Los Angeles, March 31 : Actress Rebel Wilson, who recently slammed actor Sacha Baron Cohen over leaked intimate scenes, has opened up on the 'emotional war' she went through over her weight.

The actress, 44, opened up about her weight loss journey and recalled experiencing a mental tug-of-war because she was 'a proud fat female' while also being ashamed of her eating behaviours,' reports 'People' magazine.

She told 'People', 'I think to many people I'm a beacon of body positivity because I see people who are considered medically obese if you look at their weight, but I think they are absolutely beautiful. I really think beauty is in any shape and size so I do really promote that.'

She further mentioned: 'So people are like, 'Well, how can you be so body-positive and then be hating yourself'? But I wasn't hating myself, I was only hating those shameful behaviours.'

'For example, eating a whole tub of ice cream every night and then feeling bad about myself, making myself get up early in the morning and go to the gym for an hour and a half and running on that treadmill until sometimes my back would hurt.'

As per 'People', she said that cycle continued until she understood the emotional roots of her behaviour.

She described herself as an 'emotional eater' and says it took time for her to change her lifestyle, with the help of therapy.

She said' 'I would be hard on myself. I'm like, 'How can I be a person who excels in so many things and gets two university degrees, and can make millions of dollars, and can start from nothing and then create this huge career, but I couldn't lose weight'? I would always beat myself up about that and go, 'What's wrong with me''?

/IANS