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Julia Roberts: I gained almost 10 pounds filming 'Eat Pray Love'

Samantha Chang's photo
Celebrity Fitness and Health Examiner
Julia_Roberts_Entertainment_Weekly Eat Pray Love weight gain loss half marathon
Julia Roberts gained almost 10 pounds while filming Eat Pray Love in Italy,
where she enjoyed a high-carb diet. (Photos/Entertainment Weekly)

Julia Roberts gained almost 10 pounds shooting the drama "Eat Pray Love" in Italy last summer by indulging copious amounts of pasta and pizza.

“When we were in Naples, we started shooting at 8 in the morning, and I think by 8:45 I’d eaten eight or 10 pieces of pizza,” Julia tells the Aug. 6, 2010 issue of Entertainment Weekly.

MY JEANS DIDN'T FIT

She adds: “Pizza was what I ate all day. By the time we left Rome, I was seven to 10 pounds heavier. I could’ve used a bigger pair of jeans when I went off to India!”

In Eat Pray Love, Roberts, 42, plays a recent divorcée who goes on a quest for self-discovery by traveling to Italy, India and Indonesia 

The movie is based a best-selling 2006 memoir by American author Elizabeth Gilbert.

SHE TRAINED FOR HALF-MARATHON WHILE FILMING

Julia, who has maintained her slim physique while juggling a high-profile career and being the mom of three, managed to train for a 13.5-mile half marathon while shooting the film in India last summer.

“I trained a lot while I was doing the movie and it was so hot there," she recalls. "I think it was to my advantage that I had trained under such dire circumstances.”

In Dec. 2009, Roberts completed the half-marathon with an impressive time of 2 hours, 29 minutes and 47 seconds. “I ran a half-marathon," she later recounted to Oprah Winfrey. "I was so happy for thirteen-and-a-half miles. Who would have thought that could happen? I just wanted to show my kids [that] the power of a female body is more than just giving birth — which is a great power. And my kids were out there and they made me a sign and it was awesome!”

JULIA RUNS, DOES PILATES AND WATER WORKOUTS

Roberts, who lost a noticeable amount of weight after her star-making turn in the 1988 hit Mystic Pizza, now stays fit by eating well, running and doing Pilates and aquatic workouts. julia_roberts_eat_pray_love_poster

For her water workouts, Julia does cross-country skiing, running and arm exercises in the deep end of her home swimming pool.

She warms up by swimming a few lap and then wears a flotation belt to run one-minute intervals in the water at slow, moderate and fast speeds, repeating the entire exercise five times.

"I must admit, I don't love exercise, but I do love how I feel afterward: accomplishment, clarity, energy, strength, joy," she said. "These are all things I give myself through working out, and I can feel it in everything I do."

The 42-year-old beauty isn't afraid of aging, but also isn't immune to occasional attacks of insecurity.

“I’m human," she says. "Sometimes I, like anybody, wake up in the morning and go, ‘F---. Really? This is the starting point?’”

"Eat Pray Love" hits theaters Aug. 13.

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Slideshow: Julia Roberts is ready to 'Eat Pray Love'

5 photos
Julia, 42, wore a bikini in this pool scene for the 2007 drama Charlie Wilson's War (which co-starred Tom Hanks). At the time, Roberts was 4 months pregnant with her third child. She was later nominated for a Golden Globe for her performance. (Photo/Universal Pictures)

Slideshow: Julia Roberts is ready to 'Eat Pray Love'

, Celebrity Fitness and Health Examiner

Samantha Chang is the executive editor and co-owner of TheImproper.com, an arts and entertainment website in New York City. A graduate of the University of Pennsylvania, Samantha is a former financial journalist who enjoys running, cycling and music. Contact her at schang@theImproper.com.

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