Denise Welch has shared that she's lost two stone and feels more body confident than ever thanks to a change in her eating habits.
The Loose Women star, who turns 61 later this month, says she started to put on weight six years ago, when she was depressed and addicted to alcohol. "A hangover felt normal," she confessed to health magazine Broccoli and Brains.
Denise and her husband Lincoln Townley embarked on a healthier lifestyle together
She and her now-husband, party planner and publicist Lincoln Townley, 45, stopped drinking in 2013, after he was rushed to hospital with chest pains. Denise didn't start eating healthy food straight away, though. Instead, she found herself plumping for sugary treats, which she craved in place of alcohol. "It was when I took alcohol out of my life that I started to replace alcohol with food," she admitted. "But once I stopped drinking, I started getting massive sugar cravings and the weight started going on."
RELATED: Denise Welch celebrates husband's special milestone - see sweet picture
Getting engaged to Lincoln later that year prompted the former Coronation Street and Waterloo Road actress to take a look at how she was treating her body, and she chose to join the LighterLife diet programme, becoming one of its celebrity ambassadors after losing two stone in nine weeks.
Denise posted this photo to celebrate six years of healthy eating
As well as shakes, snacks, and carefully-measured daily meals, the plan also includes cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT), so that members learn about the emotional triggers for overeating.
READ MORE: Denise Welch showcases bikini body following 2 stone weight loss
She then switched to LighterLife's 5:2 fasting diet and is now a svelte size 12, but whatever her size, she has long been proud to pose in a bikini and plans to continue to do so. "I'm proud of how I look at 60 and I'm not trying to look 30. That's the message I'm trying to deliver," she told The Mirror last year. So if I'm still getting my kit off at 90, so be it. Sorry children."
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