Cara Kilbey: ‘I’ve finally got a toned, flat tummy!’
“My weight had crept up a little and seeing myself on TV made me feel insecure about my body”
Age: 24
Weight Before: 10st 10lbs
Size Before: 12
Weight after: 10st 2lbs
Size After: 10
Total weight loss: 8lbs
Looking at TOWIE’s Cara Kilby’s amazing hourglass figure, you’d never believe she’s struggled with body confidence. But Cara, 24, admits that, until a month ago, she was unhappy with her shape.
“I’ve got big hips and I didn’t like my love handles and wobbly tummy,” she says. “My weight had crept up a little and seeing myself on TV made me feel insecure about my body.”
To help Cara feel more confident, Closer put her – and best mate Billi – on a one-month shape-up plan. She’s now gone from a size 12 to a 10 and lost 8lbs in four weeks after following our Tummy Toner exercise plan and the Feed
Your Face diet book, which includes bloat-busting food and drink like flaxseeds and cranberry juice.
And the star says she’s finally happy with her figure : “I feel great about my body now – I’m proud of myself for losing weight.”
Cara, who gains weight around her middle, felt constantly bloated thanks to her love of savoury snacks and white bread. Her old diet included poached eggs and a bagel for breakfast, chicken panini for lunch, and steak and chips for dinner, plus endless cups of tea and Diet Coke.
Cara, who admits she’s considered liposuction in the past, says: “Being on TV makes you find fault with your figure.”
Her new diet consists of fruit smoothies for breakfast, turkey salad for lunch and dishes like salsa chicken for dinner
Her new diet consists of fruit smoothies for breakfast, turkey salad for lunch and dishes like salsa chicken for dinner.
She also drinks lots of water and snacks on seeds and cherry tomatoes. Eating fewer carbs meant Cara’s tummy appeared flatter almost instantly, and she no longer felt lethargic.“I’ve got lots more energy now,” she says.
But Cara admits that sticking to her diet wasn’t easy. “When you work long hours, it’s hard to come home and make a salad for the next day,” she says. “But once I saw the diet was working, I felt more motivated.”
As part of her training for running the London Marathon with Billi in April, Cara ran for 45-60 minutes twice a week. To blitz her tum, she also did two hour-long gym sessions a week, doing rowing, cycling and weights.
She says: “I’ve also been doing two sets of 15 sit-ups and doing the plank (an ab-strengthening exercise) at home to tone my stomach.”
Cara’s delighted with her new body, and says: “I’ve finally got a flat tummy and feel great in a bikini!”
Billi Mucklow: ‘I can’t wait to show off my pins in sexy shorts!’
Leg Blaster plan: Billi wanted toned legs so she followed diet book The Eat, Drink And Be Gorgeous Project by Esther Blum and worked out
Despite doing regular Bikram yoga (she’s a qualified teacher), her weight had crept up and plateaued at 10 1/2st and she was struggling to fit a healthy diet around her TOWIE schedule
Age: 24
Height: 5ft 6
Weight Before: 10 1/2 st
Size Before: 12
Weight after: 10st
Size After: 10
Total weight loss: 7lbs
Weighing her heaviest ever at 10 1/2st
TOWIE star Billi Mucklow was desperate to tone up her legs so that she’d feel more confident wearing a bikini. Billi had tried several diets over the years and was her skinniest at 8 1/2st three years ago after a low-calorie diet.
But, despite doing regular Bikram yoga (she’s a qualified teacher), her weight had crept up and plateaued at 10 1/2st and she was struggling to fit a healthy diet around her TOWIE schedule.
So single Billi, 24, who used to date Cara’s brother, Tom Kilbey, 21, did Closer’s Leg Blaster workout plan, which included exercises to tone her pins, fast. She’s now lost half a stone and gone from a size 12 to a 10 in four weeks. “My skin is glowing and I can’t wait to show off my slim pins in sexy shorts this summer,” says Billi.
“This Closer plan has been amazing.” Billi also followed diet book The Eat, Drink And Be Gorgeous Project, which has easy-to-make meals to fit around her busy lifestyle, plus treats to satisfy her sweet tooth.
She says: “It involves eating a low-carb, low-calorie diet, but it allows you treats, like a hot chocolate, in the morning. The idea is that if you have a treat then, you have a positive start to the day, and won’t binge on junk food later.
” Billi has ditched her old diet, swapping her breakfast of crumpets with butter and Marmite for a low-fat egg-white omelette. Her old lunch of jacket potato with cheese is now a chicken salad, and instead of pasta dinners, she fills up on spicy chicken and veg.
To slim her legs, Billi did runs with Cara to train for the Marathon and hit the gym for an hour twice a week
To slim her legs, Billi did runs with Cara to train for the Marathon and hit the gym for an hour twice a week, where she spent 15 minutes on the exercise bike then did leg-toning exercises such as squats, squat thrusts and lunges with weights, doing two sets of 15 reps for each.
Billi says: “It’s been great. My legs and bum were killing me after every gym session!”
But she admits there were occasions she wanted to ditch the diet and exercise.
“At times, Cara and I were exhausted,” she says. “But we still made ourselves go out for a quick run anyway.” Billi, who’s 5ft 6, has now gone from 10 1/2st to 10st and loves her new shape, saying: “I feel so good now – I love how my legs have changed in so little time.”
And she has encouraging advice for any Closer readers who are intimidated by exercise. “Don’t be scared,” she says. “Try everything to find out what you like –Zumba classes, Bikram yoga, jogging. And dieting is all about balance. You don’t have to be miserable when you’re on a diet!”