Jessica Simpson is sharing more about her latest weight loss journey.
The 41-year-old talked about losing 100 pounds for the third time during an appearance on The Real, after posting a photo of herself in a bikini to Instagram earlier this month. When asked about how she went about dropping the pounds, Simpson said “determined patience” was her method.
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“Well, it took three years,” she said. “I believe in setting small goals for yourself because in my life and how I’ve done it, there’s easy ways to throw in the towel and just feel like it’s impossible. So, the small goals for me are what helped me achieve the main goal.”
Simpson went on to explain that while wearing a bikini wasn’t her main goal, feeling good in a two-piece suit while on vacation felt like a moment to celebrate.
“I got super emotional, and I was like, ‘I did this, it happened,'” she said. “So, it was just in the moment and I wanted to share it with everyone because I was very proud of myself for doing what, at times, felt completely impossible.”
The singer, actress and entrepreneur noted that she’s hit that milestone weight loss three times, following the births of each of her three children.
“I definitely gain weight, a lot of weight, in my pregnancies. I celebrate pregnancy, but this last pregnancy was really hard for me,” she said of her youngest daughter who is three years old. “I don’t know if it was because I was older, hormones and all kinds of stuff, but whoa, Birdie gave me a brutal stretch.”
Despite Simpson’s joy for her own accomplishment, the mother-of-three continues to receive negative comments about her body as she has throughout much of her career.
“I have to know that I didn’t post that for those people,” she said of dealing with critics. “I posted it for the people that are on their journey and that haven’t given up and that want to give up but need that extra push.”
And while she’s determined a way to best deal with body shaming and trolls, Simpson also offered advice for others struggling with body image issues.
“I think that if everybody gets to know themselves, they’ll like themselves more instead of aspiring for perfection to look like somebody else. But if we praise our unique features and qualities, like I’ve never fixed my nose or never got braces for my buck teeth. I like those — what to some people are flaws and they filter,” she said.
She also noted the unique challenge of talking to her children about beauty standards and the filters on social media that contribute to them.
“I tried to do an Instagram filter the other day and I was like, ‘Oh my gosh’ because you can choose different makeup and I’ve never done all that stuff but my daughter does it. And I’m like, oh gosh there’s gotta be a healthy balance here because she’s seeing herself so grown up in all this makeup and so different. How do I tell her that that’s just for fun? That doesn’t make you look better than you are, it makes you look like, just different. The whole makeup filler, all that stuff, I look crazy,” she said. “Well, I don’t look crazy. I just look like every person in Beverly Hills.”
Simpson makes an effort to cater to all bodies with her brand as well, explaining that size inclusivity was important to her especially as her weight fluctuated so much during her pregnancies.
“To be able to own it and to be in my shoes with my brand and know that I can walk people around with confidence is just the most gratifying thing in the world,” she said. “I had to do size-inclusive because I was every size and I deserved to be able to wear a crop top at any size, so I was like, we need to make this for everyone. There’s no leaving anybody out.”
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