TORONTO — Jennifer Hudson is doing a lot of shopping these days.
The Oscar and Grammy winner has slimmed down considerably and, even as she continuously restocks her wardrobe, she keeps finding her clothes a bit too loose.
“Every week I’m buying new clothes,” a laughing Hudson told The Canadian Press over the telephone from New York.
“It’s like a race to hurry up and wear what I bought last week, because it’s going to be too big next week. So it’s like, OK, all right, I still got time for this outfit. Let me wear it before next week comes.”
Hudson has signed on to become the new rep for Weight Watchers. The ads will start rolling out on Sunday.
While Hudson won’t reveal exactly how much weight she’s lost — “A diva never tells,” she says with a laugh, before adding: “I definitely reached a new milestone” — she has looked considerably slimmer during recent public appearances.
The former American Idol contestant has always professed to being defiantly proud of her curves, and she says that the decision to shed a few pounds had nothing to do with any negative feelings about her figure.
“Oh no, not at all,” said the Chicago native. “I was comfortable and happy where I was. And I’m comfortable and happy where I am now, just the same. I guess that’s just a personal thing, to be happy with who you are.”
The August birth of her first child, David Daniel Otunga Jr., is largely what spurred Hudson on to try to lose weight, she said.
“That was a huge part of my motivation,” she said. “That encouraged me to want to do this. I want to be an example for my son, in his upbringing.
“A lot of times growing up, we get taught the wrong habits. And I just want to set a good example for him.”
She says she started out by walking more — when she first had the baby, she could only get out for about 30 minutes, she said. She built that up to an hour of cardio every day.
Meanwhile, she says she became more conscious of her eating habits and food choices — but, she stresses, she hasn’t been on a diet (she prefers to call it a “lifestyle”) and she can still eat what she wants, “but in moderation.”
Now, she says, she feels great.
“I just feel like I have control,” she said. “Anybody feels better when they feel they have control over themselves and their life.”
Next up, Hudson is slated to play Winnie Mandela in a movie due to begin shooting next month.
On the Net: http://www.jenniferhudson.com