
Looking at actress Emma Watson's lithe physique, it's hard to tell that the brunette beauty struggled with body image for years before finally finding self-acceptance.
"My weight has fluctuated between a [British] size 6 and a 10 [or U.S. size 4-8]," Watson told Glamour UK. "When you're growing, your body is still figuring itself out and it takes a while to settle down."
The toned 5-foot-6 Emma, who runs, does yoga, dances and plays tennis, once idealized the rail-thin physiques of fashion models before realizing it wasn't a realistic or healthy look for her.
"I've accepted my body shape more as I've got older," said the gorgeous Harry Potter star. "I went through a stage of wanting to have that straight-up-and-down model look, but I have curves and hips, and in the end you have to accept yourself as you are."
Emma, who once lamented that being in Hollywood made her insecure about her looks, finds the weight-consciousness among young girls alarming.
"It makes me sad to hear girls constantly putting themselves down," says Watson. "We have these unbelievably high expectations of ourselves, when actually we're human beings and out bodies have a function.
"We say that the pressure is coming from men, but actually it's from each other. I think women feel so much pressure these days and it can turn us against each other. But we really damage our own confidence when we put ourselves down, so I try not to."
'I'm An Imperfect Human Being, Not a Doll'
Emma has also made some breath-through insights about relationships as she has matured.
"I wish someone had told me at 15: 'You accept the love that you think you deserve.' I would have approached my relationships completely differently if they had," says Watson. "I like this idea of quality control--that we don't have to accept just anyone into our lives.
"People talk about love as though it just happens to you, as though you're a victim in it all, when actually you can make good choices and bad. But women have a natural tendency to want to nurture and take care of men. I tend to date people who are quite introspective. I like deep thinkers."
Watson, who has legions of fans around the world, now realizes that a healthy self-esteem is accepting that she doesn't have to perfect.
"I keep telling myself that I'm a human being, an imperfect human being who's not made to look like a doll," said Emma. "And that who I am as a person is more important than whether at that moment I have a nice figure."
Watson played Hermione Granger in the Harry Potter series from 2001 to 2011.
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