Jessica Simpson reflects being shamed for her weight: 'I spent so many years beating myself up'

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Jessica Simpson opened up about the weight criticism she has experienced over the years and how it affected her mentally.

The singer, 40, is promoting the new paperback version of her memoir, "Open Book," in which she included real pages from her journal.

Simpson penned a specific entry about being slammed in 2009 for wearing "mom jeans" during a performance. 

"Today my heart breaks because people say I'm fat," she wrote. "Why does this cruel opinion of the world get to me?"

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Simpson told People magazine, "There is a wonderful movement for body positivity now and the response to that portion of my story has been overwhelmingly supportive. I don't think people always realized that there was a human being, a beating heart and working eyes with actual feelings behind those headlines and that words can hurt and stay with you for a lifetime."

Jessica Simpson celebrating her #1 New York Times best-selling memoir, 'Open Book.' (John Shearer/Getty Images for Jessica Simpson Collection)

"Open Book" became a #1 New York Times bestseller and Simpson admitted she's happy to have written about her darkest and most vulnerable moments. 

"I spent so many years beating myself up for an unrealistic body standard that made me feel like a failure all of the time," she admitted. "I am still a work in progress when it comes to self-criticism but now I have the tools to quiet those voices in my head when they speak up.

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Simpson added that she now a strong heart, mind, and body are all connected. 

The businesswoman lost 100 lbs. after welcoming her third child but told Entertainment Tonight she doesn't believe in tracking her weight anymore. 

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"Throw out the scale because the scale can literally mess our entire day up," she advised. "I had Eric [Johnson, her husband since 2014] walk it to the trash can. I have to rid myself of measuring up to what weight I should be because I've had so many people tell me what weight I need to be."