Jennifer Lopez: I Was Told to Make 'All These Changes' to My Body Early in My Career

Jennifer Lopez has revealed that she was pushed to lose her famous curves, Us Weekly reported Tuesday.

Lopez graces the cover of Cosmopolitan for Latinas for its winter issue. The 44-year-old singer and actress has been applauded for her curves throughout the course of her career. However, she struggled to maintain her famous figure over the years.

"Early on, my family really made me love who I was and what I looked like. My body was nothing out of the ordinary in my neighborhood," Lopez said. "When I first started on television [as a Fly Girl on In Living Color], people, and even my own manager at the time, would tell me I had to make all of these changes."

Nonetheless, Lopez would not yield to the demands that she alter her shape. She continued to embrace her physique.

"But you have to stand up and say, 'There's nothing wrong with me or my shape or who I am, you're the one with the problem!'" she said. "And when you can really believe that, all of a sudden other people start believing too." 

Lopez said that particular philosophy has served her well. She tapped into it in her starring role for Selena.

"One day somebody told me I had to perform in front of 35,000 people on the set of Selena. I didn't know how to do it. I just said to myself: Don't think about it. You can do this and you'll be great," she said. "I walked out onto that stage. And then I did. I've been following that rule ever since."