In Gabourey Sidibe’s new memoir, This Is Just My Face: Try Not to Stare, the actress reveals a weighty secret.
The 33-year-old Empire star went under the knife to lose weight in May 2016, undergoing laparoscopic bariatric surgery after she was diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes, People reveals in an excerpt of Sidibe’s new book.
“My surgeon said they’d cut my stomach in half,” she wrote. “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 memoir, out May 1 via Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, also details her mental health struggles, including battles with depression, anxiety and bulimia.“The surgery wasn’t the easy way out,” she continued. “I wasn’t cheating by getting it done. I wouldn’t have been able to lose as much as I’ve lost without it.”
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