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"Lauren Alaina has admitted that she feels overwhelmed by her post-American Idol success.  The &amp;#039;Like My Mother Does&amp;#039; singer, who came in second place in the singing competition&amp;#039;s tenth season in May 2011, recalled some of the highlights of her professional career thus far in a new interview with Parade. &amp;quot;The whole American Idol experience was surreal, but to actually have my career in line now and for people to be buying my own CD, it&amp;#039;s mind-blowing. I can&amp;#039;t believe it&amp;#039;s happening to me,&amp;quot; Alaina explained.  &amp;quot;After the show ended, I got to go spend a week in Nashville. I met a lot of artists that I grew up listening to and looking up to, and they knew who I was and welcomed me into the country music family. Just being accepted and meeting people like Martina McBride felt awesome.&amp;quot; The 16-year-old, who has dropped 25lbs over the past five months, said that the transformation came naturally and has had a positive effect on her career.  &amp;quot;I just started eating really healthy and taking better care of myself. I&amp;#039;m just trying to keep my energy up to keep up with this crazy schedule, and it just so happens that my body is shaping up and looking better than ever!&amp;quot; Alaina said.  Alaina recently explained that her new-found success has forced her to &amp;quot;grow up&amp;quot; quickly. Watch the video for Lauren Alaina&amp;#039;s &amp;#039;Like My Mother Does&amp;#039; below:      "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.digitalspy.com/music/american-idol/news/a349227/american-idols-lauren-alaina-i-cant-believe-my-success/>