March 9 (UPI) — Gabourey Sidibe says she’s loving her body after having weight-loss surgery.
The 33-year-old actress opened up in her memoir, “This is My Face: Try Not to Stare,” about secretly undergoing laproscopic bariatric surgery.
“It has taken me years to realize that what I was born with is all beautiful,” Sidibe wrote, according to People. “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.”
“There’s nothing ugly about me. Anyone trying to convince me that I am — and it’s usually me — is wasting her time,” she added. “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.”
Sidibe said she quietly had the surgery in May after she and her older brother, Ahmed, were diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes. She has since changed her eating habits and increased her fitness regimen.
“I have a goal now, and I’m almost there,” the star shared. “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.”
Sidibe had showed off her weight loss on the red carpet at the NAACP Image Awards in February. She shared a photo of her slimmer figure on Instagram the month before as she headed to the gym.
“Sometimes the only motivation I have to go to the gym is a coordinated outfit. Turns out, that’s enough. #Pink,” she wrote.
Sidibe is known for the movie “Precious,” and has since appeared on three seasons of “American Horror Story.” She presently plays Becky Williams on “Empire,” which will return to Fox on March 22.
