GRAMMY nominee and American Idol finalist Mandisa sees her third album’s release April 5, while celebrating—publicly—her personal success of shedding 100 pounds.

First single, “Stronger,” from What If We Were Real (Sparrow Records/EMI CMG Distribution) was inspired by the belief that surviving hardship makes a person more resilient—something Mandisa knows about from her struggle with weight loss.

"I can't think of a better time to have finally lost 100 pounds," Mandisa said. "How appropriate that on the day my single 'Stronger' is released, proclaiming that God is able to take us through the difficult times and bring us out stronger, He gives me a physical manifestation of that truth."

Mandisa hired a personal trainer and worked to maintain a healthy diet, learning how to cook and get creative with meals on the road.

Earlier, in frustration over her weight gain, Mandisa had tweeted to her 23,000-plus Twitter followers: “I’m fed-up and over it.” She said: “I realized that I had only talked about how great things were. I never let people in when they were not. It was then that I decided to talk about the bad things too—that I’d be real.”

New album What If We Were Real was produced from a trio of talent including Chris Stevens (Carrie Underwood, TobyMac), Dan Muckala (Amy Grant, Brandon Heath) and Chance Scoggins (Natalie Grant). “Stronger“ is being well-received at radio, ranking at No. 19 on the National Christian Audience Chart, No. 20 on AC Monitor and No. 15 on AC Indicator.

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