Breaking Free from Diet Culture: A Conversation with Samantha Camilleri

At Natvia, we’re passionate about promoting a lifestyle centered around balance, nourishment, and sustainability. In this exclusive interview, we sat down with Samantha Camilleri, one of our inspiring brand ambassadors, to discuss her journey of overcoming diet culture and embracing a healthier relationship with food, fitness, and life.

Samantha, an optometrist-turned-wellness advocate, shares her deeply personal story of navigating restrictive diets, body image struggles, and her path to healing. From grappling with Hypothalamic Amenorrhea to discovering the joys of balanced living and nourishing meals, Samantha’s insights are both powerful and relatable. Her message? True wellness starts with rejecting toxic diet messages and learning to celebrate food and movement in ways that fuel your body and soul.

Please tell us a little about yourself.

I'm an optometrist in Sydney! During COVID, I wasn't working as much, so I started cooking for fun, and that's how "@Kinda_Healthy_Sam" came about! It was my little silver lining of COVID!

Can you share a bit about your wellness journey? What was your journey with body image, and how did it shape your relationship with food and wellness?

My wellness journey started off very similarly to SO many girls my age who were told the ultimate goal in life is to have a “thigh gap.” At 18, I was OBSESSED with Victoria's Secret models, Tumblr, and America's Next Top Model. I used to copy the ridiculous “grapefruit diets” in Cosmopolitan magazines and diet tea recipes, desperate to look like them.

I heavily restricted food to the point where I hated being social. I lost connections with friends, was scared to go on dates with boys, didn’t want to travel (and if I did, I HAD to carry my own protein bars with me), and oh, it was just a sad nightmare. Somewhere along the way, when I was about 24 years old, I woke up to myself and realized that I was missing out on so many “good” years chasing “thin,” and suddenly none of it was worth it. And I guess that's how the wellness journey started. I'm 29 now, and I like to think I have a good relationship with food and exercise. It's taken a bit of time to unlearn all my bad habits. I have the occasional “bad body image” day, I’m not perfect, but I love the person I am.

I hate that I lost so many good years to diet culture, but it has shaped the person I am today. And if I get to help some young women on my platform, then that's a win in my eyes!

Can you share your personal journey with Hypothalamic Amenorrhea? How did excessive dieting and calorie restriction impact your physical and mental health?

For those who don’t know the term, Hypothalamic Amenorrhea is a fancy word for “a missing period” due to “stress” on the body, whether that be over-exercising or under-eating (in my case, both). At first, not having a period was SO convenient, and I wore it as a badge of honor (cringe) because it meant my diet was working, and “oh, I must be sooo skinny.” But after a year or so, the ugly side effects of HA showed up. My skin was the worst it has ever been, my hair fell out so much that I was scared to brush it, and my libido was next to nothing.

This built up over four years, and then one day, toward the end of 2018, I hit my breaking point. I told my boyfriend (he's now my husband), “Something isn’t right, and I can’t keep living like this.” So we made a 2019 New Year’s resolution to regain my lost menstrual cycle. I honestly didn’t even know where to start, and I think that’s why it took so long to get it back! Finally, I regained my period in January 2020. I cried my little eyes out when I got it back, and my friends all threw me a “Period Party.” I’ll remember that day forever, and I promised myself I would never lose it again.

What was the turning point for you in shifting your mindset from one of restriction and calorie deficit to embracing balance and nourishment?

When I first went “all in” to get my period back, 2,500 calories seemed like SO MUCH FOOD. But after consistently eating that much, I realized it’s actually not. It’s a normal amount of food. Diet culture has just fed us this crap about “1,200 calories” being some magic target for women.

And it felt GOOD to be nourished. After a while, I looked back at how I had been eating 1,200 calories for years and realized I could never go back. It felt so good and freeing not to be thinking about food every second of the day. Taking the leap, as scary as it was, was my turning point. I realized how much I actually loved salad dressings, ice cream, butter, BREAD, and pasta—and in moderation, they were entirely healthy. In fact, avoiding all these foods for so long was the unhealthiest thing I did.

Many people associate fitness with calorie-burning. How do you stay active now in a way that supports your well-being without feeling restrictive?

