In "I Got This: How I Changed My Ways and Lost What Weighed Me Down," Jennifer Hudson recounts her journey from her humble beginnings to becoming an international, award-winning superstar. Here's an excerpt:

Introduction

Jennifer! Over here!”
“Jennifer, look this way.”
“Jennifer, Jennifer.”
“Over here!”
“No, over here!”
“Jennifer, turn to the right!”

I always dreamed of someday walking the red carpet in Hollywood. Let’s be real. It’s fun. Everyone there is shouting out your name just to get a glimpse of what you’re wearing. The press asks you to pose, wave, and smile as they snap photo after photo, with flashes popping so bright you can hardly see. It’s a moment in time a girl feels truly beautiful. And on this particular night, I thought I was looking fierce.

It was one of my first red-carpet events. I was a contestant on American Idol, and was living my dream of singing for millions of people on the highest-rated show on television. I was a long way from singing in church and talent shows on the South Side of Chicago. I was excited, taking in the red-carpet finery for the first time. I felt on top of the world.

“Jennifer, are you insecure about being a ‘big girl’ in Hollywood?”

That is, until that question.

Oh, hell no. She didn’t just ask me that.

But she did.

It took me a minute to figure out who the reporter was actually talking to.

Who, me? I thought. Insecure?

Surely, she wasn’t addressing me that way. I had the height of a supermodel, breasts that were naturally big and real, and a God-given shape. Why would I feel insecure about that? I looked around hoping to spot another Jennifer— an insecure “big” girl, but there wasn’t anyone else there.

Nope.

Just me.

Like Randy Jackson said to me after my American Idol audition:

“Welcome to Hollywood, girl!”

PROLOGUE of I Got This by Jennifer Hudson © 2012. Reprinted with permission of Dutton, a member of Penguin Group U.S.A.