Chrissy Teigen On How Postpartum Depression Affected Her Body Image

After having two children and going through postpartum depression, Chrissy Teigen is once again learning to take care of herself.

In a new interview with Women's Health, Teigen discussed how the postpartum depression she experienced after giving birth to her first child affected her body — and how she felt about it.

"After Luna, I was drinking too much," she said. "I wasn’t eating as much because I was full from drinking. I wasn’t being good to my body."

According to the National Institute of Mental Health, having trouble eating is one of the symptoms of postpartum depression, in addition to the physical aches and pains that Teigen described when she first spoke out about experiencing PPD in an essay for Glamour last year. In the essay, the model and cookbook author wrote that she "didn't have much of an appetite" after giving birth for the first time, and noted how uncharacteristic that was for her.

Although Teigen doesn't go into specifics about alcohol other than mentioning that she was "drinking too much," it's also not uncommon for people with PPD to drink more than usual, and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration notes that alcohol use often co-occurs with depression.

Thankfully, Teigen was eventually able to seek treatment and start taking antidepressants. She told Women's Health that she really started taking her mental health more seriously after she and husband John Legend went on a wellness retreat in Bali.

"It’s like, what could be more important than mental health?" she says. "What’s more important than being proud of yourself and doing the best you can for your body?"

Postpartum depression may have changed the way Teigen treated her body, but these days, she has a much healthier perspective.

"Honestly, I don’t ever have to be in a swimsuit again," she told Women's Health. "Since I was 20-years-old, I had this weight in my mind that I am, or that I’m supposed to be. I’ve been so used to that number for 10 years now. And then I started realising it was a swimsuit-model weight. There’s a very big difference between wanting to be that kind of fit and wanting to be happy-fit.”

Let that be your inspiration for putting your mental health first.