June 2022
A
His Grace Magazine!
Alexa PenaVega
Page 11
Actress Alexa PenaVega says faith helped her overcome her eating disorder
lexa PenaVega, an actress and author, is talking about her all her struggles that she faced growing up in Hollywood and that her faith gave her strength to get her through it all. Alexa is known for her role as Carmen Cortez in the movie, Spy Kids, and now Alexa is excited about the new release of her new book called "What if Love is the Point? Living for Jesus in a Self Consumed World." In the book, Alexa talks about her overcoming an eating disorder and how she recovered from a terribly painful divorce. In a recent interview with host Sadie Robertson Huff on her podcast called, "Whoa That's Good," Alexa, who is 33 years old, talked about her biggest fear being that someone would find out about her eating disorder. Alexa said, "I was living with this secret that I was
really ashamed of. I was praised whenever I looked skinnier and if I didn't look as skinny one day, nobody would
Alexa said she remembers how her mother would warn her about not telling people that she had an eating
compliment me. I started thriving on what other people thought of me instead of focusing in on God." Alexa said that her eating habits had such a tight grip on her. It changed when she started talking about her problem; it felt like "breaking off all those chains." Alexa also said, "It became this thing that no longer consumed me. Obviously, God did a whole number in my life to get me through the eating disorder."
disorder. Her mother said if she told people, they would only see her disorder. Alexa said, "I know she meant it as a way of protecting me, but I really feel like the enemy took those words and just turned it into something that had a stronghold over my life. I just lived with my secret and it just tormented me for so long. And I think I also probably could have solved this much faster had I confided in the right people earlier on."
Alexa also talked about the pressures that a lot of young people are facing today with social media and how it shows a filtered side to life. Alexa said, "I think it's really hard, especially for girls nowadays, because every photo that we post, we're like, how many people liked it.' This new generation, it's a hard mental thing for young kids to deal with because it is a form of rejection." Alexa also said, "I think that's where you really have to lean on God's Word. Honestly, that's what got me through my eating disorder. I had this faith my whole entire life. I craved relationship with God and I know it was deep than what I had and I wanted to know more." Alexa has compared living in service to Jesus Christ with the Bible verse, 1 Corinthians 9:24, "Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize."
