As if we needed another reason to love Hilary Duff. The Younger actress appears on the cover Health magazine's December issue, and in the issue chats body image and the pressure on women these days to look perfect. She's a wise woman, and we all need to listen to her wisdom. Hilary Duff nails the topics of post-baby bodies and the stress women feel to be skinny. Seriously, Duff, you are the master and I am at your mercy.
I love someone who is candid and honest, and that is exactly who Duff is. She doesn't pretend to be someone she's not, especially when it comes to being a woman and talking about her weight. She even has health regrets, hers being, "Constantly worrying that my body is not good enough." She continued, "I work my butt off in the gym — and, yes, it's because I want to be fit, but it also puts me in a positive mind-set. If I don't have that for a week, I start to get more agitated and impatient; I get in a funk."
Even though she does exercise and wants to be healthy, Duff felt a lot of pressure after giving birth to her son, Luca, seeing as she works in a profession where being skinny is expected:
The second I had Luca, I went to go get my hair blown out at the salon, and I hadn't stepped outside in, like, 15 days. I was learning how to be a new mom, and I needed to go get my hair done. Then they're like, "Hilary Debuts Her Post-Baby Body!" I was like, I'm not debuting s--t right now. I'm just going on an errand run! There is way too much pressure on women these days. It took me a whole 10 months to build a baby.
Let's take this moment to bow down to Duff. Women are scrutinized way too much for their post-baby bodies, and they shouldn't be expected to look perfect once they pop out their child. Duff definitely felt everyone's eyes looking her up and down after being pregnant, and even reflects on a time when she weighed under 100 pounds. As she's gotten older, Duff has grown to realize what is healthy and what is not:
Oh my God, everyone was so hard on me because it took me a year and a half to get my body back! [after giving birth] When I was 17, I weighed, like, 98 pounds. I was totally obsessed with everything I put in my mouth. I was way too skinny. Not cute. And my body wasn't that healthy—my hands would cramp up a lot because I wasn't getting the nutrition I needed. That constant pressure of wanting something different than I had? I regret that. I feel like there was way too much time spent thinking about that. This is the body that I have. I have a very athletic build, and I am so proud of what my body has done for me. I had the best, healthiest, strongest pregnancy. And I feel good about myself. But I feel like I'm always in a 5-pound battle, because being 5 feet 2, everything is going to show on me!
What I admire so much about Duff is she's real. She deals with the everyday struggles we all do when it comes to our figures and appearances. Even though she's a movie and TV star, Duff isn't going to let that or the media influence her opinions or her body.
