Alexis Bellino Shares Eating Disorder Struggles

A star on The Real Housewives of Orange County, Alexis Bellino has shared almost everything about her life with viewers. Except this:

She struggled for years with anorexia and bulimia.
"I just didn't want to eat," Bellino says in the latest issue of Life & Style, saying the problem started at age 12 when her parents split. "Looking back, I think it was my way of controlling something at a time when everything else in my life was out of my control."

During her freshman year in college, the purging began, which led to six years of throwing up many meals and feeling "heavy," Alexis says.

In 2002, her marriage collapsed and Bellino sought help for her body issues. But it wasn't until marrying Jim Bellino in 2005 that someone "finally got me to stop counting calories," she admits. "He loves my body. In fact, he says he likes me about five pounds heavier."

Now weighing between 118 and 122 pounds, the disorder hasn't gone away completely. It never will, as others who suffer from similar problems (such as Demi Lovato) have also admitted.

"It cannot be cured, but it doesn't have to be practiced," says Alexis, who says she still tries to consume only 900 calories per day. "My goal is to reach other women - and let them know that they can conquer it."