Lauren LC Conrad — acclaimed reality TV star, fashion designer and author — is featured on the cover and in the pages of the new issue of Shape magazine for the second time in her esteemed career as a “somebody”. You may recall that LC graced the cover of Shape back in January of 2008 but I suppose it was time that they put her back on the cover … cuz, clearly the mag has run out of folks to feature. Here is our first look at LC‘s latest coverphoto for Shape along with a short preview of her coverstory interview:

She might be a bona fide California beach girl, but even Lauren Conrad admits to slacking in the exercise department sometimes. For her second Shape cover (her first was January 2008), the New York Times best-selling author chats about her romance with actor Kyle Howard and her new clothing line for Kohl’s while sitting pretty for three very different cover shots. At the beginning of her relationship, Lauren admits to getting soft around the middle. “I call it the ‘boyfriend layer’,” she tells the magazine. “We were having more romantic dinners out, and I was exercising less.” So what’s a girl to do? Take your dates to the gym, of course! “I just ask Kyle, ‘You feel like working out?’ It’s more fun than hitting the gym alone,” says Lauren. The couple spends most of their time outdoors anyway. “We like doing outdoor stuff: tennis, bike riding, kayaking, stand-up surfing, hiking in the canyons around L.A.,” says Lauren. And when the happy couple isn’t exercising together, Lauren is busy working on her newest adventure in design, LC Lauren Conrad for Kohl’s , which will hit stores in October. Her line of affordable and flattering jeans and blouses will be perfect for every shape. “It’s all about finding silhouettes that highlight the best parts of your figure,” says Lauren. As an added bonus, Lauren took three lucky Shape readers with very different body types shopping and shared some fashion advice with them. Pick up the September issue of Shape to hear more of Lauren’s advice on dressing for your body and working out.

It’s about time she started publicly acknowledging her romantic affiliation with actor Kyle Howard. They’ve been an item for a very long time now, way before she quit The Hills, and is only now just talking about him in interviews. You know, it’s amazing that LC has all this time to do all that outdoor stuff she listed, “tennis, bike riding, kayaking, stand-up surfing, hiking in the canyons around L.A.”, and still have time to write books and design all her clothing lines. Methinks Miss LC likes to embellish in her interviews just a wee bit ;) In any event, Team LC fans will wanna look for this issue of Shape when it hits newsstands next week. How much you wanna bet this issue of Shape will sell more than Heidi Montag‘s “No Nipples, No Vagina, No Ass” issue of Playboy?

[Source]