Blake Lively on her post-baby diet: 'It wasn't the worst'

LOS ANGELES, Aug. 17 (UPI) -- Blake Lively says her post-baby diet was difficult but manageable.

The 28-year-old actress revealed on Tueday's episode of the Kyle and Jackie O Show that she cut out processed foods to get in shape for The Shallows after welcoming daughter James just eight months before filming.

"I did no gluten and no soy," Lively shared. "Which seems like, 'Oh, that's really easy to cut that out,' but you realize there's soy in everything ... Once you remove soy, you realize you're eating no processed foods. So that's basically what I did."

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

Much was made of Lively's slim appearance in The Shallows, but the actress herself doesn't buy into the hype. She recently commented on the pressure new moms feel to lose weight during an interview with Sunrise.

"It's so unfair, though, because it's so celebrated: 'This is what someone can look like after having a baby,'" the star said of praise for her looks. "And I think a woman's body after having a baby is pretty amazing."

"You don't need to be Victoria's Secret ready right away because you just did the most incredible miracle that life has to offer. I mean, you gave birth to a human being. I'd really like to see that celebrated," she added.

Lively is currently pregnant and expecting her second child with husband Ryan Reynolds. She will next star in the thriller All I See is You with Jason Clarke and Yvonne Strahovski.