Cameron Diaz's Guide To Loving Your Body

When it comes to loving our bodies, our January cover star Cameron Diaz has been there, done that and literally written the book on it.

Here are some of her musings on body image. Listen up, she knows what she's talking about.

Skin issues 'I had terrible, terrible skin. It was embarrassing, and I did everything I could think of to make it go away. It was awkward and embarrassing and frustrating, and I always felt really bad about myself. Looking back, I realise that I hadn’t needed those prescription drugs, those vials of potions and creams. I hadn’t needed to be angry at my skin or feel bad about myself. I had just needed to listen to my body. Acne was my body’s alarm system, it was its way of telling me to stop eating fast food.'

Plastic surgery

'I've tried Botox before, where it was like a little tiny touch of something. It changed my face in such a weird way that I was like, "No, I don't want to be like that." I love lines, I don't mind. It's like, "Guess what this means, I've smiled my whole life." I love life. I'm happy I don't have a problem with that.'

Body hair

'Pubic hair has a purpose. You can do what you want with it, I don't care - you can shave it off every day, wax it off every day, turn it into a bonsai - I don't care. I just said consider maybe not removing it permanently and forever with laser treatment. Forever is forever and when we make those choices for our body we have to live with them forever.'

Ageing

'We don’t give ourselves permission to age gracefully. Everybody’s judging. And for me, I feel like… it’s almost as if we have failed if we don’t remain 25 for the rest of our lives. We are failures. It’s a personal failure, our fault, that at 40 years old, I don’t still look like I’m 25. Oh, I’m sorry, I apologise. I wasn’t able to defy nature.'

Body image

'I did not like my body when I was a kid. I was all skin and bones, all arms and legs. I was really, really skinny, and the other kids let me have it because of that. I hated being skinny. Being made fun of feels terrible, no matter what the reason is, no matter who you are. I spent a lot of time wishing I was more voluptuous, but eventually I realised it’s not who I am. Why punish myself for something I’m not?'

Exercising

'At the end of all of this, I want to be able to say, "I did the best I could." It’s not about having a ripped stomach; it’s about taking care of myself. If you don’t have your health and if you’re not in a strong, capable body, you don’t have anything.'

Read our full interview with Cameron Diaz in the January issue of Marie Claire, out now.