In support of the True Beauty campaign, Miss USA 2009 Kristen Dalton is telling girls everywhere that being beautiful is about simply choosing to live a smart life for yourself and generous life for others. Kristen, a North Carolina native, holds a degree in Psychology and Spanish from the Honors college of East Carolina University. In addition to being a professional model, Kristen is an active philanthropist and motivational speaker. She recently took the time to share her story of what it was like striving for that certain size and her perspective of it now as a model. This being something millions of girls everywhere can relate to, Kristen offers great advice for those dealing with self-image insecurities and how they can overcome them. She also reveals what she believes are the most important lessons young women who want to follow in her footsteps and hold the Miss USA title should follow!
We with True Beauty are honored to have Kristen Dalton with us in helping girls everywhere to realize that real beauty comes from what you show from your heart not from your body.
Thank you Kristen for supporting the True Beauty campaign! It's an honor to have you help us spread positive messages.
Kristen- Of course! I saw it on Twitter and I was like this is perfect!
You're a model now and you started modeling at a young age right?
Kristen- Yes I did. (Laughs) I was four years old when I started modeling and in my teens I quit. I just started modeling all the time a few months ago. I modeled when I was living in North Carolina for different pageant companies. But during that awkward phase, where I had braces and acne, I took a time out.
Being a model do you feel that pressure to have that perfect image by Hollywood standards? I can imagine for a model it's incredibly tough to not fall into that pressure.
Kristen- Yes, totally, because here especially in LA, everybody is in amazing shape. Everybody is super skinny. I feel like in North Carolina, in my hometown, I am the skinny girl. Everyone's like 'you're so skinny'. Or my mom's pushing me to put on some weight. But then out here, I'm average. Or I'll be at a casting and be like 'oh my god I need to get on the treadmill!' (Laughs) It's so competitive because everybody who wants to pursue entertainment is here. So you're competing with the best of the best.
Did you deal with this issue before you entered the public eye, like even from school? To be a certain size or look a certain way?
Kristen- Yes. My entire life. I've always felt like I needed to be skinny. I feel like I've been on a diet since I was 15. But I never needed to. My whole family is genetically just thin, but I was always trying to be thin. I would go days without eating and I would binge. I joined the track team. I was running without food. I was a varsity cheerleader, and we would have to tumble and I would just get really dizzy. It definitely wasn't healthy.
How did you overcome it?
Kristen- It's still something that I struggle with kind of, but you just realize that if you don't take care of yourself, you're going to age really quickly, and you're no longer going to be competitive in the industry at all. You're doing more damage to yourself than good. You see people who are anorexic, who don't eat healthy, and they don't look healthy. Their skin doesn't glow. They have dark circles. They don't have energy. And I also realized that it made me really emotional and depressed. When you don't eat right, you don't exercise right, when you're not healthy; it's just like a downward spiral. To first of all your health, and then it affects everything else in your life, and you can just no longer function.
The True Beauty campaign is about just that; raising awareness on the dangers of eating disorders. What is your message or advice to girls who are currently dealing with an eating disorder and striving to look a certain way?
Kristen- I think that all women feel the pressure to be beautiful and to be thin. And I don't think there's anything wrong with wanting to be thin, you just have to be the best that you can possibly be. Understand your body type and get to your ideal size in a healthy way. Because that's how you're going to stay looking good longer. People just have to realize that. Take control of your health. Exercise regularly. Eat healthy. Eat lots of fruits and vegetables. There's nothing wrong with eating. If you go days without eating, then you're just going to binge. You have to make it your lifestyle and not constantly be on a diet.
A large number of girls in this country would like to follow in your footsteps and hold the title of Miss USA and they probably think they have to be a size zero and have a certain appearance, what would you like to say to them as a former Miss USA?
Kristen- For those girls, it's not all about being super skinny. You have to be the well-rounded, All-American woman. And also taking on the title of Miss USA or Miss America , you have to have a lot of energy and a lot of endurance throughout the year because you're up 14, 15 hours a day. You're traveling all the time, giving public speeches, volunteering, raising money, lobbying on Capital Hill; you're super busy. And if you're not eating, if you're not taking care of yourself, you're not going to be able to do the job. I think it's important for people to understand if you want this job, you need to be smart and take care of yourself. It's all about doing it in a smart and educated way. Yes, when you compete on the stage for Miss USA, you want to look your best, you just have to be smart about it. I remember when I competed for Miss USA, there were some girls who were barely eating and you could tell. We're there competing for three weeks and you can tell by the second or third week, they start falling of. They just don't have any energy. They're more emotional, irritable. But then the people who are eating balanced meals every day, they have their protein bars or apple in between each meal, those are the ones who rise to the top.
What was the most rewarding part of being Miss USA for you?
Kristen- There were so many rewarding parts to it. I got to raise money for really amazing causes, like breast and ovarian cancer. I got to work with the USO. I love supporting the troops. But my favorite, most rewarding part was going and speaking to the schools. When I got to talk to teenagers about dreaming big and letting them know that life is about the choices that you make, the people that you surround yourself with, goal setting. That's what was most rewarding to me.
Any final words of advice for the ladies following the True Beauty campaign?
Kristen- When people are focusing on their body so much, when they're like I need to be skinny, I need to be skinny, and they're not eating or they're doing it in an unhealthy way, not only is that obviously going to lead to depression and emotional issues, but you're not going to be able to focus in school ,or on your activities, or your goals. Also, I think when you realize that you have a problem like that, I think you're focusing on yourself too much. One great way to deal with it is to start focusing on other people. Start servicing others. Start volunteering and stop focusing on yourself so much because that's when you get too self-involved and you're not just happy when you're like that.
Follow Kristen Dalton on Twitter- @KristenMissUSA
Check out Team True Beauty to read much more about the True Beauty campaign and how yo can help donate to its Crowdrise page with all donations going to The National Eating Disorders Association.
Follow @TeamTrueBeauty to share your story or help spread the mission of the True Beauty campaign!
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