Hilary Duff: ‘The older I get the more confident I get in my own skin’

Hilary Duff posed in the buff for the cover of Women’s Health. She looks amazing. They’ve done a natural look, so she just looks toned and sun-kissed and my gawd does it work on her. But the point of Hilary’s interview is not just how amazing her workouts are, it’s about having the confidence to show herself in this light and what it took to get there. I admit, I was ready to write it off as “it takes that body, c’mon!” But I found much of what Hilary said not only insightful, but very close to things I’ve been trying to retrain my myself into thinking. I came away from her interview feeling really good about my path and happy for all the work Hilary has done to make herself so confident in her own skin. The quotes below are from both her written interview and the video embedded in the article.

Deciding to go nude for this shoot: I’m proud of my body. I’m proud that it’s produced three children for me. I’ve gotten to a place of being peaceful with the changes my body has gone through. I also want people to know a makeup artist was there putting glow all over my body and someone put me in the most flattering position

What she loves most about her body: I think that at 34, I have just gained a lot of respect for my body. It’s taken me all the places I need to go, it’s helped me build a beautiful family. I feel like the older I get, the more confident I get in my own skin and my body’s been many different shapes and sizes. And I’m really just fascinated by one, being a woman and two, all the changes your body can go through throughout a lifetime.

Her approach to mental health: I do feel lucky in the mental health department where I haven’t had huge hurdles to get over, but just like everyone else, I have my issues, my insecurities, pain. Therapy helps me a lot. I try to do a Zoom through this pandemic, with my therapist at least twice a month, sometimes more, if I need it, but I think just talking and having the right people around you that can truly listen when you need them to, taking space for yourself. I’ve tried to stop thinking of working out as space for myself, even though I know it’s great for my mind. That’s also something I have to do just to keep healthy for my kids and to feel good about my job but that’s not really the space to deal with your thoughts and figure out issues that you’re dealing with.

On the importance of therapy: We bust our ass to get our bodies in shape and to look the best we can. We get facials and Botox and our hair done and highlights and brows and lash lifts and all this shit. But I want to work on the inside. That’s the most important part of the system.

[From Women’s Health]

The two things I focused on in what Hilary said about her body were talking about the body supporting her and working out. I love her comment that her body has, “taken me all the places I need to go.” We don’t really give them the credit for that. I realized recently how much abuse I’ve made my poor body endure in the past with the bulimia and other disordered eating, the smoking and the insomnia from stress due to issues I’m not resolving. And it healed itself and kept me afloat. So I’m trying my best to make it up to my body now. I felt Hilary’s thoughts on how she’s, “tried to stop thinking of working out as space for myself, even though I know it’s great for my mind,” were important. So many people frame workouts as ‘me time.’ And that may be true for some. But some of us need to work out for health reasons, not mental health. Like Hilary said, she needs to be healthy for her kids and her job, so she can’t skip her workout because she had a great day. I need to focus on that too. I can’t just do my walks when I have to clear my mind, my walks need to be on my morning to-do list regardless of my mood.

Hilary spoke a lot about mental health in the interview. She spoke of making it available to her son, just as an option, if he ever felt like he couldn’t talk to her or his dad. What she’s doing by casually bringing it up is normalizing the discussion and that’s great. When she talks about not having “any major hurdles,” I think she means she hasn’t been diagnosed with a disorder, not that she hasn’t had pain or trauma to deal with. I like her equation of everything a person will go through to keep their face – but where’s the effort for maintaining a clear mind? I’ve just started my work on my mind, body and soul replenishment but reading Hilary’s interview made me feel like I’d made some good decisions.

Photo credit: Instagram and InStar Images

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7 Responses to “Hilary Duff: ‘The older I get the more confident I get in my own skin’”

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  1. K says:

    Her face is stunning and photographs like a dream. One of the best covers this year.

  2. Selene says:

    She influenced and informed so much of my childhood; one of my absolute favorites! To see her all grown up, healthy and sane brings so much joy to my heart. I like that she keeps a healthy boundary between her career and being herself, most importantly. I’ve always wanted to know how did she cope with the overwhelming pressure of being a millennial role model.

  3. Jo says:

    I do appreciate the awareness of what the body does. Our organs work to keep us alive and we fill them with sugar and alcohol. We stress, don’t sleep properly and that’s utterly disrespectful for this magical machine that is not only our body but also our spirit.
    However I’d like to point out that this new trend of celebs talking about therapy is not transmissible to a lot of people. I, for one, cannot afford it at the moment. When my kids had serious issues they had to do counseling at school or through charities (I am in the UK).
    So, yay, therapy. But at £80 / week it is really not for everyone nor everyone’s kids.

    • IForget says:

      I’m in the UK as well, and I’ve waited anywhere from 4-15 months for therapy (which is incredibly short time for the NHS! though these were both pre-pandemic). Since I’ve had 2 rounds, and I’m on medication, they see me as a low priority and that maybe therapy hasn’t worked, so I’m just not a priority. This is untrue and damaging, and would love to afford private but it’s incredibly expensive as you’ve pointed out. I do love that we’re working through the stigma though!

  4. Lolo86lf says:

    To me Hillary Duff will be always be Lizzie McGuire. I remember my nieces dancing to the soundtracks at the theater when the movie came out. Hillary is a perfect example of how a woman should age (granted she is not even middle aged yet.) I just love her.

  5. Lucía says:

    These are such beautiful pictures. I like what she says, too.

  6. raynaS says:

    Food choices, supportive connections with other humans, and other lifestyle issues are the true heart of looking and feeling good in my experience. Though getting really good skin care products that work to nourish and protect and not just cover blemishes is key. Sooo thankful I found this incredible face serum at gypsyroot,com. She makes everything by hand w/ natural ingredients and talks alot about lifestyle stuff.