You may have noticed Empire actress Gabourey Sidibe has been slaying lately in her bathroom selfies. The 33 year old actress has a newfound confidence after undergoing weight loss surgery last year after her 34 year old brother Ahmad was diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes.
“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”, Sidibe told People mag of her decision to get laparoscopic bariatric surgery.
The star had the secret procedure in May 2016 and says she didn’t take the easy way out by getting weight loss surgery, as she’s been trying to lose weight for over a decade:
“My surgeon said they’d cut my stomach in half. This would limit my hunger and capacity to eat. My brain chemistry would change and I’d want to eat healthier. I’ll take it! My lifelong relationship with food had to change”.
“The surgery wasn’t the easy way out. I wasn’t cheating by getting it done. I wouldn’t have been able to lose as much as I’ve lost without it.”
“I have a goal right now, and I’m almost there,” she says. “And then once I’ve got it, I’ll set another. But my starting weight and my goal weight, they’re personal. If too many people are involved, I’ll shut down.”
According to People, Sidibe has a newfound health regimen that includes working with a nutrition and riding her bike around the set of Empire. In her memoir, This Is Just My Face, Try Not To Stare, Sidibie talks about her lifelong struggle to feel beautiful:
“It has taken me years to realize that what I was born with is all beautiful. 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. I want not to be in pain every time I walk up a flight of stairs.”
“I know I’m beautiful in my current face and my current body. What I don’t know about is the next body”.
“I admit it, I hope to God I don’t get skinny. 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. It never will.”
Sidibie also writes about learning to treat herself better, saying:
“There’s nothing ugly about me. Anyone trying to convince me that I am — and it’s usually me — is wasting her time. I was in a war with my body for a long time. If I’d started treating it better sooner, I wouldn’t have spent so many years hating myself. But I love my body now.”
Her book This Is Just My Face, Try Not To Stare comes out in May 1, 2017.