Camila Cabello opens up about 'pattern' of relying on food when she's 'anxious': 'It's a comfort thing'

Camila Cabello is getting candid about her relationship with her body, sharing that her mental health impacts the way that she approaches food.

"I have this pattern of eating a lot when I’m anxious or uncomfortable," the singer told Glamour for the magazine's October cover. "It’s a comfort thing for me. I’ll just kind of become unconscious and zombie-eat a lot, and then I’ll feel sick."

The 24-year-old has been open about her body image after being body-shamed over paparazzi photos that were circulated of her in a bikini in 2019, and more recently while on a run in the park. And while she's talked about her journey to body acceptance, Cabello revealed to the magazine that she often turns to food when she's feeling her worst.

"When I’m having negative thoughts about my body, that’s actually when I’ll want to binge-eat cookies, and then I have a stomachache," she said. "It’s this weird psychology: The more I love my body, the more I actually want to take care of it…. As long as I’m healthy and working out and feel good, that’s the best I can do. There’s no point in trying to have another kind of body."

Luckily, Cabello explained that her boyfriend Shawn Mendes has been a great support system.

"I’ve told Shawn about that," she said of her relationship with food. "So at the VMAs party, I was like, 'I’m doing it.' And he was like, 'It’s okay. You’re doing it. That’s okay. Let’s just take a breath and not do that.' It’s really good for me to be able to talk about my patterns with someone."

While Cabello has sought out professional help in the past, she explained that spending quarantine at home in Miami, Fla., allowed her to focus on mental health and therapy in a way that she didn't feel her schedule allowed prior.

"Because I wasn’t stressed about all the things I needed to do the next day, I was able to slow down and have enough stability to look at my stuff," she said, sharing that she also found a new therapist during that time. "I wasn’t feeling like I was progressing in the areas I wanted to progress. But when I switched, I found I was able to apply what they said in a way that benefited my mental health."

It's also benefited her relationship with Mendes.

"For better, for worse, we’re very transparent with each other. I think that’s why we can trust each other so much, because it’s a very 3D human relationship," she explained. "I’ll be venting or ranting about something, and he’ll be like, ‘Have you talked to X about it?’ And I’ll be like, ‘No. I’ve got to do a session.’ And he’ll do the same thing to me. I think even just the language of being like, ‘Hey, I’m sorry that I’ve been distant with you or snappy with you. I’m just struggling and I’m feeling kind of anxious.’ That level of transparency really helps a lot."