‘I’m Proud of My Body’ – Billboard

Hilary Duff is glowing on the cover of the Women’s Health May issue, and while she posed fully nude for the shoot, the “With Love” singer shed light on the outer — and, most importantly, inner — work it took to gain her confidence.

“Because of my career path, I can’t help but be like, ‘I am on camera and actresses are skinny,’” she told the publication, adding that she battled a yearlong eating disorder at the age of 17. “It was horrifying.”

“I’m proud of my body. I’m proud that it’s produced three children for me,” she added. “I’ve gotten to a place of being peaceful with the changes my body has gone through. I also want people to know a makeup artist was there putting glow all over my body and someone put me in the most flattering position.”

Duff shared that after giving birth to her three-year-old daughter Banks, she became more loving of her body. She has three children in total, 10-year-old Lucas whom she shares with ex-husband Mike Comrie, and one-year-old Mae, whom, along with Banks, she shares with her current husband, producer and singer-songwriter Matthew Koma. “I didn’t even know if I was going to have the opportunity to have another child [after her 2016 divorce]. So, being a mom again, maybe,” she said. “It was a whole mix of things—of being settled and realizing that I’m powerful and talented and smart. All mental things.”

While Duff worked with a trainer to get in shape for her Women’s Health shoot, the How I Met Your Father star also stressed the important of therapy and mental fitness in her life.

She’s also hard at work on another goal: committing to the vital role therapy plays in her life. “We bust our a– to get our bodies in shape and to look the best we can,” she explained. “We get facials and Botox and our hair done and highlights and brows and lash lifts and all this s—. But I want to work on the inside. That’s the most important part of the system.”

While Duff is currently working on projects like How I Met Your Father, she has a long, beloved history in music. She has two Billboard 200 chart-topping albums, 2003’s Metamorphosis and 2005’s Most Wanted. She has three others that hit the top 10, including her 2004 self titled album, 2007’s Dignity and her most recent album, 2015’s Breathe In. Breathe Out.

Read the full Women’s Health story here, and check out more photos from the cover shoot below.