Actress opens up about obsessive battle with food and weight

Actress Hilary Duff has opened up about the pressure she felt as a teen to stay thin, and her obsessive battle with her weight.

The former Disney star revealed she was "way too skinny" in the early days of her career.

"When I was 17, I weighed, like, 98 pounds," she admitted to Health magazine. "I was totally obsessed with everything I put in my mouth."

The actress also confessed that her strict diet eventually caused her health to suffer in different ways. "My body wasn't that healthy—my hands would cramp up a lot because I wasn't getting the nutrition I needed."

Hilary has dealt with her teenage body image struggles in previous interviews, saying she resorted to living on steamed veg and grilled chicken to stay thin enough for the cameras. 

The 27-year-old says she wishes she hadn't focused so much on her looks and weight, and had just been content with her body as it was. "That constant pressure of wanting something different than I had? I regret that," she admitted.

Despite her more positive outlook on weight and health these days, the Lizzie McGuire star says that she is still affected by media pressure, especially since becoming a mum to son Luca in 2012. "Everyone was so hard on me because it took me a year and a half to get my body back," she revealed. 

"The second I had Luca, I went to go get my hair blown out at the salon… Then they're like, 'Hilary Debuts Her Post-Baby Body!' I was like, I'm not debuting s**t right now. I'm just going on an errand run! There is way too much pressure on women these days."

Like many women, Hilary admitted she still struggles with those stubborn few pounds. "I feel like I'm always in a 5-pound battle, because being 5 feet 2, everything is going to show on me," she said.

Glad to hear we aren't the only ones with body woes sometimes – it's great to hear a celeb being honest for once!