Jordin Sparks is the cover woman for the August issue of Shape magazine. The 22 year old singer and actress, who stars in the upcoming movie Sparkle, showed off her new, much slimmer figure and spoke to the magazine about how she lost 50 pounds over the past year.

Jordin says her weight loss started at age 21 when she realized she felt constantly tired, sick and unhealthy.

“I just wanted to be healthy,” she says. “I remember thinking, ‘I’m in my prime. I should be happy and fit.’ That was the moment I decided that changes needed to be made.”

According to the magazine, she started things off slow with walking and hiking, and then moved up to going to the gym, Zumba classes, and completely changing the way she eats. All of it resulted in her losing 50 pounds and living healthier. She also commented on appearing on the cover in a bikini.

“For me to even be talking about bikini confidence is crazy. If you had asked me a couple of months ago, I probably would have been like, ‘What are you talking about…’. So it’s actually huge for me to even feel OK with putting a bikini on.”

Jordin shares her workouts, diets, discusses Sparkle, and what it was like to work with Whitney Houston on the film in her cover issue, which is on newsstands now.

Previously: New Video: Whitney Houston And Jordin Sparks – Celebrate