As a supermodel, Kathy Ireland was used to seeing pictures of herself retouched to hide her flaws. But a photo of the one-time Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue staple at home recently took her breath away - and not in a good way.

"I didn't recognize the person I saw," said one of the hottest and most successful cover girls of the '80s and '90s, who went on to become a hugely successful CEO. "I saw someone who looked overstressed, overwhelmed and overweight."

In her latest book, Real Solutions for Busy Moms, Kathy Ireland talks about how mothers in particular tend to put everybody else's needs before their own.

Case in point: she had put on 25 pounds without even realizing it.

Surely Meghan McCain and others can relate. It's not a problem if you aren't rail thin, but sometimes you let yourself go. So what did Kathy do about it?

Kathy Ireland then, now ... and way back then.

"I was not making enough time to take care of me," says Ireland, 46, a mother of three kids and CEO of Kathy Ireland World Wide, a $1.4 billion design empire, and who also runs a mentoring program for single teen mothers.

To get back on track, Ireland enlisted the help of a friend, who happens to be a personal trainer and nutritionist. Thanks to healthier food choices, including cutting down on snacking and desserts, plus three exercise sessions a week.

Does that mean she's ready to rock a bikini, Valerie Bertinelli style?

"No, that's not my goal," says Ireland, who prefers to wear business suits at her job. "I want to be healthy, to be there for my husband and my kids."