Amanda Byram talks to Ray D’arcy in a disarmingly open and honest interview about here struggles with body image and the importance of portraying a positive role in the media.
In this revealing interview Amanda talks to Ray about her own body image issues “It took me three decades of yo-yo dieting, of trying to be skinny, of over-exercising, under-eating and never really thinking I was skinny enough and it’s a viscous circle. When I first blogged about it, the response was unbelievably overwhelming from women in their teens, twenties, thirties forties, fifties and even their sixties saying they had been through it or they were going through it still. As a society, it is something we need to be mindful of. Social media doesn’t help and, as women, we are under a lot of pressure to be the best of everything: the best mothers, the best, the best wives, the best sisters, the best career woman… so much pressure””
Having had such an outpouring from others made her realise that she wasn’t alone, Amanda came to an overdue conclusion; one that she hopes by sharing will make light bulbs ping in other women everywhere. “Mind, body and soul are interconnected, you can’t have one without the other.” That translated into the real world as education. She began studying nutrition and even got a personal training qualification. “I wanted to understand the body, how it worked. It is so important we educate young women about food, about exercise and the correct way to do it.” The first stop on that journey is to eliminate one word, “diet”… “The word “diet” should be banned from peoples’ vocabulary because it is not about a diet it is about a lifestyle and being healthy and healthy in both body and mind.”
Amanda finishes the interview by talking about Body By Byram and how the dream of designing a range of activewear that is affordable, fashionable and functional has finally come to fruition. The collection is available in stores now.
Amanda will next be onscreen in Dancing with The Stars, Ireland on RTE, January 2018.
