Sharna Burgess Opens Up About Her Journey with Food and Overcoming an Eating Disorder

Sharna Burgess.
Credit :

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Key Points

• Sharna Burgess has discussed her struggles with an eating disorder.
• She described a complicated relationship with food during her teenage years and into her 20s.
• The former Dancing with the Stars contestant noted a positive shift in her eating habits since her 30s.

Sharna Burgess has opened up about her past battle with an eating disorder, a topic she addressed in her Instagram Stories on January 18. While responding to fan inquiries, the 40-year-old shared her experiences and struggles related to food.

Burgess recalled that she experienced both binge eating and restriction. “I had a super complicated relationship with food as a teen and [in] my 20s,” she stated.

Though Burgess did not elaborate further, she conveyed that her relationship with food improved upon entering her 30s.

Sharna Burgess discussing her eating disorder.

Sharna Burgess/Instagram

Burgess had previously shared insights into her body image struggles in 2021. Reflecting on her formative years, she noted, “I had a real struggle with my body because of dance.” She elaborated on her experiences, revealing how her dance training affected her self-perception.

“I remember being 15 and put on the scale every two days by my teachers and we were told whether we needed to lose weight or not,” she recounted. “Every week I was told that I needed to lose more weight – and I certainly wasn’t overweight.”

She emphasized the negative impact of this environment, stating, “While dance was something that I needed in my life, it definitely instilled a negative body image,” describing a cycle of binging and restricting that persisted through her teenage years and into her 20s.

Sharna Burgess.

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Burgess credits her experience on Dancing with the Stars, which she joined in 2011, as a pivotal moment in changing her outlook. “It was seeing just how much the celebrities on the show transformed and ended up loving their bodies through being able to move and dance that really shook my perspective,” she reflected.

She described a transformative realization, stating, “I started to see a body that had gotten me through some incredibly difficult times, that had created some beautiful moments, that had won championships, that had landed me a life I never thought possible.” Burgess highlighted the lasting effects of childhood body image issues, acknowledging that it can take a long time to see oneself differently.