AceShowbiz - Tyra Banks recently emerged from her retirement to grace the cover of the newest Sports Illustrated Swimsuit issue. While many were talking about her return to the spotlight for her second cover for the magazine's special issue, the model-turned-TV personality gets real about the expectation of body perfection and self-love.

Posting a picture of her wearing the same red polka dot bikini that she wore on the magazine's cover in 1997, the 45-year-old beauty revealed that she had to drop 30 pounds to look like she was in the old photo. But temptation came in the form of ice cream and she couldn't resist it.

"I thought I needed to drop 30 pounds. I thought I had to look the same," the former Victoria's Secret Angel shared. "Then the ice cream called my name. Yep, all flavors. From Butter Pecan to Matcha to Coffee. I love me some ice cream and I just couldn't say no to it when I heard it calling. 'TyTy, Come eat me...' from my mom's freezer. "

Choosing to embrace her curves the way they are, Tyra added, "So, this is me in @si_swimsuit today. Ice Screaming from mountain tops, 'Screw cookie cutter beauty!' Yes, we should exercise. Stay healthy. Take our vitamins. But sometimes we can give ourselves permission to work out with a scoop of frozen deliciousness in our hands."

Tyra previously admitted that she couldn't believe she graced SI Swimsuit issue 23 years after she did it for the first time. She was the first African-American supermodel to grace the magazine's cover back in 1996.

"My first one was 23 years ago, how crazy is that. I'm like, 'Damn, I'm 45, dog!' " she gushed when appearing on "Good Morning America". The "Life-Size" star said they recreated her second magazine cover for the shoot but they couldn't find the exact red and pink polka-dot bikini she wore. "They couldn't find the actual one in the archives, so they had it made again and I put it on again," she explained. "So, 25 pounds later...."