Natalie Cassidy said training for a marathon helped her shed several stone.
The EastEnders actress has recently dropped three stone, going from a size 16 to a size eight. Natalie admitted she feels a lot more confident about herself after learning "how to eat properly" but it wasn't an easy goal to achieve.
In 2009, she released her own fitness DVD, titled Then and Now, but soon became obsessed with her weight and appearance. Speaking to Heat Magazine at the time, she said: "I really wasn't well. I was bordering on having an eating disorder.
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"There were nights I would go out for dinner and then I'd go home and take laxatives because I didn’t want the food inside me. I looked too thin. I can honestly say I wasn’t happy then."
Over a decade later she credits her current weight loss and training secrets to the London Marathon, which she first ran in 2019. Her routine included joining a running club for regular workouts and a strict, healthy diet.
She recently discussed her journey on the RunPod podcast where she admitted that help from her friends was a driving force behind her motivation. She said: "We’ve suddenly become this little team of people and we’re so close. We’ve got WhatsApp groups and we go out together and we post our runs and it gives you motivation."
She added that ditching her favourite unhealthy snacks such as cheese, crisps and dips played a huge roll in her diet, describing treats as her "downfall.".
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