Social media stars the Cavinder twins candidly open up about their battles with eating disorders - as they reveal how 'reverse dieting' technique helped them to conquer their 'frightening' relationship with food

Pro-college basketballers Haley and Hanna Cavinder have opened up about their eating disorders - and how they overcame their toxic habits after admitting they were 'essentially starving' themselves.

The twins opened up on their podcast, Twin Talk, while talking to their friend Kat Padgett - whom they credit for re-shaping their relationship with food and fitness.

Haley and Hanna recalled the moment they decided to reach out to someone for professional help, seeking the expertise of fitness guru and nutritionist Kathryne 'Kat' Padgett.

'We kind of started our journey in January,' Hanna explained in the podcast. 'So that's when Haley actually was like [we] need to reach out like after Christmas, cos we were severely undereating.'

Pro-college basketballers Haley and Hanna Cavinder have opened up about their eating disorder - admitting that they were 'essentially starving' themselves

They credited nutritionist and fitness guru 'Kat' Padgett  (pictured during the podcast episode) for helping them overcome their disordered eating

The sisters, pictured earlier in the year, opened up about their difficult relationship with food in a video on YouTube in June

According to Kat, the sporting superstars reached out after realizing they were not fueling themselves properly -  saying it was particularly scary considering how much exercise they were doing at the time.

'[It was] super scary to hear, and then [eating] 1,300 calories like at most which was way under for your body body type and your lifestyle,' Kat admitted, adding learning 'more about kind of the mindset' around food and their relationship with food.

'It was really frightening,' she admitted.

Kat added it was 'scary' to see how super-athletic twins were 'sacred to eat' - adding she thinks being in the spotlight didn't help the situation.

'[You were] scared to have your body change, because you are in the spotlight and it's like really hard it's hard to be judged and when you have so much emphasis on how you look,' Kat sympathized. 

'The only way to get you eating at a healthy intake [is] feeling comfortable and feeling confident [with] who you are and you know what you stand for,' Kat explained. 'Its been it's been a great journey, I'm like really proud of you.'

Kat explained she encouraged the girls to start 'reverse dieting' to help them change their approach to eating.

'Reverse dieting is like super amazing, it's something everyone should do when you finish off a fat loss phase or if you want to go into a fat phase,' she explained. 

According to Kat, reverse involves slowly increasing you food intake while 'manipulating cardio or energy output' as you slowly adding calories back into your diet. 

According to Kat, the sporting superstars reached out after realizing they were not fueling themselves properly - saying it was particularly scary considering how much exercise they were doing at the time

The pair, pictured in January, who were two of the highest-paid college athletes, reached out for help

'Basically since our bodies are so adaptive, it's giving your body time to adapt to these little increases in calories, energy, carbs - basically you're just increasing your metabolic rate,' she explained.

However, when Haley and Hannah first came to Kat, she recalled they first had to increase their overall calorie intake, and keeping it consistent.

'I had such a fear of like eating like carbs for some reason,' Haley admitted. 

Haley - who is preparing for a return to college basketball after revealing her plans to their 4.5 million TiKTok followers back in August - also admitted that the pressure from their followers didn't help the situation. 

'[We were told]: you guys look so good, what are you guys doing, you guys look so good,' she recalled.

'I'm like, dude like I don't even know what to say to these people that are like reaching out and like giving you compliments, and like asking your workout routine, cos I felt so guilty,' Haley admitted.

Haley pinpointed the moment she decided to get help, coming to a point where they knew neither of them could continue on the diet and intense exercise routines. 

'Like the way we're like fueling our bodies - regardless of if it's a sport or not - it's not going to last, it's not sustainable,' she added.

The girls also admitted restricting their food intake became 'like a game' to them, recalling seeing how long they could wait after playing basketball or working out to eat.

The sporting superstars  admitted they would play games with each other to restrict how much they ate. 'It [felt] good,' Haley (left) admitted

The Cavinder twins graduated from the University of Miami earlier in May

The sisters, pictured here in July 2021,  revealed that their goal for 2023 had been to fix their relationship with food

'When I did that it was made my mind like it was like a reward, it [felt] good,' Haley admitted.

The twins were playing for Fresno State at the time, admitting their mom was so concerned at one point reached out to their coaches.

Now, both Haley and Hanna say they are horrified when they look back on how little they were eating and can't believe how far they've come.

'We are still like on our journey 100 per cent, but it's like just seeing little growths and [the] small wins,' Hanna added, recalling the first time they both ate their first 'untracked' meal.

'Intuitively eating is like something that's like very new to us,' she admitted.

The women said they're passionate about sharing their journey, especially if it helps others.

''We're super passionate about sharing it and like sharing our journey with Kat too,' Haley added

Kat advised anyone who may be struggling from an eating disorder to try and form daily healthy habits and seek help where needed.

The pair, who were two of the highest-paid college athletes, reached out for help at the beginning of the year (pictured here in September 2022)

Kat advised anyone who may be struggling from an eating disorder to try and form daily healthy habits and seek help where needed

Hanna and Haley were born in South Bend, Indiana, but moved to Phoenix, Arizona, at a young age.

Both of them began playing basketball before they even started preschool - and dominated throughout middle and high school.

After graduating from Gilbert High School, the sisters headed to Fresno State, where they both broke a slew of records.

The twins shot to fame by sharing a glimpse into the many glamorous perks that came with being successful NCAA stars. 

They grew in popularity online - and by the time they transferred to the University of Miami in 2022, they were the most followed athletes to have played basketball for the college.

In June 2021, when the NCAA officially started allowing its athletes to earn a profit off of their name, image, and likeness - the social media sensations became the first college athlete to land a brand deal, signing with Boost Mobile within minutes.

They've since landed more than 40 sponsorships with companies like Champs Sports, the nutrition brand Six Star, athletic footwear and apparel line Eastbay, and finance company SoFi, among others - earning them $1.7 million as of July 2022, per Forbes.