Ayesha Curry Shares How She's Working to 'Feel Strong in My Skin' After Losing 35 Lbs.
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Courtesy of MyFitnessPal
Like many, Ayesha Curry is starting the year off right by setting new health goals.
In an interview with PEOPLE, the chef and cookbook author, 33, opens up about kicking off 2023 with big health and fitness goals and how she plans to stay on top of accomplishing them.
Curry admits that when it comes to the typical New Year's resolutions, she's actually more of a "monthly resolution type of girl." She explains that it's easier to keep track of her small wins throughout the year that way.
"I've kind of been going through a health journey for the past three years now," she tells PEOPLE. "I'm into manifesting and writing things down and setting my intentions and goals. I am obsessed with that and I find that it really works for me, being able to visibly see things."
"One of my big resolutions for January is going to be to build a little bit of lean muscle," Curry adds. "I've lost 35 lbs. over the past year, which I'm really excited about, but now I want that definition and I want to feel strong in my skin."
Courtesy of MyFitnessPal
To begin the new year, Curry has partnered with MyFitnessPal for the nutrition and fitness app's two-week Jumpstart Your Health Challenge, lending her tips and recipes to help others meet their personal health goals. She boasts the program's "approachable" way to meet New Year's resolutions, which she admits are hard to maintain.
"When the new year comes around every year, everybody's going all in, balls to the wall and wants to do the most, and you almost always end up failing," Curry says. "And so with this Jumpstart Your Health Challenge, it just makes it easy. It's not overwhelming, it's approachable."
As she starts her monthly goal to build muscle, Curry says that she's remembering not to compare herself to the ability and progress of others, specifically her husband and NBA star Stephen Curry.
She admits that as a woman who's had three children in the past 10 years — son Canon W. Jack, 4, and daughters Ryan Carson, 7, and Riley, 10 — she's learned not to be so competitive with her health and fitness journey and remain happy with the progress she's already made.
"I'm married to a high performance athlete who does it all. And I think I had to be honest with myself and realize that I can't do that and I don't have to do that to see the results that I want to see," Curry explains. "I kind of had this inner competition that didn't exist. And so I was almost always defeated in whatever it was that I was doing because I couldn't do it to that level. I think I had to take a second, take a deep breath and just realize, do what you can and that's enough."
RELATED: Ayesha Curry's Healthier Lifestyle Is Inspiring New Dishes at Her Meat-Centric Restaurants
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"I started to realize that the more aggressive high intensity workouts don't actually work for me," she continues. "So for me, taking a hike and being out in nature, or going for a jog, or working out for 20 minutes instead of an hour actually works better for me. And I started to see more results. Pilates and yoga and hiking, that's the stuff that I saw the most change."
In doing so, Curry tells PEOPLE that she's being gentle and kind with herself when it comes to meeting her goals for the years, encouraging others to do the same.
"You might have a day where it doesn't feel great and it's not working and that's okay. But know that any step, whether big or small, is a step in the right direction," she says.
