Emmy Rossum covers this month’s Shape Magazine. In the interview she discussed her decision to leave Shameless and, because it’s Shape, her views on weight and wellness. Emmy emphasized that women need to stop spending so much time on things that ultimately don’t matter, like the numbers on a scale and our overall appearance, and focus more energy on our accomplishments.

Emmy Rossum couldn’t care less about the number on the scale.
The Shameless star, who called out Kim Kardashian in August for bragging about her weight, wants people to stop putting their self-worth into what they see when they step on a scale.

“I think it’s vital that we stop focusing on unimportant things, like a number, and start thinking of our real worth as what we’ve accomplished, as well as the things that make us unique and strong,” Rossum, 32, told SHAPE for their Jan/Feb issue. “Your appearance is just one part of you. It doesn’t determine who you are or what you’re capable of.”

“Last year I did an overhaul. I started listening to my body about what exercise and food make me feel good and how much sleep I really need,” she said. “My relationship with exercise has always been a very healthy and committed one, mostly because it has helped me reduce stress and anxiety.”

Rossum adds: “As women, we should take up as much space creatively, emotionally, and spiritually as we want to, and no one should ever make us feel that we can’t,” she said. “We should own our uniqueness and be the healthiest, best version of ourselves we can be.”

[From Shape via People]

I agree with Emmy. I do think we should focus on our accomplishments. I think celebrating that which makes us unique is a positive way to live our lives. But, and I know how get-off-my-lawn I sound right now, I’m not super interested in people with stomachs that flat telling me not to worry about my weight. It’s hard for me to separate the message from the messenger. Not Emmy per se, who I’m sure is a very lovely person, but an actor who gets leading roles because of their appearance. “Unique” looking actors get sidekick roles. However, it does not negate that everyone should be happy with themselves. And I agree that listening to your body is the best health regime. My body, of late, has been demanding sleep and thus I have chosen an extra hour over my run in them mornings. Since I care very much about the numbers on the scale, this has preyed on my self-image more than anything.

I love Emmy’s comments about taking up space creatively. I agree we should be allowed to take up space emotionally and spiritually and need to work on that. Emmy, as we know, has left Shameless. She’s proud of that role and how it taught her, “a lot about myself as a person and as an actor.” In addition, she set a great example for women by achieving equal pay to her co-star, William H. Macy. For what it’s worth, Macy is devastated by Emmy leaving and is already planting seeds for her to come back. If Macy pleaded for me to return to a creative project, I’d probably add that to my list of accomplishments.

Photo credit: Shape Magazine and WENN Photos