InTouch Weekly USA × October 18, 2004
Gwen Stefani: “I’m starving”
Is the No Doubt singer getting carried away with a too-restrictive diet and a harsh exercise regimen?
Gwen Stefani is as famous for her rock-steady music as her rock-solid abs, but lately, the No Doubt singer is looking thinner than ever - perhaps too thin. Gwen, who has struggled with weight issues since childhood, has been serious about diet and exercise for years. But now, her regimen has left her looking gaunt.
Could stress be to blame? The past year has been a high-pressure time for the Grammy winner, who is branching out to acting (with a role in The Aviator), and has also made the break from her band of 18 years to record her first solo album, Love, Angel, Music, Baby, due out next month. Gwen says it was a difficult time. “I just had a breakdown,” she reveals. “I was like, ‘I gotta stop now.’ ” But instead of giving up, she tackled her self-doubt in the lyrics of her first single, “What Are You Waiting For?” where “confident” Gwen gives “nervous” Gwen a pep talk, even telling herself in the chorus, “You’re still a super hot female.”
Gwen, who turned 35 on October 3, admits she’s no stranger to extreme dieting. “I go through waves with food,” she says. “If something cool is coming up and I want to look good, I get into my healthy fitness rage… But as soon as it’s over, it’s like, ‘Hurray, let’s go get pizza!’ ”
However, when she stepped out in London recently, it was clear she hadn’t been indulging. Gwen had lost her curves and her legs appeared very thin. “I have to work very hard to look as good as I do,” says the singer, who pushes herself with a rigorous combination of calorie counting, running and weight lifting.
Is there any cause for concern? Her rep says no. “There’s no way Gwen is doing anything to harm her health. She’s just like every other girl that watches what she eats and works out,” the rep says. “She certainly doesn’t have an eating disorder.”
But Gwen admits her diet can be extremely restrictive. Earlier this year, a reporter who visited the London home Gwen shares with her husband, Gavin Rossdale, was shocked to find that she hadn’t eaten all day. “I feel like if I don’t eat, I might lose one more pound,” Gwen says. “But I’m starving.”
Like many women, Gwen’s weight fears are rooted in her childhood. “No boys liked me because I was chubby,” she says. “I wasn’t a cheerleader. I was a nerd. My weight was a struggle for me.”
Even though she is light years away from that chubby girl, Gwen can still get emotional about her weight. A few years ago, she was devastated when she couldn’t zip up a pair of black leather pants for a magazine cover shoot. “She was crying so hard that people had to console her,” and insider recalls.
Sadly, being a style icon has made it even harder for the rocker. “There’s even more pressure on me, I think, because everyone comments on my body,” Gwen says. “I spend a lot of time thinking about that.”
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