Posted: 10th February, 2009

Beyoncé’s body may be the envy of women across the globe, but she reveals that she hates working out and felt the pressure to look good the moment she became a celebrity:

“I do circuit training and run about two-and-a-half miles every day. When I was in my best shape I got up at 6am, so I’m trying to do that again - but I’m not there yet … I do a lot of things with my trainer, but I don’t enjoy working out … he doesn’t have to fight me [though] as I understand that if I don’t do it, I’m the one who’s going to be on stage, out of shape.”

Speaking to Cosmopolitan magazine, Beyoncé discusses the monotony of dieting. So has anyone ever told her to eat less?

“My stylists mention it when the clothes aren’t fitting anymore!” she laughs. “And my mum tells me, yeah … I go through phases. Right now I’m eating veg and drinking water … it’s boring. Usually when I get 5-8lb heavier than my ideal weight, I’ll start eating healthily and make an effort to exercise more.”

“At the moment if I snack it’ll be fruit. Or I have these yoghurt-covered almonds. But this is when I’m being good. When I’m being bad, I’m bad. All the way. Burgers, pizzas, French fries, the lot…”

Like any woman, she also has parts of her body she wishes she could change:

“I wish my arms and thighs were tighter, and I wish my feet were different. I used to love them until I started dancing around in stilettos … [and] my ears are pointy.”

On why women give themselves such a hard time about their bodies, she comments:

“I think it’s tough being a woman – we’re so critical of each other and we put too much emphasis on the way we look. We accept men, but we’re not as forgiving with ourselves.”

Despite being open about herself, Beyoncé is very private when it comes to her relationships:

“There are certain things that are kind of obvious, and if you start talking, the questions will never stop. I think there’s more to life than sharing it with everyone … At school, if I dated someone, I didn’t tell everyone. I fee like if everyone knows my stuff, it’ll take the beauty and pureness out of it.”

This privacy extended to her wedding to Jay-Z last April which was a small private ceremony shrouded in secrecy:

“I’ve never been the girl who went to a wedding and thought, ‘Oooh, I want to get married.’ So I didn’t want anything big and dramatic [for my wedding day] … And I think that people can put way too much emphasis on the day. It’s just so temporary and it goes in a second … I think it’s important for women to have their moment, whether it’s your prom or your birthday … but to me, marriage is not about that moment. It’s about something way deeper.”

To this day, her wedding ring also remains a mystery:

“I usually take it off for interviews because I don’t want anyone to write about it. There’s a tattoo underneath [the ring] … It’s of the number four, but the significance is private – it’s between me and my guy.”

Now she is happily married, is becoming a mum on the cards?

“I do eventually want all of that (children) but I’ve seen the reality of having a kid through my nephew, Jules, and I know I’m not ready for it! Although, you know, if something happened … People always say when it’s your kid it’s different.”

Analysing every situation like this is something Beyoncé readily admits to. So much so, that her career could have been completely different:

“I probably would have been a psychologist - I love talking and listening to people, and understanding why they do certain things, especially in relationships. Even with myself I analyse things like, ‘Why did I do that?’ or ‘Why do I like that.’”

The full interview appears in the March issue of Cosmopolitan magazine.

Related Goss

• 23rd October, 2008 -- beyonce changes her name

Tags: Beyonce, cosmopolitan