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Watch @carrieunderwood‘s full interview with @SavannahGuthrie and Carson Daly as she discusses her new book, family, body positivity and much more.
Underwood was subjected to body shaming after winning “American Idol” Season 4 in 2005. Criticism of her weight led Underwood to begin a strict diet where she only consumed 800 calories a day.
Underwood said it took her a “minute” to realize her diet was unhealthy.
“I had to start feeling not good, physically, before I was like, ‘Something’s not right here,” the star recalled. “It was a lack of knowledge; it was a lack of knowing how to take care of myself.”
“Kind of going too far the other direction led me to figure out what works, because I wasn’t feeling good. I wasn’t happy,” she said. “I knew it didn’t feel right, so it led me to do better.”
Underwood said in the April issue of Women’s Health that she was initially motivated to lose weight because of body shamers.
“I shouldn’t care what other people think about me,” she said. “I knew I could be better for myself, and I let my haters be my motivators.”
Underwood said she ended up falling into a cycle of restriction and binge eating during her extreme diet.
“I would ‘fall of the wagon,’ then feel terrible and repeat the cycle,” she shared. “your body is screaming out, I need more calories, I need more carbs!”
Underwood released “Find Your Path” on Tuesday. In the book, Underwood shares her philosophy about health and fitness, which involves doing one’s “absolute best” most of the time during the week, 52 weeks of the year.
