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Precious star Gabourey Sidibe has opened up about having weight loss surgery for the first time in her new memoir.
In This Is Just My Face: Try Not To Stare, the 33-year-old reveals that she was prompted to get laparoscopic bariatric surgery after being diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes.
“I just didn’t want to worry,” she told PEOPLE.
“I truly didn’t want to worry about all the effects that go along with diabetes. I genuinely [would] worry all the time about losing my toes.”
The star explains that she tried for more than a decade to lose weight before eventually opting for the procedure in May 2016.
“My surgeon said they’d cut my stomach in half,” she said.
“This would limit my hunger and capacity to eat. My brain chemistry would change and I’d want to eat healthier.”
In the memoir she also admits that she knew her tumultuous relationship with food had to change following a lifelong battle with depression, anxiety and bulimia.
“The surgery wasn’t the easy way out,” she said.
“I wasn’t cheating by getting it done. I wouldn’t have been able to lose as much as I’ve lost without it.”
Since going under the knife, the American Horror Story actress has adopted healthier eating habits with the help of a nutritionist, upped her fitness regime, and now works out with a personal trainer.
And almost a year post-op, while she refuses to disclose the exact amount of weight she’s shed because it’s too “personal,” Gabourey confesses she has learnt to love her body, no matter how it looks.
“It has taken me years to realise that what I was born with is all beautiful,” she pens.
“I did not get this surgery to be beautiful. I did it so I can walk around comfortably in heels.”
“I want to do a cartwheel,” she continues. “I want not to be in pain every time I walk up a flight of stairs.”
“If I could lose enough to just be a little chubby, I’ll be over the moon! Will I still be beautiful then? S***. Probably.”
“My beauty doesn’t come from a mirror,” she adds.
“It never will.”
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