{blackbabes} Jordin Sparks debuts 'awesome' 50-pound weight loss

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Jordin Sparks has debuted a new slimmer version of herself, but she promises that the goal wasn't to become Hollywood thin.

"I had gotten really sick," she tells "Today" of her 50 pound weight loss over the past year and a half. "I was about to celebrate my birthday and I was like, 'I should be in the prime of my life right now. I shouldn't be feeling like this. I really need to make my health a priority.' And that's what I did."

After that decision, "American Idol" winner Sparks, who is six feet tall, focused on becoming more active. She is now comfortably between 155 and 161 pounds, and she's not looking to get thinner, either.

"I think not succumbing to the pressure is harder than actually giving into it," Sparks says. "I was comfortable with how I looked. But, a lot of it has been really focusing on becoming healthier. And the plus side was that my body changed, which was awesome. It wasn't about being a zero or a certain size or anything like that."

She continues, "I know that there are some women who struggle to even look themselves in the mirror. And I hope that those women who are struggling can watch this and go, 'You know what? I'm OK with who I am. And I'm beautiful in my own way.'"

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