Sam Smith has always been a proud gay man, but there's one thing that the "Lay Me Down" crooner hasn't always been proud of: his weight. After dropping 14 pounds in 14 days (and continuing to shed weight), the 22-year-old pop star has opened up about his battles with food, self-esteem and weight in a new interview.

In speaking to Australia's 60 Minutes (via ABC News) over the weekend, Smith admitted that food always held a power over him. Until recently, he had used eating to make himself feel better, but comments about his weight started to grate on his psyche.

"Food has controlled me," Smith said. "When I was at school and I wasn't having a great time or when music wasn't going very well, I would eat-eating made me feel better."

Smith admitted that people calling him "fat" was far more harmful to him than hating him for anything else, including his sexuality, because while he would never change being gay, he knew he could change his fitness levels.

"If someone called me fat that affects me way more than someone calling me a f*ggot." he said. "It's like, I am gay and I'm proud to be gay so there's no issues there. If someone calls you fat that's something I would want to change - that's something I can change - so that will affect me more."

Smith has been showing off his weight loss in recent weeks through a slew of posts on his Instagram. He's been showing off work in the gym and his new healthy eating habits using the hashtag #eatnourishglow.

 Summer I'm coming for ya

A photo posted by Sam Smith (@samsmithworld) on Apr 19, 2015 at 3:23pm PDT

Good morning xx #eatnourishglow A photo posted by Sam Smith (@samsmithworld) on Apr 19, 2015 at 1:30pm PDT

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