TINA Malone credits several simple lifestyle changes for staying trim after her dramatic 12st weight loss.
The actress dropped from a size 26 to a size six following gastric band surgery in 2010, and has managed to maintain her slim figure ever since.
The Shameless and Brookside star, 60, who has also had a face lift, confessed it has been hard work at times, especially after piling on a few pounds in 2019 and again earlier this year.
But the TV personality quickly got back on track, and feels like a different woman, The Mirror reports.
Tina, who appeared on the 2009 series of Celebrity Big Brother, said she ate four small, healthy meals every day and started jogging.
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She also focused on eating "lots of fruit, vegetables and protein", including plenty of spinach and fish, to help her feel fuller for longer.
"I was skipping meals and eating rubbish, and even with the band, I was putting on weight," Tina, who went from almost 20st at her heaviest to 7st 6lb at her lightest, told The Mirror.
"You need to eat well to get your nutrients and if you're eating just fat and sugar, you'll put on weight.
"A gastric band doesn't change your mind or your personality."
Also on her list of healthy living changes was quitting booze, drugs and smoking.
But eating well remains a constant battle as "you can't abstain from it", Tina, who played Mimi Maguire in Shameless, told Closer.
She also recommends cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) to help change your mindset when it comes to food, regular exercise to boost confidence, and not giving up if it takes a while to see results.
"Be persistent – you might have some months where you lose a stone and one month where you lose 3st," she said.
After losing so much weight, Tina, who went under the knife to remove her excess skin, now encourages others to follow in her footsteps.
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Speaking on This Morning, she said: "My advice is, if you can pay for acrylics and cigarettes, save up for a gastric band.
"Save your life. It has changed me as a person."
She added to Closer: "I’d tried every diet under the sun and healthy eating, but I just couldn’t keep the weight off.
"I got to the point where I was fed up of looking in the mirror and seeing a fat, ugly, sad woman.
"And honestly, the gastric band totally changed my life – and saved my life.
"It changed my habits to eat little and often, rather than gorging on big meals.
"I lost weight and became happier and healthier."
