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Your Life: Celebrity Diet: I Don't Recognise Myself ... ; EX-EASTENDERS STAR CHARLIE BROOKS REVEALS HER SEXY NEW IMAGE

Posted on: Friday, 30 December 2005, 09:00 CST

By SALLY JANES

SHE found fame as Albert Square's Janine Butcher, the pudgy teenager who would stop at nothing to get her own way.

But as Charlie Brooks' acting career has blossomed, so has her image, and the 24-year-old now looks a world away from the soap superbitch that EastEnders fans loved to hate.

Not only has she won critical acclaim for her portrayal of Jenny in the BBC's recent adaptation of Dickens' Bleak House, but she's lost more than two stone, dropping from a dress size 14 to a slender eight.

And now she is sharing her weight-loss secrets on a new fitness DVD.

Charlie, who piled on the pounds after giving birth to her first child, Kiki, is delighted with her new image.

"When I see myself now I think: 'Do I really look like that?'" she says. "Psychologically, you don't think of yourself as slim if you never have been before. I still can't believe I've lost all that weight."

Charlie, who is 5ft 4ins, says her weight has always been around 10-and-a-half stone, but she got in shape while training for the London Marathon last year.

But, after completing the race, her eating and exercise plan fell by the wayside when she found out she was pregnant.

"I tried to follow the diet in the book the Gentle Birth Method (by Dr Gowri Motha) for the first four or five months, avoiding red meat, but I just couldn't," she recalls.

"I went to a couple of classes then thought: 'I'm pregnant, I don't have to do this now.' I couldn't stop myself eating a big Galaxy chocolate bar every day. I'd just eat, eat, eat."

Kiki was born at the private Hospital of St John & St Elizabeth in London, with Charlie's fiance Tony Truman, an event organiser, by her side. Charlie had a natural birth and took to motherhood straight away.

She says: "It isn't until you actually have the baby that it hits you - that was really inside me!

"I love being a mum. I love everything about it. It's the best thing in the world. But I didn't plan to have children this young, I wanted to leave EastEnders and have a year working, but I wouldn't change it for the world."

The couple, who live in Surrey, are planning to get married next year and Charlie says Tony, 38, is a fantastic dad.

But despite her elation at becoming a mum, Charlie wasn't happy with her expanding figure. Three months after the birth she weighed 11 stone and was desperate to shift the pounds.

She says: "I was very eager to get back into a fitness regime. I waited three months on the advice of my doctor and, of course, I wanted to chill out with Kiki. But then I thought I had to do something.

"After running the marathon I'd noticed how much better I felt, so when I was asked to do a fitness video, I just thought - why not? It will help me and then I'll be able to show other people how to do it.

"It's not like I'm starting out thin and just dancing around in the video, exactly the same as before. I've actually transformed."

How she did it

CHARLIE started working out with fitness trainer Dee Thresher three times a week and changed her lifestyle, walking rather than driving when possible.

She says: "We tried to make the routines as fun as possible. They're not hard to grasp and Dee explained them really well. They're designed to get you out of breath."

Charlie also followed a healthy eating plan: "I consulted a nutritionist first but I mainly did it on my own - just sensible eating, lots of water and fresh fish. I tried not to eat carbs after 7pm, although sometimes I couldn't resist.

"I also made a lot of my own soups and made sure I always had something good to snack on in my fridge."

Charlie lost five pounds in the first week and the weight continued to fall off. It took three months to shed two stone.

She says: "The first week's weight loss automatically motivated me to continue. I then lost a stone every six weeks. I had days when I'd had enough and didn't think I could do it, but that's only human. I also hit a plateau halfway through, but I kept going.

"I ended up losing one more stone than I'd originally planned and I'm now 8st 8lbs. The fat came off my waist and my face and I've actually got muscle definition on my arms."

Charlie lost a total of 37ins from her arms, thighs, chest, bust, hips and waist. She also lost 12 per cent of her total body fat, going from 40 per cent (officially overweight) down to 28 per cent, which is normal and healthy.

As a result her health has improved and she says she feels sexier. "I feel better than ever," she reveals.

"I'm sleeping well, my skin feels great, I've got more energy and it makes you feel happier about your body. It feels like a way of life for me now but it doesn't mean I never indulge. But when I do I work harder the next day to burn it off. I want to be in the best shape I can be for embarking on new roles."

Charlie admits leaving EastEnders was scary but she is excited about trying other challenges - although she admits being choosy about what kind of work she takes on.

"There have been a couple of things I wanted to do and didn't get, and some things have come along that haven't been right, so I'm just holding out at the moment. Somebody will have me in the end!

"But I'm being Mummy at the moment, which I love."

CHARLIE Brooks' Before And After Workout DVD is out now (VVL pounds 17.99)

Typical day's diet:

BREAKFAST: Honey and natural yoghurt; or porridge with a bit of sweetener.

LUNCH: Scrambled eggs and beans or homemade butternut squash and potato soup - really filling.

DINNER: A big tuna Nicoise salad with some boiled new potatoes; or fish with a blob of sweet chilli; or chicken and vegetable stir- fries.

SNACKS: I love Cadbury's low-fat mousses - it's always handy to have a few of them in the fridge. Or an orange ice-lolly. I'll have one while Tony is eating his pudding.Charlie's slim-down secrets

BE PREPARED Keep soups in your fridge and cupboard - they're really filling and quick to heat up.

STAY FOCUSED I kept a picture of myself in a black bikini on holiday in Dubai before I knew I was pregnant. I wanted to look like that again and it was great motivation.

DO MY WORKOUT The workout is designed so that if you're fit you can work harder and if you're not, you can scale it back a bit. The Pilates section is great for toning and definition and the high- intensity and combat sections are for fat burning. Also try to be more active every day.

TREAT YOURSELF I went out and bought lots of new, expensive underwear - after all, I had a new body! Make goals and reward yourself when you reach them.

Source: Daily Mirror

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