Kelly Clarkson Shares How She Lost 18 Pounds In One Month

Young love will do a lot of things to a person. It can make you crazy in a way, but it can also bring out the best in you. For Kelly Clarkson, it brought out a healthier, more slender version of herself.

The 30-year-old Clarkson, who recently announced her engagement to talent manager Brandon Blackstock, shed a thirty pounds in 2012 and she opened up about it to Cosmopolitan for their February issue.

“I think that happens when you fall in love or date someone,” says the singer. “If I’m going to be messing around, I gotta look good.”

On how she dropped the weight she explains, “I was working with a trainer, and she said, ‘You’d be amazed the amount of weight you can drop by halving your portions. I know it sounds crazy, but do it for two weeks and watch what happens.’ I just cut back my portions, I stopped eating late at night, and I work out a little more than I used to, and I literally dropped 18 pounds in a month. I think it happens when you get really busy. But when I’m on my off-time — girl, those 18 might come back!”

Clarkson seems like she doesn’t let her weight define her and she doesn’t seem to be obsessed with the numbers, which I like. She says she’s “not willing” to do extreme diets in order to lose weight.

She takes a more rational approach to fitness saying that if you keep active, you’ll lose weight. Obviously.

“Brandon and I both have bikes on the back of the bus, and we both love the outdoors. Once your lifestyle becomes more active, obviously you drop weight,” she says.