Hilary Duff reflects on how her body has changed since having 3 kids: 'I do feel way more myself'

Hilary Duff is nothing but proud of how her body has evolved since having three children, and now she’s normalizing that conversation with her kids.

The 35-year-old actress went on The Mother Daze podcast to discuss her journey with motherhood over the last decade. "I can’t believe I’ve been a mom for that many years," she said, noting that her oldest son is 10. And although her life has seen many changes during that period of time, she spoke about the way that her body has changed and how she's chosen to talk about it, specifically when her 4-year-old daughter Banks brought it to her attention.

"We were like watching TV or something and she was like, 'Your belly is so nice and soft.' And I was like, 'Yeah,'" Duff recalled. "And she’s like, ‘Why is it like that?’ I’m like, ‘Well, because of you.’ And then I remember that I like saw something online that was like, ‘Never tell your kids that this is because of them,' or whatever. And I actually don’t really agree with that."

Duff acknowledged that the conversation didn't happen in an accusatory way, but instead felt like a good exchange to have with her daughter. "Normalizing the reason why it does look that way or you’ve changed," she said. "It’s gonna also happen to our girls."

Most importantly, she expressed that the changes in her body aren't something that she's ashamed of.

"I do feel so much happier in this body that’s not perfect. I do feel way more myself," she continued. "It’s just age. Just every year you tack on you’re a little bit more like, I’m more me. I’m becoming more me."

She also noted that she's not worried about aging, but instead excited to get older.

"I actually can’t wait to turn 40. All my friends are 40," she said. "It does seem scary because back in the day I used to like look at pictures of my parents and I’m like, ‘Wow they looked so old.’ They didn’t … but 40 seemed so ancient."

Now that she's nearly "arriving" at the age herself, she's gained new perspective.

"I think the year 40 brings luck too. And especially for actresses. Like it is cool, I don’t know if it was always like that. Something my husband always brings up he’s like, 'You’re gonna win your awards in your 40s,'" Duff said. "I don’t know, I could be doing something I couldn’t imagine doing at 30 at 40 and like as an actress or just being in this industry, women have opportunities for so long it seems."

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