Janet Jackson Talks Weight Loss and Body Image with Prevention July 2012

Janet Jackson is Prevention's newest cover girl for the magazine's July 2012 issue. Inside, the 46-year-old singer dishes on her recent weight loss, body image, love, life itself, and how she sees herself these days. Check out these highlights from her interview!

Janet Jackson is Prevention's July 2012 cover girl. The magazine got the chance to sit down for a chat with the 46-year-old singer and talked about her recent weight loss, body image, love, life itself, and how she sees herself these days. "I honestly don't even know what size I am. Now it's about looking in the mirror and saying, I feel good. I feel healthy," Janet confesses.

Dishing on her public weight losses and gains, Jackson told the magazine that, "I think people really connect with the idea of someone who's gained and lost weight in this very public way, and also someone who's an emotional eater. Chocolate, cake, caramel apples — there aren't many things I don't love."

The singer admits she is not so much into exercising, but she has a personal trainer who really puts her to work.
"I don't like to work out, and I get bored easily. Tony Martinez [her trainer] is great. He comes up with something new all the time. There are times when I don't want to run on the beach, but he knows I love sports, so he'll bring a football — or I'm just like a dog with a tennis ball. When I'm getting ready for a tour, I'll work out with the dancers. He'll put us in teams, and we'll do all sorts of drills and races," Janet says.

Known for her yo-yo dieting, Jackson also reveals in her interview with Prevention's July 2012 issue that those extra pounds she gained became dangerous for her health. "Health was always a concern. When I gained weight in 2005, my nutritionist was very worried. I was close to having diabetes. Even when I lost it [and] then gained quite a bit back, there was always the thought of heart disease," the gorgeous singer says.

Janet, who is the new spokesperson for weight-loss program Nutrisystem, reveals that she can count on her friends and family to help her stay healthy.

"Knowing I have these problems with body image, I ask my friends and family to tell me when I've lost too much too. Because I will continue to pick on myself, like all women do, and say, You need to [lose] more here, more there," Jackson told the magazine.

On being a role model for her niece Paris and the advice she gave her, Janet says that, "We've spoken about the fact that you're only a child once. I think there's a time for everything, and now is not the time [to act in films]. I told her I thought she should enjoy being a kid, possibly go to college — or not — but wait till she turns 18. She's a very tough, smart girl. But it's a cutthroat industry. I wouldn't want my child to do it."

Read Janet Jackson's full interview in the July 2012 issue of Prevention magazine, on newsstands now!