Natalie Cassidy walks into the Closer shoot glowing with health and is the happiest we’ve seen her in recent years.
And she’s desperate to pass on the good advice that’s transformed her life and figure. That’s why she is the obvious choice for our Come Diet With Us! series, where we pair celebrity mentors with Closer readers to help them lose weight and tone up.
Natalie will help Sue Taylor, 30, and Amanda Simons, 24, to lose more than 5st between them and get the bodies they’ve always wanted. She will also be posting diet and exercise tips plus details of the girls’ diet plans on www.closeronline.co.uk so that you too can benefit from her advice.
Natalie, 29, says: “I want to help people who have struggled with their weight, like me. I’m a real woman with curves and I’ve found a realistic eating plan that works for me – Sue and Amanda can too.”
Meet the dieters - and watch Natalie introduce the plan below
“I need to completely change my lifestyle”
Nanny Sue Taylor
Age: 30
Height: 5ft 4
Weight: 13 stone 10lbs
Dress size: 16, sometimes 18 on top
Target: 10 stone, slim size 12
“Working a 57 hour week has really taken its toll on my body over the past few years. My size has always fluctuated, as with most women, but I would usually start to diet and exercise as soon as it crept over 11 stone. This time it’s gone too far, and before I agreed to this diet I just couldn’t see a way of getting it back under control.
My busy life as a nanny means I often don’t get home until 7 or 8pm, by which time I’m often too tired to cook and so just end up having an Indian takeaway with my boyfriend, Marcus Van Spall, 45.
My favourite is Chicken tikka koria, but we also sometimes have Macdonalds and other fast foods. On top of this, preparing the kid’s meals at work means I often snack on what I’m giving them without realizing, which adds to my calorie intake.
Bad habits die hard
A typical diet for me is no breakfast, a hummus and ham pitta bread for lunch, and I snack on crisps, sausage rolls or a Pepperami. I’ll then have a takeaway in the evening or, if I get home early enough, I’ll make moussaka.
I don’t really drink during the week, but I do enjoy alcohol and a few vodka and Diet Cokes on a Friday night. It’s my treat to myself after a long week.
In my early twenties I lost over two stone by doing weight watchers, but I got complacent and stopped exercising and so piled the weight back on. I also suffer from polycystic ovary syndrome, which makes you prone to weight gain, but I’m determined to overcome that.
This summer I’m going to Dubai with my boyfriend, and I want to be able to wear nice things. At the moment I wouldn’t dare wear a bikini, and would always cover up in a one piece or tankini that covers my wobbly tummy.
I’m excited to start the diet, and I feel like with Natalie’s help I’ll be able to change my attitude to diet and exercise for good.”
“I hate my mum tum and want to tone up”
Receptionist Amanda Simons
Age: 24
Height: 5ft 1
Weight: 10 stone
Dress size: 10-12
Target: 9 stone size 8
“I’ve always had a toned, flat stomach but after I had Alfie, now three, my body completely changed. I know I’m not massively overweight but I hate how big my bum and thighs are, and my wobbly tummy.
It’s just blubber now! I’m so self-conscious I always wear a tight top under everything to keep it all contained. I’d love to tone up and feel confident in clothes again, especially as I’m going to Global Gathering festival in the summer. I went last year but I covered up in baggy tops as I hate my body and it is making me depressed.
I’d like to eat healthy but as a single mum I’m short of time and often too busy or tired to cook for myself.
By the time I’ve fed Alfie and got him too bed it’s 8pm so I often just order a Chinese takeaway or chuck a ready meal in the oven. Before I became a mum I was on a tight budget so lived on plain chicken and rice, but I “ate for two” while pregnant and went up to a size 12-14.
Even though I walk everywhere I’ve struggled to lose the weight and tone up. I tried the juicing diet before but found it hard to keep up.
My daily diet is atrocious
A typical diet for me is a croissant for breakfast, if I eat anything, fried chicken and chips for lunch, then a Chinese for dinner. I have a really sweet tooth and eat way too much chocolate and biscuits. I can’t just eat one – I want the whole packet!
I know my on-the-go diet is making me lethargic and I’ve had stomach pains since October so my doctor has recommended I try cutting out gluten.
It’s hard to find the time to exercise with a toddler and I’m not very motivated to workout at home, but I’m hoping to the do the Race for Life this year. I’d like to do more running but I find my bum wobbles so much I feel really self conscious.
I find Natalie really inspiring because she looks so healthy and fit, and she knows what she’s talking about when it comes to weight loss. Josie Gibson also looks fantastic. I just want to feel confident again.”
Natalie's non-negotiables
Diet
Minimum 7 hours sleep a night
No booze in the week
Sunday is cheat day (or at least one meal is cheat)
No fizzy drinks apart from Diet Coke
Exercise four times a week – see below for Natalie's instructions on this!
No refined carbs – no white pasta, white bread or potatoes (sweet potatoes are ok)
Skimmed milk or soya milk
Make sure you ask yourself if you're really hungry, it's all about mindful eating
Exercise
Start by buying a skipping rope.
Find 20 mins at least four times a week.
Skip for 2 mins fast as you can, then do 20 sit-ups. Rest for 1 min.
Repeat skipping and sit-ups, adding 20 star jumps after next set. Rest 1 min.
Then skip for 2, 20 sit-ups, 20 star jumps and twenty punches forward. Rest for 1 min.
Repeat these all the way down to first one. Stretch out on floor and turn over onto all fours- arch back and breathe deeply until you feel all energised and happy happy!