When Beyoncé Opened Up About Her Dietary Struggles To Keep the Weight Off: 'Tired of Quick Fixes'

Beyoncé has struggled a lot with food and diets that actually work for her. She once opened up to Good Morning America back in 2015 about her diet issues, embracing a vegan diet, and her body—which, let's face it, stole the show at the Met Gala in 2020, reports PEOPLE. “I’m not naturally the thinnest. I have curves, I’m proud of my curves, and I have struggled from a young age with diets, and finding something that actually works, that keeps the weight off, has been difficult for me,” the Pure/Honey singer in a pre-recorded clip for the morning show.

All of that changed once the singer and her husband, Jay Z, undertook a 22-day plant-based eating challenge in 2013 after her trainer, Marco Borges, introduced the pair to the diet. She subsequently started a vegan home delivery business in 2015, assisting Borges in promoting his most recent book, The 22-Day Revolution.

The diet is predicated on the idea that it takes 21 days to form or break a habit, therefore “with 22 days you [find] the way” to success in terms of your health. The 22-Day Revolution, which has a preface by Beyoncé, encourages three vegan meals every day, 30 minutes of exercise per day, and lots of water. “I felt like my skin was really firm. A lot tighter than when I deprived myself of food and got the weight off fast. And the weight stayed off,” the star said.

The pop star was all praise for Borges's diet and delivery service, which encompasses an organic, dairy-free, soy-free, gluten-free, and non-GMO range. “He came up with a great program to get people motivated to make better nutritional choices. All you have to do is try. If I can do it, anyone can,” Beyoncé said in February. “We’re all tired of quick fixes,” Borges previously told PEOPLE. “We all want a solution that’s sustainable. This is a way of life.”

The pop diva and entrepreneur also discussed with Harper's Bazaar how she's come to realize how crucial it is to listen to her body if she wants to give it all. "In the past, I spent too much time on diets, with the misconception that self-care meant exercising and being overly conscious of my body," Beyoncé, 39, said.

She said that she now approaches health holistically, paying attention to her mental clarity, how she feels, and how frequently she smiles. "Mental health is self-care too," Beyoncé said. "I'm learning to break the cycle of poor health and neglect, focusing my energy on my body and taking note of the subtle signs that it gives me. Your body tells you everything you need to know, but I've had to learn to listen. It's a process to change habits and look past the bag of chips and the chaos everywhere!"