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Blake Lively on her post-baby body: 'There's a level of insecurity'

"You don't want be the person in magazines that they are saying, 'Ugh, look at her,'" the actress said.

By Annie Martin
Blake Lively at the New York premiere of "The Shallows" on June 21. The actress started filming the thriller just eight months after welcoming her first child. File Photo by John Angelillo/UPI
1 of 3 | Blake Lively at the New York premiere of "The Shallows" on June 21. The actress started filming the thriller just eight months after welcoming her first child. File Photo by John Angelillo/UPI | License Photo

LOS ANGELES, Aug. 24 (UPI) -- Blake Lively is getting real about her post-baby transformation for The Shallows.

The 28-year-old actress admitted in an interview with Australia's Herald Sun that "insecurity" and "vanity" inspired her to lose weight for the thriller just months after welcoming daughter James.

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"The struggle is that I am doing a movie in a bikini eight months after having a baby and there is a level of insecurity and vanity that comes with that," she shared. "You don't want to be the person in magazines that they are saying, 'Ugh, look at her' rather than 'Wow, look at her.'"

Lively, who appears in a two-piece swimsuit in the beginning of the movie, was widely lauded for her slim appearance in the film. The actress called the pressure on moms to lose weight "a shame," despite her meeting society's standards.

"There shouldn't be that negative 'ugh' after someone has a baby," she said. "You couldn't walk a Victoria's Secret runway, but it's beautiful in a completely different and incredible way and I do wish I had the bravery to go out there and represent women as they actually look."

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Lively previously called post-baby body standards "unfair" in an interview with Australia's Sunrise. She later revealed to the Kyle and Jackie O Show that she cut out processed foods to lose weight.

"I did no gluten and no soy," the star said. "Which seems like, 'Oh, that's really easy to cut that out,' but you realize there's soy in everything."

"I was still able to have sugar and all of those things," she said. "You just have a balance of protein, carbs and vegetables. It wasn't the worse. Like, I was eating rice and sushi. But no soy, no gluten and watch how hard that is."

The Shallows opened in June and earned $84 million at the box office. Lively, who is pregnant with her second child with husband Ryan Reynolds, will next appear in All You See is Me with Jason Clarke.

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