matter what weight you are as long as you are healthy,” she says. “Someone who is really thin and light can also be unhealthy.”
She added, "It's not about whether the number on the scale is high or low. Are you healthy?"
Although the proud mum, whose son Jett with ex-husband Grant Kenny is competing in Channel 10’s Dancing With The Stars is not striving to have perfect health, she says she wants to keep up with her curious grandson.
“You have to be healthy to keep up with him,” she says.
Curry looks forward to taking Flynn swimming, surfing and bike riding as he grows.
“So, you have to keep yourself active," she says encouraging those who have never been active to give it a go.
“It doesn't take long to learn a new skill.
“The more you do it, the better you become at it.”
Curry has also pursued other avenues exploring health and wellbeing in a new venture, called Happy Health You.
Upon dealing with hormonal imbalances herself, she knows how difficult it can be to navigate through “mood swings".
The company includes hormones made from natural ingredients to aide in combat against hormonal imbalances in women.
“I would have mood swings every month,” she explained. “I could have punched a hole in the wall and screamed for no reason.
“I didn't realise it was a pattern.”
The former athlete says when dealing with these difficulties, it was especially hard on her former husband, Grant.
“In those days, and I'm talking early '80s, we didn't know about hormonal imbalances like we do now,” she says.
"There's a lot of information now about prevention and also about changing your lifestyle so you feel better," she says. "You don't want to live your life feeling sh*tty and cranky."