Courtesy Nutrisystem
It’s officially beach body season for celebrities, and Melissa Joan Hart is ready to kick things off in a big way. The 37-year-old actress is revealing her 40 lb. weight loss in a jaw-dropping hot-pink bikini.
Hart, who gained 60 lbs. while pregnant with her third son, teamed up with Nutrisystem to help shed the weight after Tucker was born in Sept. 2012. She’s kept off 40 lbs. for a while now — even posing in a one-piece suit in February — but she now finally felt ready to rock a bikini for an upcoming ad. “It’s not every day I like to show a lot of skin,” she admits. “But these days I’m feeling confident.”
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The star’s weight loss journey has also motivated her loved ones to lose weight (including her sister-in-law Sally Wilkerson, who ultimately dropped 136 lbs.). And Hart is inspired in turn by her husband, musician Mark Wilkerson, who helps her reach her goals. “He is the guy who is disciplined. His whole thing is ‘Stick to it, be healthy, be fit.’ He does it for me so I had to return the favor!” she says, also admitting that her looming 40th birthday creates added incentive to look “fantastic.”
While surely the attention she’s currently getting for her slimmed down physique is a confidence booster, after losing 29 lbs. last June, Hart told PEOPLE that she became more comfortable with her size after giving birth to her three boys, Tucker, Braden and Mason. “Being a mom made me stop being so hard on myself,” she said. “My priorities are my children.”
What’s your best weight-loss secret? How great does she look?
–Catherine Kast
