For years, Australian model Bridget Malcolm thought her diet of mainly vegetables and protein shakes was “healthy”.

When she was asked about how she kept so slim, she claimed she ate “loads”, thinking that she was.

Now, at 26 years old, the Victoria’s Secret runway model has realised that her “balanced” diet was, in fact, not.

And she wants to apologise for saying it was.

Goooood morning Mexico ????????????????

A post shared by Bridget Malcolm (@bridgetmalcolm) on Jan 16, 2018 at 4:23am PST

In a blog post that also detailed her struggles with body dysmorphia, Malcolm said she was sorry for contributing to an idea that disordered eating was healthy.

“I would like to acknowledge and apologise for some of the things I wrote and spoke about over the past couple of years,” she began. “I genuinely thought that I was doing the right thing for my health and wellness.

“I now know that I was completely in the depths of body dysmorphia and it really worries me that I was not a positive role model out there.”

Malcolm said that she had always tried to be a “good role model” for young girls, but has only recently realised that, in her view, she hadn’t been.

The Elle Australia cover model explained that while she thought her diet was normal, she has since realised it was unhealthy.

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“For the record, I never did lie about what I ate. I always was truthful. But the amounts I ate were never enough,” she wrote. “The part that gets me through is that I truly thought they were. When I claimed that I ate loads, I thought that I did.

“I would fill up on foods that were low calorie and think that I was eating a healthy balanced diet.

“When I would give interviews and discuss my eating habits I truly believed that eating predominately vegetables and protein shakes was okay. Obviously, this is not okay. I am sorry for being so public about damaging eating habits.”

Similarly, she said she realised her exercise regime of training “two to three hours a day” and feeling anxious if she couldn’t perform it, was actually a symptom of poor mental health.

“I would eat such an extreme diet, and train so hard because I would look in the mirror and see someone who needed to lose weight looking back at me.

“My best friend was staying with me once when I was at my smallest, and she was shocked at how I knew cognitively that I was small, but whenever I saw myself in the mirror, I saw excess weight that needed to come off.”

This photo was taken a few days before my first anxiety attack, and a few months before the story told in my blog post today. I was terrified I was gaining weight in this picture. I thought my arms were fat. But it was that first anxiety attack that woke me up, and forced me to start my journey towards health. Out of the problem precipitates the solution. The story today (link in bio) set me back a couple of months in my recovery. I truly hope that the women involved in my story find their peace. I can’t imagine how much pain you must be in to set out to hurt and shame another young person like that. You never know the story behind someone’s eyes. So we should always love and respect. #idictatemyroad

A post shared by Bridget Malcolm (@bridgetmalcolm) on Mar 18, 2018 at 3:24pm PDT

She also said that the term “clean eating” that she hid behind, now “aggravates” her.

“It is 2016 talk for disordered eating. It also means absolutely nothing. Beyond making sure my food isn’t contaminated with bacteria, clean eating is not a thing in my life. Eating is.”

Malcolm said she has felt much happier since she tackled her body dysmorphia, got rid of the restrictions on her diet and gained a bit of weight.

“For the first time what I am seeing in the mirror is actually my reflection looking back at me.

“And for the first time that I can remember, I like my body.”

You can read Bridget Malcolm’s full post here.