Becky G says it was ‘empowering’ to start taking care of her body: ‘I learned that it’s ok to work on myself’

Becky G has been in the spotlight for a decade, but like so many women in the industry, the Mexican-American star recalls facing pressure beyond her talent as people concerned themselves with her appearance as she was growing up in the public eye.

"In Latin culture, you know, a lot of the women are very giving — you have to give to everyone else before we give to ourselves," she explains. "And through therapy I learned that it’s OK to work on myself, to do things that only I can benefit from, which is a healthy body."

"It’s learning to love ourselves and accept ourselves for that uniqueness. That never goes out of style," she says. "Unlearning the things that no longer serve us, which is comparing ourselves to what the society standard is today because unfortunately the truth is that it’s gonna keep changing. And the why was so much bigger than just my physical body. It was what there was to gain emotionally and mentally."

Gomez has used her platform to speak about about body image, movement and mental health, and is hosting Movement Live by Michelob ULTRA to spread her positive messaging even further.

"It comes back to community," she explains of her willingness to speak publicly on such topics. "Knowing that you’re not the only one because you can get really into your head and be in this place of isolation where you’re like, ‘Oh my god, I’m the only one going through this.’ And in reality, there’s so many other people out there."

Video Transcript

BECKY G: There's been times where people have applauded my body for how great it looks. And little do they know, I didn't feel very healthy. I don't think healthy is a look. It's not a look for me. It's a feeling.

KERRY JUSTICH: Today I'm sitting down with Becky G, an international singer and actress. Becky, just to kick it off, would love to learn a little bit more about your relationship with your body today and what role movement plays in that.

BECKY G: I was 14 years old when I got signed, and I went through this transition of young girl to young woman in front of the whole world. You're exposed all the time, what you look like, how you speak, how you wear something. It definitely affected me, and it impacted how I viewed my own self. In Latin culture, you know, a lot of the women are very giving. We have to give to everyone else before we give to ourselves.

And through therapy, I learned that it's OK to work on myself, to do things that only I can benefit from, which is a healthy body. Only you can benefit from a healthy body. No one else can. And I realized that I take so much time out of my day to meet deadlines, to show up for myself as an artist. And so that was very empowering for me, learning to take agency and say, hey, there's some things here that I'm going to do for myself. And fitness was one of them.

KERRY JUSTICH: I think the conversation, again, around fitness is evolving into one where people are talking more about the mental health benefits. At what point in your fitness journey did you realize that it wasn't just about, you know, pushing your body.

BECKY G: The "why" is very important to me. I think a lot of times, for me, as a young woman, the "why" was something that was very superficial. It was to please, what society expected me to look like. My mom is curvalicious. She gave it all to my sister, and I got none of it. And right now we're in a trend where being super curvy is awesome. And so I feel like, well, I don't have that.

It's learning to love ourselves and accept ourselves for that uniqueness. That never goes out of style. And unlearning the things that no longer serve us, which is comparing ourselves to what the society standard is today. Because unfortunately, the truth is, it's going to keep changing. And the "why" was so much bigger than just my physical body. It was what there was to gain emotionally and mentally.

KERRY JUSTICH: And obviously, you're already talking about how you use your platform to talk about these things. At what point did you realize that you wanted to use your platform for those conversations, and what did that look like?

BECKY G: It comes back to community, knowing that you're not the only one. Because you can get really into your head and be in this place of isolation where you're like, oh my God, I'm the only one going through this. And in reality, there's so many other people out there.

I hate working out sometimes. I thought every time that I worked out, I had to be like, huffing and puffing and drenched in sweat, when in reality, it could be a lot simpler than that. I could give myself 20 minutes out of my day to just stretch. I can give myself 20 minutes out of the day to go for a walk. So I would just like, encourage everyone to just kind of figure out what works for them.