Michelle Duggar, matriarch of the Duggar family on TLC’s 19 Kids and Counting, has spoken about the subject int he past. But she chose to speak of it again in a recent episode of the show.

Michelle Duggar used to suffer with bulimia.

“Before I came to know the Lord, I had been struggling in my self-worth, just feeling like I needed to measure up with all of my friends around me and I just really began to have a wrong view of who I was and felt like I gained weight so easily. I ended up starting a bad habit of making myself get sick after I would eat, especially if I had more food than I felt like I should eat.

“And it was destructive for my health, and my life, and I think as I was in that process, no one knew.”

Michelle Duggar says that her issues with her body were very similar to what other girls have.

“I think all girls probably struggle with the same body issues,” Michelle said. “The struggle’s going to be there: How do you deal with the struggle?

Nowadays, Michelle Duggar takes a more balanced approach, and she tries to instill those same values in her kids.

“I just talk with my kids, my girls, my boys and I’m honest with them about the things that I struggled with … life’s too short to never have a chocolate chip cookie, but you need to be wise in how you do that.”

Michelle’s friend Cindy, a personal trainer, knew her in high school. But she said she knew nothing about Michelle’s struggle.

“I never, ever got the sense she was insecure about her weight,” the fitness expert said, adding that she cried after learning about the eating disorder in the book. “I called Michelle and said, ‘You never told me.’”

But Michelle did tell her husband Jim Bob before they got married.

“I met Jim Bob and he and I were in a dating relationship and I loved this guy and wanted to marry him. We were talking future together and I remember that I felt like I had to tell him everything, everything about myself. You can’t keep secrets from the man you want to share your life with. I shared this struggle with him and he said he would help me and help keep me accountable.”