For four to six months at a time, I would barely eat. I lived on a diet of Melba toast, carrots, and black coffee.

I still indulge in a glass of wine or chocolate - treats are mandatory. Without deviating from the day-to-day healthy diet once in a while, it wouldn't be sustainable for me, and that's what I wanted: an approach to eating to last my entire life.

I'm really clear about what my life mission is now. There's no more depression or lethargy, and I feel like I've returned to the athlete I once was. I'm integrating all the parts of me - jock, musician, writer, poet, philosopher - and becoming stronger as a result.

I didn't have high self-esteem when I was a teen-ager, as I think most teen-agers don't.

I found that the more truthful and vulnerable I was, the more empowering it was for me.

The more vulnerable and the more confused the song is, the equal and opposite effect is how I feel after having written it.

If I could sell 500 million records every time, it would be great. But I've also had the luxury experience of having it when I was a teenager, in a very kind of model version of it.

In the past, I had workaholic issues.

Over the last couple of years, I've really worked toward balancing my life out more, having a little bit more time with friends, family and my boyfriend. There was a period of time when they were way down the list. It was all about music and touring and if everything fell by the wayside, so be it.

Unless I really loved it and felt really passionate about it, I would just kind of abort the song and start a new one.

I grew up in a very masculine environment. So I was around a lot of men, my brothers and their friends. There was just a lot of guys around.

I started playing piano when I was 6. And I knew that wanted to be involved in that form of expression, whether it was through music, or acting, or dancing, or painting, or writing.

I'll be writing songs till I die. There's just no question.

We're taught to be ashamed of confusion, anger, fear and sadness, and to me they're of equal value to happiness, excitement and inspiration.

Peace of mind for five minutes, that's what I crave.

The whole celebrity thing is not something I'm overly interested in. I don't pop up at parties. It's just not my thing.

Music will always be a part of my life. I love music and I don't care how many units I sell.

I think some people think I'm a smarty-pants. Some people think I'm intense, some people think I'm super-esoteric and nuts.

I was always such a people-watcher. I would sit on street corners alone and watch people and make up stories about them in my head. Then, all of a sudden, I was the one being watched.

I didn't want to be one of those women who wake up at 63 years old and realize they've missed the window of opportunity for marriage and children.

America's a very traumatized society.

Beauty is now defined by your bones sticking out of your decolletage. For that to be the standard is really perilous for women.

Europe seems a little softer, but in America it's harsh. In L.A., where I live, it's all about perfectionism.

The ego is a fascinating monster.

I was taught from a young age that I had to serve, so that turned into me thinking I had to save the planet.

I get angry at myself for staying in relationships way too long.

I live with some of my best friends from high school, very commune-like, in my house. It's my hippie way of life.

My brother says that I was writing songs about fate while he was off playing soccer. Now I tell him he's 33 and being a professional while I'm playing soccer with my friends. Ha!

I think it's child abuse to have someone in the public eye too young. Society basically values wealth and fame and power at the cost of well-being. In the case of a child, it's at the cost of someone's natural development. It's already hard enough to develop.

Courage and willingness to just go for it, whether it is a conversation or a spontaneous trip or trying new things that are scary - it is a really attractive quality.

The people that were invested in me staying the same way after a decade will most likely by default have to be disappointed.

There were a lot of people who were a little afraid of the rage or blaming stance I was taking, and find what I am doing now more refreshing.

My greatest environments in which I can grow, or grow up, is in personal romantic relationships with a man.

I thought the more famous I became, the more friendships I would have, but the opposite was true.

Long hair is a security blanket for me. I cut it short a few years ago and I really never want to do that again. When I do cut it, I cut it myself.

My three addictions of choice are food, love and work.

Infidelity is a deal breaker for me. I've broken up with people over it. You can't do monogamy 90 percent of the time.

My own approach has always been to push intense emotions down and attempt to deal with them later.

When I was younger, I was terrified to express anger because it would often kick-start a horrible reaction in the men in my life. So I bit my tongue. I was left to painstakingly deal with the aftermath of my avoidance later in life, in therapy or through the lyrics of my songs.

I was left to painstakingly deal with the aftermath of my avoidance later in life, in therapy or through the lyrics of my songs.

I've been doing a lot of different cross-training and kickboxing and Capoeira and kite surfing, and I've just really been back to what I consider my original athletic self.

I think there is no better way to invite a human being to view their body differently than by inviting them to be an athlete, by revering one's body as an instrument rather than just an ornament.

I'm about 90 percent vegan. I think veganism is really well suited for training, at least for me anyway.

There's cleanliness to how I eat now. I'm much more in tune with my body, so now that I'm so in tune based on having become a semivegan, I can tell what foods affect energy levels. I can tell when I've been eating particularly high nutrient foods or I can tell when my glycemic levels are all over the place.

Getting married and starting a family has been a lifelong goal and one that I have persevered through different paths up to it!

I'm excited about there being more of a sisterhood these days. Back in the '90s there was a lot of hate - the women I looked up to as artists were dissing me! It's not so patriarchal these days - there's more love and a lot less hate!

I can't not write, if I don't then I get really depressed.

I'll be writing records until I'm dead, whether people like it or not!

Fame is hollow. It amplifies what is there. If there is any self-doubt, or hatred, or lack of ability to connect with people, fame will magnify it.

My parents offered me the idea of ceilinglessness. There was no limit in terms of what was possible; no messages sent to me to say that I couldn't do anything.