Taylor Opened Up About Overcoming An Eating Disorder In Her New Documentary

Taylor Swift's sincerity is something her fans have always admired. She lets Swifties get to know the real her through her music, raw interviews, and social media, even in the face of public backlash. Now, Swift is getting more personal than ever. Taylor Swift's quotes about overcoming an eating disorder are so honest.

Swift's new Miss Americana documentary premiered at Sundance Film Festival on Thursday, Jan. 23, and, in it, the pop star reflected on how constant derogatory comments about her body negatively affected her body image.

Swift admitted seeing photos where she thought her stomach looked "too big" or seeing comments about how she looked pregnant would "trigger" her "to just starve a little bit — just stop eating." Swift's team did not respond to Elite Daily's request for further comment.

Swift revealed why she chose to open up about her experience in the documentary to Variety, sharing,

I didn’t know if I was going to feel comfortable with talking about body image and talking about the stuff I’ve gone through in terms of how unhealthy that’s been for me — my relationship with food and all that over the years. But the way that [film director] Lana [Wilson] tells the story, it really makes sense.

According to Variety, Swift's issues with body image began at the start of her career. She recalled the first time she was on the cover of a magazine at 18, alongside a story speculating she was pregnant because she had worn a shirt that made her stomach not look flat. She told Variety:

I just registered that as a punishment. And then I’d walk into a photo shoot and be in the dressing room and somebody who worked at a magazine would say, ‘Oh, wow, this is so amazing that you can fit into the sample sizes. Usually we have to make alterations to the dresses, but we can take them right off the runway and put them on you!’ And I looked at that as a pat on the head. You register that enough times, and you just start to accommodate everything towards praise and punishment, including your own body.

Swift admitted she's "never really wanted to talk about" her eating disorder before, and that she's still "pretty uncomfortable talking about" it. But, she felt like it was an important aspect of her life to include in Miss Americana.

These days, Swift looks up to the body image advocacy work of The Good Place actress Jameela Jamil, explaining,

We’re seeing so much on social media that makes us feel like we are less than, or we’re not what we should be, that you kind of need a mantra to repeat in your head when you start to have harmful or unhealthy thoughts. So she’s one of the people who, when I read what she says, it sticks with me and it helps me.

If you or someone you know has an eating disorder and needs help, call the National Eating Disorders Association helpline at 1-800-931-2237, text 741741, or chat online with a Helpline volunteer here.