Cameron Diaz hasn't only been taking a break from acting.
Last year, the actress admitted that the birth of her daughter Raddix and other reasons had her in no rush to get back to making movies.
Now, in an interview for her friend Gwyneth Paltrow’s Goop newsletter, Diaz says she hasn’t been exercising since last year either. But there was a more specific reason – an Achilles tendon injury.
"I'm still healing from an injured Achilles, so I've been away from working out for eight months," said Diaz. "I used to be really strong and really active, and I was made to sort of be still for a while."
A workout regimen was something she had been extremely committed to over the years, so it was difficult to stop and let her injury heal.
"And for anyone who's been trying to come back from something like that," she said, "it doesn't have to be an injury -- it can happen after giving birth or any process in life that stops you in your tracks -- going easy on yourself is the way through it. Being so strong most of my life, I was used to going hard and leaning into my strength, and I've had to do the opposite."
Related
In 2019 Diaz found she was already laying off other habits to focus more on mom things. And then when the injury happened, things had to slow down some more.
"I took so many steps in my mind before I ever took an actual step," said the "Charlie's Angels" star. "I did a lot of lying on my floor, being with my body to understand what it needed: Maybe my hips needed to twist or my back needed to arch. I didn’t force it into anything and just honored the fact that I had an injury. It wasn’t about jumping back into my usual workout."
Though it’s been tough, Diaz, who turns 50 in August, says she feels her strength ramping back up, as ET reported.
"It’s been a process of building myself back, and I feel like I’m stronger now than when I started," she said. "I’m looking forward to all the aspects of growth to come in my 50s. I’m working on building my muscle mass so I’ll have it as my hormones change."
Related
Further, Diaz spoke on the pressure to look a certain way because of Hollywood standards – and she plans to step away from those concerns too.
"But as women in our society," said the "There's Something About Mary" star, "we spend so much time under pressure to be highly sexualized, thinking we need to be desired sexually at all times. I’m here to say I’m moving past that: I don’t care! I want to be strong and healthy, to have the stretch and resilience in my body to be able to do the things I want to do."
LISTEN on the Audacy App
Sign up and follow Audacy
Facebook | Twitter | Instagram