Kelsea Ballerini has recently opened up about how she started prioritizing her mental health and supporting other women.
The 27-year-old singer also revealed how she learned to stop shaming herself for her diet. She even opened up about putting out an album during the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
Ballerini said, “I had all these plans for how this year was going to help me grow as a human and in my career. I put out an album at the beginning of the pandemic. I went through the sad phase, then the scared phase, then the mad phase. And then I got to the place where you realize that everyone is struggling and grieving something. That has given me perspective and reminds me that we are all walking through this together.”
The country pop singer credited other female artists for changing her life.
She said, “I got a little catapult in my career because other female artists reached out their arms to me and pulled me up. Taylor [Swift] did that in the very beginning—she was the first artist that ever championed me, and it changed my life.”
“Even though I don’t have a platform anywhere near as big, I see it as my responsibility to do what she did for me,” she added. “So if I see someone I think is wonderful, I make sure people know about them.”
Revealing how she learned to stop shaming herself for her diet, Ballerini said, “I definitely went through a phase of shaming myself if I ate something ‘bad.’ Now, I find what works for me is an 80/20 lifestyle.”
“So 80 percent of the time I eat really healthy—my husband is a vegetarian, so I eat with him. Then 20 percent of the time I just have grace for myself. I will never not have chicken nuggets in my life—or a few glasses of wine. I don’t ever want to feel guilty for having those things in my life.”
Prioritizing her mental health amid the pandemic, the “Miss Me More” singer said, “For a long time, I felt like I couldn’t have a bad day because I had my dream job. I had to learn to let myself have those emotions—and accept that I am human, no matter what my life looks like.”
“Now, I look at having a therapist as having a trainer for my emotions and feelings,” she added. This article was originally published in the October 2020 issue of Health Magazine.
