Joan Lunden, the former Good Morning America co-host, boldly decided not to wear a wig for her People cover story in which she talks about her battle with breast cancer and decision to shave her head.

Joan Lunden On Shaving Her Head

Lunden, 64, was diagnosed with triple negative breast cancer earlier this year and began chemotherapy and other treatments back in June, around the time she announced her cancer battle in an interview with breast cancer survivor Robin Roberts on GMA.

"Robin told me waiting for your hair to fall out is excruciating," Lunden, who co-hosted GMA from 1980 to 1997, told People. "So I didn't want to wait. You know it's going to happen one of these days and you are wondering how and when, so I just owned it.”

"I'm almost reluctant to say it because it sounds superficial," Lunden added. "But when you lose your hair, it just affects the way that you look at yourself in the mirror. You feel less feminine, pretty or desirable, and it's not an easy thing to go through."

As for appearing on the cover of People, putting her newly bald head on display, Lunden admitted that that presented another difficult decision. In the end, Lunden decided to cast vanity aside in the interest of helping others become more comfortable with the hair loss that's an inevitability of chemotherapy.

"I had to make this big decision about whether or not to do the cover with no hair. It certainly isn't the comfortable way to go, but I decided I was going to try and help others and show women that this isn't the end of the world," Lunden said. "You can go on – and that was hugely empowering."

Lunden, who has been a health advocate throughout her long career in the media, has been documenting her fight with breast cancer on her blog, JoanLunden.com.