Mariah Carey: Singer Talks About Weight Loss After Birth Of Her Twins [Photos: Before and After]

By Ankita Mehta | Apr 22, 2012 07:15 AM EDT

Mariah Carey took nearly a year to get back into shape after giving birth to twins. Rejoicing in the post-baby weight loss, she graced the cover of Shape magazine to flaunt her well-toned body.

Talking to Shape Magazine, the pop diva said that she understood and sympathized with women who have weighty issues and struggle to shed pounds, after she found herself in the same predicament since she became the mother of twins, Monroe and Moroccan.

"I put on 70 lbs. but if you look at me in pictures you'd think it was more like 9,000 lbs. I have a lot of empathy with people who have to lose a lot of weight."

The 42-year-old singer revealed that staying in shape after pregnancy was not easy. Posing in itsy bitsy white briefs, she shows off her flat belly and toned legs on the cover of Shape Magazine's May issue.

Carey told the magazine: "Pregnancy was probably the best and the hardest thing I'll ever go through. I know for a lot of women, it can be wonderful and relatively easy. But for me, it was like 'Okay, honey, do you have to do everything the hard way?'"

Carey's spokesperson Jenny Craig also said that it wasn't as easy to drop all that weight as she had hoped.

Carey revealed that before the birth of her twins, losing weight and shaping up meant more stress on the workout regime, but after the babies, she believes it's just the opposite. She said that since becoming a mother, she has to watch what she eats more than how long she works out.

"I used to be able to slim down just by exercising more, but that's changed. Since having the babies, I realize that 90 percent of losing weight is my diet."

"Today my workout routine is more about getting and staying toned. And for me, that means either taking hour-long walks a few times a week or jumping in the pool three o! r four d ays a week to do 45 minutes of aquatic exercises," she said.

While talking to the magazine, she also opened up about the mental stress she underwent to lose all that weight. "I've been there and I know what they are going through. I remember thinking at the time: 'I'll never look or feel the same again.'"

Also Read: http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/235811/20111022/mariah-carey-and-nick-cannon-s-reveals-first-look-of-their-adorable-twins-photos-monroe-and-moroccan.htm