The 28-year-old actress also shares with ET the work out that she says "changed everything" for her.
Believe it or not, Nina Dobrev had some awkward years.
Before the 28-year-old actress portrayed the beloved Elena Gilbert on The Vampire Diaries or slayed as a bridesmaid at Julianne Hough's wedding, she had to learn how to "embrace" her "awkward, weird" side.
ET caught up with Dobrev at an event to celebrate her partnership with Reebok and Les Mills on Thursday night at the William Vale hotel in Brooklyn, New York, and she was quite candid about how she learned to love her body. "There's a million things I nit-picked at a younger age,"she confessed during a group chat with ET and several other outlets. "Now, when I look back at photos or videos from those days -- when I wish I could've changed my body -- now all I wish is to go back and have that body! I remember not feeling really skinny."
As for what she'd tell her younger self, Dobrev advised, "It'd be to not sweat the small stuff and just accept who you are, because I was a pretty awkward, weird person. So, as I accepted it, that's when I started to feel more like myself."
Dobrev has placed a great importance on constantly growing as a person, and now swears by the Les Mills workout that she says has "changed everything" for her.
"I actually did not do a lot of [strength training] before," she said when asked by ET about her exercise routine now versus when she was filming TVD. "I did yoga and ran, but the strength training with the weights -- and such a regimented schedule of it -- has been new to my life. Now that I understand the way it all works and the science behind it, it's changed everything for me."
Dobrev also revealed that there's one thing that she is sure to do every day for her health. "I drink lots of water. It's so important," she noted. "I'm up to almost three liters a day."
This isn't the first time Dobrev has impressed ET. While on the red carpet at the xXx premiere in January, she hilariously rapped Sir Mix-a-Lot's iconic "Baby Got Back." Needless to say, it's a must-watch performance:
