Mandy Moore is Comfortable with Her Weight

Mandy Moore could hardly be considered overweight – but she says working in Hollywood made her feel bad about her size. "I want to be healthy, but in an industry where you can't wear a sample size because it's like a 0 or a 2, it makes you feel bad about yourself," the singer-actress, 22, tells Seventeen in its March issue. "To go to a photo shoot, it's like, 'Ugh, God, can't you just at least get a regular size, like a 6 or 8 or something?' "

But, she says, she's come to terms with it. "I'm not like a toothpick, and I never will be. I'm just a regular-looking person – and that's okay. It's taken a while to come to grips with that since it's definitely not the norm in my business. But like, who cares? "If anything, that makes someone more special," she says, and adds with a laugh, "or at least that's what I tell myself!"

Moore – who last month told PEOPLE, "I don't enjoy dating in the public eye. I don't even really enjoy dating" – says she keeps in touch with her exes. "I think it's important," she says. "People are in your life for a reason, and I don't think you ever stop caring about people you've been close to. You don't ever stop supporting them – well, I don't at least. From Andy [Roddick] to Zach [Braff] to Wilmer [Valderrama], all those people."

She's equally passionate about her new CD, Wild Hope, due May 8. "I was very adamant about the type of record I wanted to make. I am aware enough to know I haven't had a ton of musical success – and music is my first love," she says. Moore, who has admitted she battled depression after she and Braff split last year, says, "It was a really intense and emotional year, and I was like, I'm gonna put all my feelings in a box and worry about that later. But sooner or later you have to deal, and that's what I did on this record."