Carrie Underwood’s fitness goals “have shifted” now that she has to balance life on the road as a mother of two.
The “American Idol” alum, 39, revealed in an interview with People that she is more focused on how her body feels rather than just how it looks.
“I feel like earlier in my career I was working out more to be a certain size or fit into a certain aesthetic that I thought I wanted to be,” she told the outlet. “And now I feel like I work out more to be strong and to have energy and longevity.”
Especially now that she shares sons Jacob, 3, and Isaiah, 7, with husband Mike Fisher, Underwood says she is “playing the long game” when it comes to her exercise regimen.
“I’ve worked out a whole lot and been frustrated because it wasn’t the results that I wanted. I feel like now at this point in my life, you really do learn that it is a lifestyle, it’s balance. It is overall taking care of yourself.”
In fact, taking care of her kids has been Underwood’s top priority for the past couple years — yet things are about to change now that she is set to embark on the second leg of her “Denim & Rhinestones” arena tour.
“When I’m at home, I feel like I’m mom-ing it. I’m doing the laundry, packing the lunches, I’m always cleaning,” she explained. “So when I’m on the road and I live on a bus or in a hotel room, I’m not having to do all that stuff so it frees up a little time.”
While her “schedule is still very regimented” on tour, Underwood says her mornings are “a little bit more flexible” and she tries to get in a workout even if she doesn’t have access to a lot of equipment.
“We have an app called fit52 that I’m glad to have in my pocket on my phone,” she said. “So somebody can kind of tell me what to do with minimal equipment because it depends on what hotel we’re in, or what we have to work with.”
She continued, “we just make it happen when it can happen and how it can happen.”
Underwood released her workout app, fit52, alongside a fitness manual book and activewear brand back in 2020 after opening up about her complex relationship with food and exercise.
Following her big “American Idol” win in 2005, the songstress said she slashed her calories and started working out excessively after reading negative comments about her body online.
After quickly realizing the intense diet plan made her “feel terrible,” Underwood turned to a more manageable approach to fitness — which included red wine, of course.