Carrie Underwood got very candid in a new interview with Women's Health about her past dieting habits and how they affected her.
The country star, who is on the magazine's new cover, has been a vegetarian for a long time and vowed to stop eating beef at 13 years old after seeing the calves on the cattle farm she grew up on get neutered. Carrie is also very into physical fitness, but what propelled her to really think about nutrition and exercise in the first place was reading messages on online message boards after winning American Idol in 2005 — one message even said, "Carrie's getting fat."
Carrie explained, "I shouldn’t care what other people think about me," adding, "I was tired, and I kept buying bigger clothes." And after realizing her diet 15 years ago (which included quesadillas and pasta) wasn't helping her feel her best, she recalled, "I knew I could be better for myself, and I let my haters be my motivators."
After American Idol, Underwood remembered going on tour, and that's when she began paying close attention to food labels and counting calories, and some days, she "consumed as few as 800 calories."
And after her first CMA Awards that same year, Carrie was finding it difficult to stick to her extreme diet and exercise habits. She said, "I would 'fall off the wagon,' then feel terrible and repeat the cycle." She added, "Your body is screaming out, I need more calories, I need more carbs!"
Now, Carrie has a much better idea of the nutrition and exercise that works for her — and yes, carbs are a part of it (45% carbs, in fact)! Her current diet allows her to have the "occasional slice of cake." Though she does still count calories. She explained, "I love rules. This is how I feel good about myself, and this is how I operate."
Underwood just released her book, Find Your Path: Honor Your Body, Fuel Your Soul, and Get Strong with the Fit52 Life. Fit52Life is Carrie's new mobiles fitness app.
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