How Kelly Clarkson Lost 18 Pounds In a Month

Kelly Clarkson is clearly in an amazing period in her life -- the 30-year-old original American Idol winner recently got engaged to fiancé Brandon Blackstock, and is also rocking a noticeably slimmer physique that she tells Cosmopolitan has a lot to do with love.

"One magazine said I lost 40 pounds -- that's a small child, by the way. I lost 18 pounds. And I think that happens when you fall in love or date someone," she tells the magazine's February issue [via Wonderwall]. "If I'm going to be kissing or messing around, I gotta look good."

Related: Kelly Clarkson Is Engaged!

Kelly explains how she dropped 18 pounds in just one month by watching her portions.

"There's not a fad diet. ... I just cut back my portions, I stopped eating late at night, and I work out a little more than I used to, and I literally dropped 18 pounds in a month," she says about her secret to shedding the pounds. "I think it happens when you get really busy as well. But when I'm on my off-time -- girl, those 18 might come back."

But no matter her weight, Kelly insists that she has always been "healthy."

"I'm willing to work a little bit because I want to be a healthy individual -- which I always have been," she clarifies.

Related: Kelly Clarkson -- I Lost Weight for My Boyfriend

The always candid Kelly also talks about the gay rumors that have followed her career.

"People think, 'Oh, she's been single for too long.' That's kind of an insult to the gay community. Being single doesn't mean you're gay," she says about past assumptions. "But I'm never insulted by it, obviously. I mean, I get hit on by the hottest girls ever. Oh, my god, if I were a lesbian, I would be so in luck. But it's just not my thing. I've always batted for the boys' team."

And she's obviously got it bad for her fiance.

"Brandon's totally the one," she gushes. "Six years I was single before this. I've never been truly loved like I am right now."