Beyoncé has opened up about her struggle to lose weight after her first pregnancy.
The 31-year-old has revealed she gained 57 pounds while carrying her daughter Blue Ivy, who was born in January last year.
She also said she regrets putting herself under pressure to get back in shape so quickly after the birth.
‘I didn’t have a lot of time to lose the weight because I scheduled a show three months after I gave birth, which I would never do again!’ she tells America’s Shape magazine .
In a behind-the-scenes glimpse at the interview, Beyonce adds: ‘I’m not a person that is naturally very thin. I am a person that has to work at keeping my body in shape.’
But she insists women should embrace their differences and focus on health rather than the scales.
‘Not everyone is supposed to be the same. Be healthy and take care of yourself, but be happy with the beautiful things that make you, you,’ she says.
Beyonce was able to shed the excess weight doing a lot of dance workouts.
She revealed to the magazine that 80 percent of her post-baby weight loss was due to cutting back on food.
‘I ate a very low-calorie diet. I stayed away from red meat and ate a lot of fish, replaced pasta and rice with quinoa,’ Beyonce said.
Beyonce poses in a color-block Karla Colletto bikini for the cover, and wears a bright yellow short-cropped top and floral shorts in an inside picture.
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