In life there are some things that you can control, and others that are not under your control. Weight is one of those things that is up to you to control. Otherwise, it will control you. And you won't like it. Especially when you're young and you also want to look good and become famous. You dream to be like any female Hollywood star. But I'm sure you're not aware of what's behind this fame: a lot of work, exhaustion, and restricted eating habits which can lead to eating disorders.

Eating disorders are diseases commonly found in the showbiz world. Many celebrities fall victim to the requirements and high standards imposed by the high lifestyle and end up losing control of their own body.

The desire to always be skinny leads them to resort to silly gestures such as starvation, but few are those who admit to having had eating disorders.

Even though both anorexia and bulimia are taboo topics in showbiz, some celebrities have agreed to speak about the trauma they have gone through for the sake of an attractive look.

They hope that their stories will inspire people who experience these disorders and help them not to feel alone.

Isabelle Caro

Have you already eaten ice-cream as a child? I'm sure you have. It's delicious, isn't it?

Tell that to this French model and actress who has tasted it for the first time while a teenager. And not because she couldn't have afforded one, but because of her mother, who was overprotective.

In order to make her mother happy, she wanted to have the body of a child even while in puberty, she didn't want to get fat and thus starved herself - rumors say to death, at the age of 28.

She became the international face of anorexia when her ravaged body was photographed nude, as she wanted to raise awareness about this horrible disease called anorexia.

Lady Gaga

This famous singer has been battling both bulimia and anorexia since she was 15. And, as she has never been a person who hides her past problems, she revealed them to the public.

All her eating disorders were amplified when she became famous and that in turn lead to depression, another issue she’s struggling with.

Lady Gaga overcame bulimia after realizing that the periodic episodes of self-provoked vomiting destroyed her voice. She explained that she had to put an end to this torment, because the "excessive acid caused by vomiting reaches the vocal cords and can affect them seriously."

Both yoga and meditations help her think positively.

Ashlee Simpson

At times, Ashlee Simpson's career has looked like a roller coaster and the young pop star admits that her life has been quite rough.

She also had a brush with anorexia while attending a ballet school. With the desire to be as light as a feather, the American star drastically cut down on food portions, allowing herself only to nibble at crumbs.

Fortunately her parents figured out what she was going through and made her eat. What a lucky young girl!

She admits she can't understand girls who starve themselves just for the sake of becoming famous - if ever!

At present, she is proud of her womanly curves, especially of her boobs!

Lindsay Lohan

Although now she feels great about her body, and comfortable in her own skin, she hasn't always felt like this.

It was back in 2004, when, after having combined bulimia and drugs, she had pains in her head and liver and ended up in a hospital with a kidney infection and a swollen liver. She describes this period as the worst time in her life.

But, at present, Lohan admits that this period helped her realize who she really was, and how important it is to have your friends and family together by your side to help you when needed.

The icing on the cake is that she likes having a shape and she's also very proud of her breast size!

Nicole Scherzinger

Imagine being a part of a world-famous band and still feeling lonely!

Nicole Scherzinger went through this while being the member of the Pussycat Dolls band. She admits having had eating disorders, bulimia especially, associated with self-aggression. She's neither happy nor proud when she has to speak about this, as she thinks that all these confessions could hurt her family.

She feels it was such a pity to waste a part of her life - because of that paralyzing disease which made her life dark at the age of only 27.

She admits that she had to go through blacking out to realize she needed help, but also to realize that she had to love herself as she is and move on.

Calista Flockhart

Calista Flockhart admits not having eaten properly while starring as Ally McBeal.

She has repeatedly denied suffering from anorexia and blamed her skeletal look on her tiny bones.

But, at the age of 40 she decided to reveal everything and admitted she used to be very stressed because of her 15-hour work days on the set of the show. She started pushing herself too much and too hard, under-eating and over-exercising. All this has negatively impacted her immune system.

She is excited that she is much more healthy at present, and thinks she could not go through the same ordeal again.

Alanis Morissette

The Canadian singer Alanis Morissette revealed she began having eating disorders while she was a teenager, but she's sure that her macaroni and cheese diet as a child contributed to these disorders.

She confessed that her success at the age of 18 was reflected in her food style, as she did not know what to eat to look good. She was even told that she wouldn't be successful as she used to be fat. It's the moment the world collapsed for her.

She tried all kinds of diets, but firstly she suffered from anorexia then from bulimia. She saw the scale going up and down many times! After two years of suffering, she managed to get over it with help of a friend, but she compares her struggle to that of a drug or alcohol addict.

Monica Seles

The former tennis champion Monica Seles, who won nine Grand Slam events, was stabbed by a spectator during a match in 1993.

