Claire King: How I dropped a dress size.. with the help of Drive PT.
See how Tom Clough of Drive PT helped Actress Claire King get in shape for her latest fitness DVD using exactly the same principals we use with every client.
Claire King: How I dropped a dress size.. and a decade It was at her weekly girls' lunch that actress Claire King decided she was in need of a dramatic body overhaul.
Feeling frumpy and overweight, Claire, best known for playing Emmerdale superbitch Kim Tate, observed the women around her showcasing surgically enhanced bodies.
But rather than follow their lead straight to the operating table, Claire made the decision to do it the old fashioned way. She embarked on a grueling fitness and healthy-eating regime in her bid to turn back time.
Claire, 45, reveals: "I was at this lunch and all around me were women with boob jobs, who'd had liposuction, facelifts and trout pouts.
"And there was me feeling saggy and wrinkly, with the weight creeping up day by day. It's been that way since I turned 40. It almost happened overnight!"
Claire, a self-confessed gym dodger, teamed up with fitness trainer Tom Clough of Drive Personal Training and they set about creating a flexible programme to do anywhere.
"The gym is so boring," says Claire. "Plus, not everyone can afford it. So I decided I wanted to create something you could do at home, or anywhere where you have a DVD player.
"When I met Tom I told him I'm no good at aerobics so I wanted something that was simple. So we started using the 'tension technique'. It's a way of toning up your muscles by concentrating and tensing.
"It looks after your stomach, thighs, legs, bingo wings - every woman's nightmare bits!"
Starting in February this year, Claire spent just 10 weeks training with Tom Clough and also stuck to a balanced diet. "I combined a sensible eating plan with the exercise," she explains. "It was all quite obvious - I still had plenty of food but I just ate well."
Claire's dedication has certainly paid off - through doing her DVD three times a week she's dropped a dress size and now wears a size eight bottom and 10 top.
She has dropped a stone, now tipping the scales at 9st and says regular exercise and a good diet has meant she feels mentally more alert, too.
"Friends have really noticed and even asked me if I've had lypo, which is brilliant," she says.
Now Claire, who is pictured on 60ft billboards across the country showing off her new bikini body to advertise her DVD, can't wait to get into her two-piece and hit the beach this summer.
"The bikini is back on," she grins. "It was getting to the stage where I was thinking 'Should a lady my age still be wearing bikinis?' But rot to that, if you're body is good enough, you should!
"Now I've shaped up, I know that I can walk round feeling confident.
"I saw one of my bikini adverts in Leeds and, although I was a bit embarrassed at first, I did think, 'Not bad for an old bird!' "I think I look better than in my 20s, so I am very proud!"
mirror.co.uk 12-5-08