Jessica Simpson is looking seriously amazing — but behind closed doors, the 41-year-old has struggled amid her 100 Lb. weight loss. “I think it’s about setting small goals for yourself, and then eventually, the impossible is possible,” Jessica told Us Weekly in a new interview published on Friday, April 15 — just days after she took her Los Cabos vacation where she sported a pink bikini from her own clothing brand.
“I was so proud of myself and I was proud of the resilience no matter what people say. … I think that the positive comments about [my weight loss journey] are what I hold onto and it’s the reason why I posted [the Instagram photo] — for that one person to go in and feel better about themselves and to work really hard,” she said. “‘Cause when you work really hard to look and feel the way that you do in a very happy moment, especially with your children, it is very empowering and it made me so emotional,” Jessica added of the post, where she also detailed that she’s gained and lost 100 Lbs.
The mom-of-three has seen her body change and evolve over the years, particularly through her pregnancies — but says ultimately, her journey with weight has been about “empowerment” and “self-love.” She added, “I don’t really look at it as, like, a weight loss journey. I think it’s a journey of empowerment and self-love and acceptance….It’s one of those things [where] it’s, like, we all want what we can’t have. We all want the body type that we aren’t [and] that we can’t change. So it’s about accepting and loving ourselves for who we are.”
“For me, I have done that at every size [and] I just feel every woman should be celebrated,” she also said. Jessica, who shares kids Maxwell, 9, Ace, 8, and Birdie, 3, with husband Eric Johnson, also shared she had “no idea” she was going to rock that particular bikini on her recent family vacation.
“I had no idea I was gonna put on a bikini. So, that was just, like, in the moment. I brought a couple of bikinis, but I had one-pieces [as well]. That was my trip,” she said to the magazine. “I put on the bikini [and] I was like, ‘Oh, my gosh, I can wear a bikini. This happened.’” The April 7 post quickly went viral on the ‘gram, with plenty leaving supportive messages for the Open Book author.
“I was really proud. So I was like, ‘Here I go, I’m doing it.’ … My babies are worth the weight gain. I’m just the type of person that gains a lot of weight [while] pregnant, but I’ve struggled [with it] my whole life, like, because of what, to me, was perfect or what I didn’t have,” Jessica declared. “I really feel [that once] people started [to] embrace me at a bigger size, it made me very confident. It made me feel like everybody deserves to be praised at every size.”