She wanted to put the blame on this incident for her binge eating disorder, but she is aware of the fact that both the pressure on her and her will to always be on the top and become a champion played a role, and thus she ended up looking like a sumo fighter, as she confesses.

She used to wake up every night and empty the mini bar snacks. She found comfort in food. She felt ashamed the following day, but bulimia pushed her to repeat the same gesture over and over again.

One day, as she was sick and tired of people mocking her, she decided to stop storming the fridge every time she was feeling depressed or down. It’s only then that she realized how tough it was: as tough as playing against any opponent on the court! Fortunately, she was stronger and, after a long battle , she won another match!

Lily Allen

The British singer has always longed to appear in glamour magazines, to try on clothes created by famous designers and to be appreciated for the way she looks. This desire quickly turned into bulimia.

After having realized that she didn’t want to end up like Madonna – as she was still young and willing to have kids – she started vomiting up almost everything she was eating. Imagine the ordeal!

Although everybody admired her for her physical appearance, nobody knew exactly what was behind it: a lot of throwing up and unhappiness. Despite her dream to be skinny, she could not give up her guilty pleasure - food - so she gave up her bad habits.

Demi Lovato

It seems that the Disney star's eating disorder could be seen as a hereditary disease, as both her mother and her grandmother have struggled with bulimia in the past. Therefore, it was not hard to grow up like that, as they were the people she spent most of her childhood with.

Demi Lovato was diagnosed with serious eating disorders and had to spend several months in a clinic. Demi blames it all on her celebrity status at an early age, fame which she was unable to handle. Now, the actress advises all girls to accept their own body as it is, because an eating disorder, either anorexia or bulimia, haunts you all your life.

Portia de Rossi

At the early age of 12 Portia de Rossi was put on a catwalk. Wow! The dream of any young girl.

She was also amazed by this change and by her role, and when she was told she had to go on a diet, she misunderstood it and she didn't eat for 10 days.

Although bullied for the way she used to look at that age – how many girls could take their roles seriously at that age? – and fearing she could get fat, she used to vomit after each meal. When I say meal don’t imagine a fast-food meal, imagine something like 2-3 biscuits and a candy a day.

As she was feeling very ashamed of this attitude and started to have stomachaches, she used another method: laxatives. She ended up taking 20 a day!

At present, she realizes that her gestures were stupid, that you have to accept yourself as you are and that there is nothing in this world that is worth sacrificing your health for!

Katharine McPhee

When she auditioned for American Idol in August 2015, McPhee felt her bulimia was getting out of control. We have to take her word for it, as who knows her body better than herself?

She has always been the pretty little girl – who was also very stupid. At least, this is what she used to think about herself. She had some reading problems that have negatively impacted her self-esteem. She needed to comfort, but where? In food, of course. It’s handy and it doesn’t cost a lot. Or it does, but you really pay for it later, much later in life.

And she had to pay for this comfort. She wanted to look perfect. She had also been educated in this spirit, that being beautiful is the most important thing in life. Years later, she realized it isn’t. On the contrary!

Health is the most important thing in life, and her health was jeopardized, as the throwing up was hard on her vocal cords, causing irritation and even bleeding.

At present, she advises everyone not to be ashamed of having such a disorder, and to go and get some help. She thinks that ‘anything is good as long as it works for yourself’.

Jessica Alba

Jessica Alba decided to take control over both her health and her body by cooking her own meals, as she worried she could become overweight like everybody else in her family.

The Fantastic Four actress admitted she had eating disorders, as did a lot of other girls of her age. Everything started when her girl's body started changing into a woman's body. She freaked out and felt weird as she was not ready for such a body with natural fats in certain places.

It's not hard to understand her, as many of us have gone through this, seeing our body changing and not being able to control it.

It is even harder to go through this when you are famous and everybody expects you to be perfect.

Christina Ricci

Christina Ricci is among the luckiest people in Hollywood, as she suffered from anorexia for only a year and a half, and all this during adolescence, when as a teenager you feel like you're in a hurricane with all the changes your body has to go through. Her disease was also associated with self-mutation.

She admits that she had to be down and suffer from this experience to be taught a lesson: that she is different from the others, that there are people who don't have her sense of humor and that they might not like her. She tried to change but she couldn't - therefore there wasn't anybody that could convince her to change.

At present, she doesn't really care that much about it anymore.

Anahi

The beautiful Mexican actress was one step away from dying, literally speaking, when her heart stopped beating for almost 10 seconds. She was so obsessed with her physical appearance and weight that she ended up weighing 77 pounds.

Everything started after her grandmother, whom she loved a lot, passed away. She had difficulties in overcoming this moment and couldn't notice that her body was crying for help, as it stopped accepting nutrition.

Lucky for her, both her family and friends supported her in the battle against this disease and now she has returned to a normal, healthy weight.