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Jessica Simpson is happier than ever lately, and says that even during the period where her weight was highly criticized, she felt like a sex symbol.

To her husband Eric Johnson, anyway, which is all that matters.

"I’m doing amazing," she told Today‘s Matt Lauer Wednesday.

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When asked why she baby-tossing Eric Johnson chose July 5 as the time to get married, to her longtime love, the smiling Jessica quipped:

"Well, we had two babies. So we figured, why not?"

Really, though, the cute duo was "already engaged."

But, she reminds us, "then I got pregnant … oops!"

 

Those surprise blessings, 2-year-old daughter Maxwell Drew and 14-month-old son Ace Knute, are the best part of her life, even if they’ve been challenging.

Her post-baby body was brutally and frequently criticized, although Jessica said that "empowered me to rise above," not get down on herself.

She says she made it a goal to "stand up for all the women out there that do have trouble losing the weight," and felt she had nothing to prove.

"It wasn’t really my priority to please the public and make them feel like I’m supposed to be looking like i did when I was 25," the star added.

Asked whether there was an added pressure to lose the weight quickly due to her sex symbol status, Jess told Matt not to call it a comeback!

"I’m not saying they didn’t hurt," she says of the critics, but "I don’t think that I wasn’t still a sex symbol … to my husband, I was still extremely sexy."

"I have feelings and hormones. I got emotional about it at times, but if anything I just kind of wanted to be a champion for women and say, ‘We can do this.’"

Now that Jessica’s reached her "goal weight" after the second baby, the 34-year-old stunner said she "just feel(s) more comfortable in my skin."

It shows. Boy, does it ever show.