Demi Moore Admits She Used to 'Torture' Her Body With 'Crazy' Workouts: 'I Was Really Just Punishing Myself' (Exclusive)

Looking back, Demi Moore now recognizes the "torture" she put her body through early in her career.

The Substance star, 62, who graces the cover of PEOPLE's World's Most Beautiful issue, has long been vocal about the rigorous diet and exercise regimens she maintained for trailblazing roles in films like 1996's Striptease and G.I. Jane the following year. "I mean, crazy things [with] diet and exercise, biking from Malibu and going all the way to Paramount about 26 miles," she recalls in this week's cover story. "All because I had placed so much value on what my outsides looked like."

Moore insists the biggest difference for her today is that "it's so much more about my overall health and well-being. It's much more about longevity and quality of life. And I think I've evolved into greater gentility towards myself."

The actress, who bulked up to portray Lieutenant Jordan O'Neill in G.I. Jane, admits at the time she was "so harsh and had a much more antagonistic relationship with my body. And straight up, I was really just punishing myself," she says. "And in this desire to dominate it versus now, I have a much more kind of intuitive, relaxed, trusting relationship with my body."

The turning point for the actress came after G.I. Jane was wrapped. "I had transformed my body multiple times, and obviously it was a much bigger, muscular body. And I'd had this incredible experience on this film, and I had experienced this sense of strength," she explains. "But I realized, I didn't want to wear that. I wanted to just have that within me. And I think I was exhausted from putting it through so much over such a long period of time."

Moore says that realization allowed her to release the stronghold on her diet and exercise. "I stopped trying to control my food and I had a moment of surrender where I just let go and really understood what it meant to be in acceptance of my body as it is, even though it's not the body I wanted. I really let go," she recalls. "I remember just asking to be my natural size because I didn't know what it was anymore. I had three pregnancies. I had done all of this diet and exercise and controlled and changed it. And I didn't know. So I just let go."

While G.I. Jane demanded more physical strength, her role FBI secretary-turned-stripper in the 1996 film Striptease was empowering mentally (and gave her a record-breaking salary at the time of $12.5 million). "I think I was so uncomfortable actually with the dancing part," she admits. "So I think the experience and sensation of dancing and moving and finding my own comfort with my own body in that way was very empowering and very liberating."

Related: World's Most Beautiful: Of Course It's Demi! Read Her Candid Interview and See the Stunning Photos

As for whether or not that comfort zone lent to her nude scenes in The Substance, Moore says there was also "liberation in that place of acceptance of my body as someone in their 60s. And it being what it is and it's not the body that I had at 20, even when I was complaining about the body had at 20 or 30," she admits. "Even though it was a very vulnerable experience and a very raw experience. Because I really knew that in doing so, it was in service to the story, in service to what was important. The nudity was really an important part of the vulnerability that needed to be conveyed."

For more of Moore's exclusive interview and photos, pick up this week's issue of PEOPLE on newsstands Friday.

Now when it comes to embracing aging in Hollywood, Moore allows the biggest thing "is really being in acceptance of who we are, as we are, at whatever moment that is," she says. "I have a greater appreciation for all that my body has been through that brought me to now. Like how incredible that my body grew three human beings and I have overall really incredible health. That doesn't mean that sometimes I look in the mirror and I don't go, 'Oh God, I look old,' or 'Oh, my face is falling,' I do. But at the same time I can accept that that is where I'm at today and know the difference is that doesn't define my value or who I am."

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These days, Moore says she trusts her body "when it tells me it needs something to eat, that it's thirsty. I listen to my body and I have a lot less fear. When I was younger, I felt like my body was betraying me. And so I then just tried to control it. And now I don't operate from that place. It's a much more aligned relationship," she says.

She begins each day "anchoring with a short meditation, journaling. And overall I like really nutrient-dense food. I don’t eat meat. I do eat eggs. But I think a big part of wellness is really inside out," she adds. "And I’ve come to realize how important sleep is. I mean, I’m not perfect. I still do drink Red Bull. I do love it. But not many. One."

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