Chrissy Teigen Is Giving Up Diet Mentality: 'I Spent Too Many Years Counting Calories'

"If it’s going to make me happy and make me feel good, then I indulge in it,” Chrissy Teigen says in her cover interview with PEOPLE

Chrissy Teigen is focusing on enjoying her life.

In her latest cover story with PEOPLE, the former model, 35, shares that she's gone through "ups and downs" with "dieting and diet culture" over the years — and she's over it.

"I've thrown all of that out of the window," she says. "I think now at this point in my life it's more important for me to enjoy things as they come."

Now, Teigen says she's trying to focus on what's "going to make me happy."

"I eat things when I want them. Because if I don't my mind personally goes crazy," she shares. "I kind of put my mind over body a little bit, mind and spirit over body. If it's going to make me happy and make me feel good, then I indulge in it."

Watch the full episode of The Beautiful Issue Cover Story: Chrissy Teigen on PeopleTV.com or on the PeopleTV app.

Giving up the diet mentality has also been an important step in the Cravings author's wellness journey.

"I've lived a whole life. I've spent way too many years counting calories, scheduling way too many workouts and trying to figure out what my term for wellness was for myself," she says. "I've been trying to figure that out for so so long."

"Now I know that it's on the ground playing with my kids, getting out there, going to a park, going to an aquarium, being able to drive around with my kids in the car," adds the star, who shares daughter Luna, 4, and son Miles, 2, with husband John Legend. "That is activity for me and I enjoy doing things like that."

Mike Rosenthal

As for her wellness routine, the star just tries "to have fun with it."

"I will say I indulge in some things I thought were maybe cuckoo before. I do appreciate a good sound bath and I'm learning to meditate," Teigen says, adding that she's "not necessarily a great meditator because I really think so, so much."

"I do love yoga and pilates now but the balance in it is really nice because it's nice to be able to kill two birds by playing with my kids and getting that activity in honestly. To me that's more fun," she continues. "John is different, he's the kind of guy who can go to the gym at like 6, 7 in the morning every single day no matter what but me, no, I try to have fun with it."

For more of our exclusive interview with Teigen, pick up The Beautiful Issue on newsstands now and check out all of our coverage on PEOPLE.com.