We already knew Beyonce’s been working out like crazy since the birth of Blue Ivy Carter to get back to her fighting weight for her upcoming tour — but People’s Most Beautiful Woman doesn’t think that’s why she’s been able to shed so much weight in the past five months. “I lost most of my weight from breastfeeding and I encourage women to do it. It’s just so good for the baby and good for yourself,” she told People in the cover story — where she also strikes back at those ridic rumors that she faked her pregnancy.

Not that she entirely downplays her efforts to slim down. “I counted calories. I worked out maybe three to four times a week,” she said. “I did a lot of walking in the beginning and now I’m running. But I had to work my way up. I couldn’t just go right from being pregnant to running.”

Beyonce also talks about what she did before entering her ultra-posh birthing suite at Lenox Hill Hospital in January. She got an eyebrow wax and a mani-pedi, had her hair done and “my little lip gloss.” With the way the paps were (are) hounding her in those hours, we don’t blame her. She’s pretty sure all that prep work went out the window once she actually went into labor, of course. “But after many hours of labor, I could care less about anything but my child. I didn’t care how I looked.”

Related: Beyonce Celebrates Her “Most Beautiful Woman” Title By Going Out To A Makeup-Free Dinner
Beyonce Is People’s “Most Beautiful Woman” Only 3 Months After Giving Birth

Source: Beyonce Says Post-Baby Weightloss Is “Mostly” Thanks To Breastfeeding