Lauren Alaina's secret battle with bulimia inspired her latest single, "Road Less Traveled," and now, the singer is opening up about overcoming the eating disorder in an interview with the Tennessean.

In 2011, Alaina was the runner-up on American Idol. During her time on the show, she Googled herself only to discover that a blogger had nicknamed her 'Miss Piggy.' On every post written about her, a photo of the singer was transformed into one with a pig nose and pig ears. Only 16 at the time, Alaina was already struggling with her body image, which eventually led to years of battling with bulimia. The singer admits it was her "deepest, darkest secret" but it was something she had to face.

“I was letting someone I was never going to be in the same room with impact my every day happiness,” Alaina says of the blogger. “I still wake up with the uglies and I still have days where I say things to myself that I shouldn’t say. But I feel like speaking out about it has made me want to be healthier.”

During a visit to the doctor to treat polyps on her vocal cords, her doctor asked if she ever had an eating disorder, which would make the polyps more severe. The singer admitted she did, which led to a shocking revelation from her doctor: if she kept making herself throw up, she'd never sing again.

“Obviously, singing is the only thing I want to do in life,” she tells the Tennessean. “I have no backup plan. People knowing made me not want to do it.”

Alaina was able to put these struggles into her latest single, which she hopes will encourage other people to not be so hard on themselves. In the meantime, she also works with a personal trainer and chef to get fit in a healthy way.

Adds the rising star, “This song came from a part of me that isn’t the prettiest part of me, but I want to use it to encourage people regardless of what they see as their flaw."

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