J-Lo reflects on parting with Anthony

In her first interview since her split with Marc Anthony, Jennifer Lopez says it takes a lot of self-respect to leave a relationship.

"Sometimes we don't realize that we are compromising ourselves," she tells Vanity Fair. "To understand that a person is not good for you, or that that person is not treating you in the right way, or that he is not doing the right thing for himself — if I stay, then I am not doing the right thing for me. I love myself enough to walk away from that now."

The singer and "American Idol" judge says she still admires the father of her 3-year-old twins as a performer and "he will always be in our lives."

Jennifer Lopez says Marc Anthony will always be part of her life and her children's. | apMatt Sayles