JoJo in Bathing Suit "Holds Nothing Back"

JoJo is showing off her fit figure in a swimsuit! The singer and actress heated up social media this week with her latest snap, highlighting her washboard abs. “If I were to write a book about my life… what would you most wanna know? obviously I would hold nothing back…” she asked her millions of followers in the caption. How does she stay so fit? Read on to see 5 ways JoJo stays in shape and the photos that prove they work—and to get beach-ready yourself, don't miss these essential 30 Best-Ever Celebrity Bathing Suit Photos!

1. She Was Put On A Scary Diet as a Teen

When JoJo was 18 her record label put her on a 500 calorie per day diet, telling her that she need to “look as healthy as possible,” she told Uproxx. “I was like, ‘I’m actually the picture of health. I actually look like a healthy girl who eats and is active. And I don’t think this is about my health. I think that you want me to be really skinny,” she continued. “And he’s like, ‘No, I wouldn’t say that,’ blah blah blah,” JoJo recalled. “But I ended up getting put with a nutritionist that had me on a 500 calorie a day diet, and I was on these injections that make you have no appetite.”

2. It Negatively Impacted Her Self Esteem

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The experience had a very big impact on her self-esteem. “I was like, ‘Let me see how skinny I can get, because maybe then they’ll put out an album. Maybe I’m just so disgusting that no one wants to see me in a video and they can’t even look at me,'” she said. “That’s really what I thought.” It set up a pattern of disordered eating. “I’m sure a lot of us develop extreme insecurities and disordered eating and really unhealthy thinking about ourselves,” she continued. “I felt that how I was must have been not enough. Must have been dissatisfying.”

3. She Battled Substance Abuse

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Her insecurities led to abusing substances and self-destructive behavior. “So I started getting really f—ed up, drinking, making out with strangers, looking for validation and attention and looking to feel pretty, looking to feel good, to feel worthy. There were definitely nights that I stumbled out of clubs and that I blacked out. I was just completely reckless, did not care. I needed to be buzzed to feel okay. I would go to the edge, stand on my tiptoes on the edge and then come back,” she continued. “I should be dead,” she said, adding that her late father was an addict. She stopped abusing substances because “I would’ve ended up like my dad, just going to sleep one day and not waking up. Because life is hard.”

4. She Maintains a Mostly Plant-Based Diet

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JoJo told Fault Magazine that she transitioned to a plant-based diet, first because she was hoping to alleviate allergies and help with her voice. “I first was interested in a plant-based diet because of my voice. I struggled with my allergies for a long time, and I wanted to try something different to combat that. I’m singing every night, and I wanted that to be easier for me. So, I cut out dairy first, and then I started talking to my vegan friend and I started to feel what they told me about how when you eat animal products, you’re ingesting fear, death, and disease. I didn’t feel good about doing that anymore. So, I just slowly made a transition,” she said. “I’m by no means a perfect vegan, but I do eat plant-based. That’s how I try to eat.”

5. Her Workouts Are Intense

JoJo goes hard at the gym, and not just for the physical benefits. “Does anyone else visualize the real or perceived obstacles/ adversities in their life while they’re working out? especially when it’s tough (like on a third or fourth set) I LOCK IN and focus on a particular point in the room where I can really think of how I’m going to feel on the other side of an exercise. One movement at a time. Just like how I tend to feel on the other side of a tough conversation or a difficult choice or even a whole hard ass season. So many parallels between moving through a workout and moving through life. The highs and lows, the stop and go, the self-talk and digging deep required to keep trying after you fall,” she captioned a recent clip of herself at the gym doing battle ropes.