Taylor Swift opens up about weight gain and body image issues

When it comes to dealing with insecurities and fears, pop star Taylor Swift has revealed that she is learning to “Shake It Off.” In an essay for the April 2019 issue of Elle, Swift reflects on her life and career ahead of her upcoming 30th birthday, which will be in December of this year. Entitled “30 Things I Learned Before I Turned 30,” the essay touches on everything from her changing relationship with social media to her fear of performing in the wake of the Manchester Arena bombing and Las Vegas concert shooting to body image and aging.

Lesson number four on her list is, “I learned to stop hating every ounce of fat on my body.” The singer-songwriter admits that the road to body acceptance has been a long one, but that as she prepares to enter her third decade of life, she’s learned to be a little kinder to herself.

“I think a lot of us push the boundaries of dieting, but taking it too far can be really dangerous,” she writes. “There is no quick fix. I work on accepting my body every day.”

When it comes to getting older, Swift has decided to embrace the natural changes in appearance that come with age. In lesson six, she writes, “I’ve learned that society is constantly sending very loud messages to women that exhibiting the physical signs of aging is the worst thing that can happen to us.” These are message she rejects.

She gives a shoutout to actor, model and host Jameela Jamil for her outspokenness on the subject, saying that reading her views “feels like hearing a voice of reason amongst all these loud messages out there telling women we’re supposed to defy gravity, time, and everything natural in order to achieve this bizarre goal of everlasting youth that isn’t even remotely required of men.”

Read the whole essay over at Elle.