"If we are feeling extra good about ourselves after our little diet I might like another type of ensemble. I kind of collect lingerie. I collect perfume bottles, all things feminine."
Mariah also revealed she couldn't help treating herself to several expensive pieces of underwear during her recent trip to the Italian island of Capri.
She added to US talk show host Oprah Winfrey: "Sometimes I'll find things there that they don't have here."
The 38-year-old star, who flies her personal assistant from the Caribbean to New York for her workout sessions, says swimming every day and eating a sensible diet is the secret to her weight loss.
She said: "Working out and being on a diet has made me feel healthier, so that's a good thing."What's great about working out in the pool is that the water acts as resistance, so you're actually exercising twice as hard without feeling it."
