Kathy Ireland’s Shocking Weight Gain (and Loss)

As a top model, Kathy Ireland is used to seeing pictures of herself that have been retouched to hide her flaws. But when the former Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue cover girl saw a photo taken by her son as she baked cookies at the family’s Santa Barbara house recently, the raw image took her breath away.

“He said ‘Mom, you look pregnant. I didn’t recognize the person I saw. I saw someone who looked overwhelmed, overstressed, overweight, over-everything.”

In her latest book, Real Solutions for Busy Moms. Ireland talks about how mothers tend to put everybody else’s needs before their own. Case in point: she had put on 25 lbs. without even really realizing it.

“I was not making enough time to take care of me,” says Ireland, 46, a mother of three kids ranging in age from 6 to 14 and CEO of Kathy Ireland World Wide, a $1.4 billion design empire. She also runs a mentoring program for single teen mothers.

To get back on track, Ireland enlisted the help of a friend, who happens to be a personal trainer and nutritionist. Thanks to healthier food choices, including cutting down on snacking and desserts, plus three exercise sessions a week, Ireland says she’s almost back to where she feels her best.

Does that mean she wants to get back into a bikini?