Jordin Sparks Shows Off 50lb Weight Loss on Shape Cover

When Jordin Sparks was competing on American Idol, the young woman, who was a teen at the time, faced a lot of criticism over her plus-sized frame.  She went on to win the competition and repeatedly defended her body, saying that she was comfortable with who she was and how she looked.

A few years later, the 22-year-old has chosen to drop 50 pounds and is showcasing her new, slim physique on the cover of Shape magazine. 

She explained her reasons for losing weight saying: "I just wanted to be healthy.  It was just before my 21st birthday. I had walking pneumonia, couldn't breathe and felt totally fatigued. I remember thinking, 'I'm in my prime. I should be happy and fit.' That was the moment I decided that changes needed to be made.”

Still, she knew it wasn’t going to be an easy fix.  "I knew I had a long road ahead of me," she revealed. "I was barely working out, and my diet was a mess. I had to address when, what, and how much I was eating."

It took her a year and a half of hiking, Zumba and portion control but she’s lost the weight and seems really happy about it.  She said: "For me to even be talking about bikini confidence is crazy. If you had asked me a couple of months ago, I probably would have been like, 'What are you talking about?' So it's actually huge for me to even feel OK with putting a bikini on."

She looks amazing!