Lucy Hale takes over the September 2012 cover of Cosmopolitan, out on stands on August 14th.

The 23-year-old actress chatted with the glossy about beau Chris Zylka, skipping her meals and how she changed that. Check it:

On her struggle with body image issues: “I’ve never really talked about this, but I would go days without eating. Or maybe I’d have some fruit and then go to the gym for three hours. I knew I had a problem…It was a gradual process but I changed myself.”

On her instant attraction Chris: “I was like ‘holy crap you’re gorgeous!’…It was like no one else was there. We couldn’t stop talking.”