So that's her secret! Jennifer Lopez has been looking smokin' hot lately—exhibit A: the Billboard Music Awards—and on Wednesday, May 21, she revealed why. Chatting with Ryan Seacrest for his KIIS FM radio show before the American Idol finale, the 44-year-old "First Love" singer said she'd tried the now-famous 22-day vegan challenge, which fellow superstars Beyonce and Jay Z did in December.
"I did the vegan 22-day plan, and it was really good and I kept on with it for a few more weeks, and now I've incorporated a little bit of fish here and there," she explained. "But I've got to tell you, I enjoy it. I enjoy eating that way. I never did [before]. And I didn't know how good you can feel when you put healthy stuff in your body."
The 22-day cleanse is a concept from exercise physiologist Marco Borges, who founded 22 Days Nutrition, a vegan, organic, and gluten-free food and lifestyle company. Borges is friends with Jay Z and suggested to the rapper last year that he and wife Beyonce try out veganism for a few weeks.
"Psychologists have said it takes 21 days to make or break a habit. On the 22nd day, you've found the way," Jay Z wrote on his website in an announcement about the endeavor before the 2013 holiday season. He went on to detail his plans, adding, "You can call it a spiritual and physical cleanse."
Over the following weeks, Bey and Jay hit up various vegan restaurants, Instagramming pictures of their food along the way. They celebrated the end of the challenge with a seafood feast at Miami's Seasalt & Pepper restaurant.
Lopez, for her part, has never been one to "overindulge," as she told Glamour U.K. earlier this year, but thanks to the vegan challenge, she's looking better than ever.
She's feeling better than ever, too. During her chat with Seacrest on Wednesday, the American Idol judge opened up about finding her way after her 2011 divorce from Marc Anthony, with whom she shares twins Emme and Max, 6. "I really did come out a stronger person," said the multi-hyphenate, who has been dating dancer-choreographer Casper Smart since fall 2011. "That was a really transformative year."
