Michelle Duggar seems like a strong and confident woman who has her life together. She is raising 19 kids, so she had better have it together. Regardless of how she seems now, Michelle recently admitted that she struggled with bulimia as a teenager. She shared her story with her daughters for their new book, Growing Up Duggar, which will hit stores on March 4.

Duggar daughters Jana, 24, Jill, 22, Jessa, 21, and Jinger, 20 shared their mother’s story writing,

“On the outside, Marie had what everyone else wanted, but on the inside, she felt sad and empty. She began to envy the girl who tried to control her weight through what turned out to be a destructive eating disorder. Not realizing how dangerous it was, Marie thought it might work for her, and soon her obsession to stay thin started controlling her life.”

Later on in the story they revealed that Maria was really their mother Michelle.

The daughters continued their mother’s story by sharing details of how she began to struggle with her eating disorder, hoping it would make her feel better about herself, but really only causing her to feel worse. They also shared how she was able to overcome her bulimia and become the self confident woman she is today.

Although Michelle had tried to keep her eating disorder a secret throughout her life, she opened up about it with PEOPLE magazine and discussed why she decided to share it with her daughters for their book.

I have been open with my struggles with the kids before,” she said. “We talk about how God has brought us out of different things along life’s way. When the girls were writing their book, they brought this up and I thought, if my sharing it is going to help another young lady, then I want to share it.”

She also credits her husband Jim Bob with saving her from damaging her body with the eating disorder. She claims that after meeting Jim the couple would go on fasts together and he would tell her to call him anytime she felt bad about her body or felt the need to throw up after eating.

“I would call him,” she said. “He told me to call him anytime. I just know that I would be tempted and I would have the crazy thought that I wanted to throw up, not hold onto the calories. Thank God it didn’t go on longer than it did or I could have done horrible damage to my body.”

With Michelle’s eating disorder behind her, she and Jim Bob were able to start their family and today Michelle is the epitome of strength and self confidence. Hopefully her story can help other young women overcome their eating disorders and find their own self-confidence.

Can you believe that Michelle Duggar was once bulimic?

Image via Wikimedia Commons