Jennifer Lopez overhauled her lifestyle after suffering a panic attack because she was so exhausted.
While the pop superstar places great importance on wellness and self-care nowadays, in the past she sacrificed her health for the sake of her career and eventually suffered the consequences.
"There was a time in my life where I used to sleep 3 to 5 hours a night. I'd be on set all day and in the studio all night and doing junkets and filming videos on the weekends," she wrote in her On the JLo newsletter. "I was in my late 20s and I thought I was invincible.
"Until one day, I was sitting in a trailer, and all the work and the stress it brought with it, coupled with not enough sleep to recuperate mentally, caught up with me."
She felt "as if I couldn't move", "couldn't see clearly" and the symptoms "started to scare me and the fear compounded itself".
"Now I know it was a classic panic attack brought on by exhaustion, but I had never even heard the term at the time," she added.
The 52-year-old was taken to a doctor who made her realise that she needed to put her health first.
"I asked the doctor if I was going crazy. He said, 'No, you're not crazy. You need sleep... get 7 to 9 hours of sleep per night, don't drink caffeine, and make sure you get your workouts in if you're going to do this much work,'" the Hustlers star recalled. "I realized how serious the consequences could be of ignoring what my body and mind needed to be healthy — and that's where my journey to wellness began."
Ever since the panic attack, Jennifer has focused on living "a very healthy and balanced life" and abiding by her "pro-living versus anti-ageing" mantra.
