Lucy Mecklenburgh was "addicted" to exercise.
The former ‘The Only Way Is Essex’ star – who runs her own fitness empire – has admitted that she reached a dangerous point with her weight just after she split from Mario Falcone in 2012.
She shared: "I was addicted to exercise. It wasn’t about being thin, but it made me happier so I’d do it a lot more.
"After that [photo] shoot I went shopping and properly looked at myself in the changing room mirror. I thought: ‘OK, I’m too thin. I need to put on weight,’ so I made a conscious effort to eat a bit more and not exercise as much.
"These days I still train hard – up to five times a week for half an hour to an hour at a time. It’s still a lot, but that’s what works for me, and I eat a lot more now. I think it’s very important to exercise regularly, I don’t feel good when I don’t. But I am not obsessive any more. I work out to stay fit and lean, not to lose weight."
The 23-year-old television personality – who is dating Olympic gymnast Louis Smith, 25 – also revealed she likes a man with a good physique but would never exercise alongside him because she’d "look horrendous".
She said: "I do like a good body, I must admit. I like them to work out. I wouldn’t want a lazy boy."
When asked if she’d work out with a partner, she added: "Sod that. You look horrendous when you exercise. I wouldn’t want to do that with my boyfriend!"
Despite being "really happy" in her new relationship with the "loveliest guy", Lucy has revealed that she has no plans on slowing down work-wise.
She told Fabulous magazine: "I want to be involved in my business … I love this life.
"Why should I change for someone else? Maybe it’s selfish, but why should I adapt my life when I don’t want to?"
Lucy Mecklenburgh’s exercise ‘addiction’