I used to be that person. The fitness watches we wear don’t help. I used to go to the gym to burn calories or “work off” something “bad” I ate the day before. Social media never helped. I remember reading those articles that said, “One cookie = 67 minutes on the treadmill!!” and it really fueled that negative relationship with exercise.

One day, I woke up and told my husband, “I actually hate going to the gym.” I had never admitted that to anyone because the gym was part of my identity, and I would tell everyone how much I LOVED it. But the truth was, I dreaded waking up every morning to go. Then, one day, my sister took me to her Pilates class. It was my first time, and I left feeling GOOD. I loved it. I loved exercising with someone and having an instructor. I couldn’t wait to book another class.

Long story short, I don’t go to the gym anymore. I go to Pilates classes or do morning bay walks with friends. I now only do exercise I love, and I wake up every day EXCITED to move my body.

For someone who might be caught in a cycle of restriction, what are the key signs that it’s time to make a change, and what first steps would you recommend?

I think these days there are a lot more coaches, podcasts, Facebook groups, and health professionals that specialize in this. When I was stuck in my cycle of restriction, I couldn’t find as much information because HA and undereating were so “niche.” These days, the beauty of social media is that it’s actually a lot easier to find help.

If you feel “stuck” (it’s the worst feeling ever), there is no shame in getting help. It’s so hard to get out of the mindset by yourself because you don’t know where to start. And it’s scary. Start with podcasts, start with your own support network. Or... message me! I’m not qualified by any means, but I love chatting with girls.

How did your perspective on health and fitness change as you moved away from rigid routines? What does balance mean to you now? How has a natural sweetener like Natvia played a role in that?

As much as I love having a routine, I love having free days. Balance is such a simple concept but incredibly hard for me to get right. My Mondays to Thursdays are mainly routine, but Fridays and Saturdays are my fun days. And Sunday is my favorite—my reset day. I spend time with my family and set myself up for the rest of the week.

I love meal prepping banana slices and overnight oats because it just makes my week easier. I also love having healthy snacks ready and available in the fridge during the week. When I bake an oat slice or fun overnight Weet-Bix, I love using brands like Natvia because they are more natural, have less sugar, and taste great! It’s just become a pantry staple. My husband also eats my healthy snacks, and I honestly don’t think he knows the difference between Natvia and real sugar!

Diet culture can be so pervasive. What are your tips for rejecting its toxic messages and focusing on sustainable, nourishing habits instead?

Okay, this is important. IMMEDIATELY unfollow anyone on social media who makes you feel bad. Even if you know them personally. If they promote any sort of toxic diet culture, even subliminally, just unfollow. You don’t need that. You don’t need to feel crap about yourself.

Follow women who make you feel GOOD. My feed 10 years ago was all about “fitspo,” “calorie comparisons,” or “thinspo.” Today, my Instagram feed is actually exciting and makes me happy to see REALISTIC women, fun recipes, and people who post content to help me better myself.

How did your “cheats recipes” series come to life, and how do these quick, healthy options align with your philosophy of balanced eating?

Guilty... I am a lazy cook! I’m time-poor, and as much as I want to be able to make 7-hour slow-cooked lamb every day, I just don’t have the energy after work. And as much as I LOVE cooking, I cannot do a recipe with more than 15 ingredients.

When I started posting easy recipes on my page, so many girls related and enjoyed that side of my content, so I ran with it. I like whipping things up from ingredients I already have in the pantry or using leftover fruits or bananas that are about to go bad.

I think having a bank of “easy” recipes makes eating healthy more fun and less of a chore. Making easy snacks for work is a must—otherwise, I honestly wouldn’t bother. In terms of “balance,” I think having quick, easy recipes makes it easier to eat healthy and gives me more free time to do the things I love. I also love a good dessert! Rice pudding is my weakness, and I think I make that once a week with leftover rice!

For young women who may be struggling with body image or falling into unhealthy habits, what advice would you give to help them find confidence and peace with their bodies?

I once read, “You cannot fix a body you hate.” No amount of starving yourself or running on a treadmill will fix a problem that’s inside you. You cannot hate your way into a body you love.

It’s so cliché, but it’s true. We criticized and starved our bodies for so long, and it doesn’t work. So why don’t we try loving our bodies and nourishing them? See how that feels.