Curvy star talks body confidence and beauty

Jul 3, 2010 14:31 GMT  ·  By
“I gained 15 pounds. And I felt gorgeous!” Christina Hendricks says of what it’s like not to be stick-thin
   “I gained 15 pounds. And I felt gorgeous!” Christina Hendricks says of what it’s like not to be stick-thin

Christina Hendricks of “Mad Men” is undeniably on the curvy side – which is to say she’s not stick-thin like many other female stars out there. On the contrary, she looks like a regular woman on the street might look, which has made her into this sort of idol for all Jane Does out there, a responsibility she handles quite wonderfully. Her secret is that she not only believes beauty comes from inside, she also lives by it, as she reveals for Health magazine.

The star has often said that she does nothing in particular to look this gorgeous, which also means she doesn’t lose sleep over what haters say or lend an ear to those suggesting she should go on a diet to lose a couple of pounds. Instead, Christina chooses to lead a healthy life by eating right and working out whenever she gets the chance. The focus, though, is not on losing weight but maintaining the figure she has – and of which she’s most proud.

“I guess my mom raised me right,” Christina tells Health of how body confident she is. “She was very celebratory of her body. I never heard her once say, ‘I feel fat.’ Back when I was modeling, the first time I went to Italy I was having cappuccinos every day, and I gained 15 pounds. And I felt gorgeous! I would take my clothes off in front of the mirror and be like, Oh, I look like a woman. And I felt beautiful, and I never tried to lose it, ’cause I loved it. [Laughs.]” the actress adds. Useless to say, her comments are already being applauded on countless online communities because she is one of the few to try and send the right message: health and happiness come first.

“It’s like Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution – real, good foods. It’s OK if I have avocado and olive oil and all these delicious things, you know? I don’t feel guilty about that,” Christina explains of what she means by healthy eating. Her only regret is that she didn’t discover this lifestyle earlier. “My parents didn’t exercise, so it was not something I saw was good for you or fun. I wish I had grown up knowing to do that. And my mother – she’ll admit it – hated vegetables, so when we had them, they were always canned or cooked within an inch of their lives,” she explains.

Christina, the woman who literally brought curves into the spotlight again (as far as celebrities are concerned), reveals in the same interview that she also works out in the gym whenever she has the time. The only problem she has, though, is that she tends to become bored pretty quickly, which means she always has to come up with new exercises to try to avoid slipping into a routine that’s no longer fun for her. For the full Health interview, please refer here.