jewelshapecover.jpg

Jewel graces the July cover of Shape magazine, and we haven't heard much from the singer over the past few months, but she's certainly back on our radar now! After being labeled "the chubby Renee Zellweger” when she first made a name for herself, Jewel reveals she was extremely self-conscious about her body.

“My feelings were so hurt by that story, I ended up bingeing on an entire cake," she tells the mag. "Afterward, I actually tried to throw it all up, but thankfully I couldn’t do it. It made me think, ‘I can’t go down this road.’ I had seen so many performers develop eating disorders or try to control their weight with drugs, and I decided I would do no harm to my body.” Yikes!

Jewel has since developed a much healthier body image, adding, “We should be more like men, God bless ‘em. They can take their shirts off and show their man boobs, and they don’t give a hoot. But women are so critical of themselves. We can be gorgeous and hot and still be embarrassed to wear a tank top. So if you can’t stop looking in the mirror, at least try to not think badly about yourself when you do.”

Aww, good for her! And we're definitely digging her curves!