Hilary Duff Talks Pressure to be Thin: 'I Weighed 98 Pounds'

Hilary Duff is the cover girl of Health magazine's December 2014 issue, and she isn't shying away from talking about the weight struggles she went through as a young actress in Hollywood.

In the interview, Hilary opens up about the pressures of Hollywood and our society’s obsession with thinness. Referencing the first time she was photographed after delivering her son, Luca, she says: "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--- 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.”

She talks about how she managed to lose the baby weight in a healthy manner, by committing to an intense workout that incorporated boxing over the course of two or three weeks — twice a day.

She then goes on to talk about what she regrets most about being a teen and the serious effect the pressure of the Hollywood skinny standard had on her: "Oh my God, everyone was so hard on me because it took me a year and a half to get my body back! 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."

She goes on to mention that although she was thin, that does not necessarily equate to being healthy: "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.”

Luckily, Hilary has learned to embrace her body as it is, as best she can: "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.” Well, except for those extra few pounds: "But I feel like I'm always in a 5-pound battle, because being 5 feet 2, everything is going to show on me!"

Hilary Duff Opens Up About the Pressure to be Thin: ‘I Weighed 98 Pounds’