OnlyOnAOL: Kate Hudson and Lucy Liu's beary good week

BY DONNA FREYDKIN

If there's one question lobbed repeatedly at Kate Hudson, it's about those rock-hard abs. And her insane post-baby body. It's why she penned the lifestyle book "Pretty Happy."

"It's what everybody was asking about. And then they always get it wrong. My big thing is, it's a lifestyle shift if you want to be healthy. People talk about happiness a lot. You can't sell happiness. It's subjective to each person," says Hudson. "It's focusing on mindfulness, exercise and food."

Her key to finding something resembling inner balance: "You have to make a pact with yourself that you're going to get your head straight."

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Lucy Liu, her co-star in "Kung Fu Panda 3" -- opening Friday -- can relate. She's the single mom of her infant son Rockwell, an adorable tot whose exploits she sparingly shares on Instagram. "If I was a younger mom, I would have panicked more. But he's fine. He sleeps through the night. You have to trust that he'll be OK," she says, adding that her son rides the subway with her and comes to work on set when she's shooting her CBS series "Elementary."

Motherhood has been easier because, says Liu, "I set it up beforehand so I knew it would be pretty stable in terms of where I was and being in New York City and not having to travel. The rest is just to make sure he's doing well, he's nourished, he's happy. You don't need that much stuff. He learns to move around on his own. He goes to classes for development – you're putting their hands up and down."

Hudson is busy raising her two boys; her youngest, Bing, 4, was with her in New York City when the blizzard Jonas hit. They had a blast and played in the snow while Ryder, 12, stayed back in Los Angeles at school. "I think every kid is different. You get into a different groove with each child. It's about what your child needs," she says.

Liu, too, tries not to sweat the small stuff. In that sense, she's like her "Kung Fu" character Viper, a centered, caring mother hen. And she's a fan of Marie Kondo, who wrote "The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing" -- as is Hudson.

"It's understanding that you don't need to push the panic button every time something happens. There's a level of being grounded and an understanding that how much energy you want to expend to make something happen is much less than you think it is. There's a freedom that you have to find within yourself. And that requires inner peace in a way that you have to discover what's not working for you. Start getting rid of material objects, people in your life. How much do you really need?" she says.