Danica Patrick Is Focused on 'Being Smart and Kind to Myself' Following Battle with Breast Implant Illness

Amanda Friedman

Danica Patrick is a confident competitor who rarely compares herself to others.

But back in November 2014, the former NASCAR driver made the personal decision to get breast implants in a quest to attain "an ideal body."

The decision backfired.

Within a few years, Patrick began experiencing fatigue, weight gain and hair loss, which eventually resulted in a diagnosis of Breast Implant Illness, or BII. In March 2022, she had her breast implants removed — and now she loves looking in the mirror. "I actually like how I look better after," Patrick, 40, tells PEOPLE. "So, there you go."

In this week's issue of PEOPLE, Patrick reveals the specifics of her five-year health ordeal and opens up about her ongoing recovery following the implant removal.

"I think my body is again, still healing," says Patrick, whose business ventures include everything from wines to candles to broadcasting gigs with NASCAR, IndyCar and Formula One. "It's been about six months since the implants have been removed. It's about your lifestyle and mind and just really giving the body a chance to recover."

RELATED: Danica Patrick's Advice to Women After Her Breast Implant Illness and Surgery: 'Get Them Removed'

And while Patrick has made a career out of going fast, the entrepreneur knows that right now, patience is key.

"I actually think it's more wise for me to give myself a good year or two timeline (to see where) I land after a year or two of allowing my body and my mind to really reach a place of health and balance and recovery really from how much time my body spent fighting for me," Patrick explains.  "And it did a really, really, really good job. Now it's time for me to consciously and actively fight back for it with being smart and kind to myself."

Being smart and kind to her body is something that Patrick has been doing in a multitude of ways over the past few months.

Amanda Friedman

"I'm still really healing my body," she explains. "I'm trying to be sort of careful with my workouts and doing more walking and not so much high intensity. So, lifting and walking really are the bulk of it."

And while total recovery may take a couple of years, Patrick says her immediate recovery following her March 2022 surgery was an 'insanely easy' one.

"My surgery was at two-thirty in the afternoon, so home by five-ish," explains Patrick, whose mother Beverly was on hand to help on the day of her daughter's surgery but ended up not having to do much at all. "After that, I mean, I took a pain pill when I went to bed, and I think I took one in the morning and that was it for pain pills other than two more Tylenol."

RELATED: Danica Patrick Says 'The Heal Is Real' One Week After Having Her Breast Implants Removed

And since her breast implants were relatively small, Patrick says their removal hasn't forced her to change her wardrobe much. "I actually didn't have to buy anything new," she says. "Sports bras, dresses, swimsuits, everything was the same."

The only thing that has changed is what Patrick feels comfortable wearing now. "You can wear more revealing things (because) you're not being so provocative with, you know, having boobs out there," she explains.

And while Patrick laughs at the thought, she also admits that there are some lessons she wishes she had learned back in her twenties that might have led her to never get the breast implants in the first place.

"The work in loving yourself just like you are and not falling to the idea of perfection," Patrick remarks. "I think the idea of perfection in of itself is a really dangerous goal."

Indeed, the deeper ramifications of her breast implant removal has affected Patrick in a multitude of ways, including how she sees her life moving forward personally and professionally.

"The best thing that I can do for my life that makes me the most happy is to just chase all things that are joyful and fun to me," she concludes. "And when I do that, my life kind of opens up in beautiful ways and really exciting ways."