Rosie Huntington-Whiteley feels "so much more confident" since becoming a mother.
Rosie Huntington-Whiteley for Harper's Bazaar
The supermodel is mother to 22-month-old son Jack - whom she has with her partner Jason Statham - and has said giving birth has given her a new sense of confidence in her body image, as well as "connecting" her to other women.
She said: "Since becoming a mum, I've felt so much more confident within my own skin and much more confident about who I am. It's been life-changing.
"One of my favourite things about being a mum is how it connects me to other women. I think I would be doing a disservice not only to myself but also to them if I weren't open about my experience."
Rosie admits she "struggled" to shed her baby weight after giving birth, and says she spent a year in intense training and discipline in order to regain the figure she'd had before getting pregnant.
She added: "It was a struggle for me, if I can be really candid. I gained a lot of weight; a lot more than people around me expected. I do not regret it - but I had a long way to go once I was cradling the baby. It took a year of training and discipline. I'm not joking. It took a year to the month to lose every single pound. Even after that, it took several more months before I could go on a shoot and feel good."
But the blonde beauty says her struggle with the weight loss helped give her a different "perception" of her body image, as she's now more comfortable in her own skin and able to accept her "imperfections".
Speaking to the June issue Harper's Bazaar UK - which hits newsstands on Thursday (02.05.19) - she said: "Now my perception of what I thought of as feeling great and looking great has shifted. I'm stronger, both physically and mentally. I feel, probably for the first time, that I'm a woman rather than a girl. It's been a really great shift to see myself in the mirror and to be OK with the imperfections."
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