Martine McCutcheon won over fans as Natalie in the Christmas classic Love Actually, and while she’s starred in countless movies and shows since, the actress has instead garnered headlines over the last few years speaking out about her health. She’s been praised for openly talking about her lyme disease, chronic fatigue syndrome, fibromyalgia and other invisible illnesses she suffers from.
Amid her health woes, the former EastEnders star started to gain weight as she found it hard to figure out just what would work for her after she welcomed her baby boy Rafferty in 2015 with her former husband Jack McManus, who she split from earlier this year . The Hollywood actress buckled down for a few years, in the grips of motherhood, and when she resurfaced the star stunned fans with a staggering 21 inches shed off her waist.
In 2021, Martine credited the Cambridge Diet Plan with her new form and declared that she’d ditched the “crazy diets”. She told Best Magazine at the time according to the Mirror: “I just feel like it’s really important to encourage women to just be the best version of themselves.”
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As part of the diet plan, Martine eats a number of different types of vegetables and keeps her snacking to fruits mostly. However, she still has space and allowance for some treats.
Martine McCutcheon lost a staggering 21 inches using the Cambridge Diet Plan -Credit:GETTY
She explained: “80% of my week, I will mainly have just healthy proteins, vegetables and fruit, organic and veggie juices. And then I’ll have treats 20 percent of the time.” Because of her lyme disease, Martine needed a slow and steady approach to weight loss as many diets in the past had simply completely failed for her.
The Cambridge Diet Plan, also known as the 1:1 plan, connects people wanting to lose weight with consultants who can set out a meal plan specifically tailored to their needs and goals. The Cambridge Weight Plan group also provides the weight loss food products for these meal plans.
Martine isn’t the only celebrity to be singing its praises as glamour model Jennifer Ellison has been crediting it with her slender figure since 2014 when she first lost two stone in two months. However her weight loss news sparked some controversy when it was revealed that she had been limited to eating just 800 calories a day on the plan, while the NHS recommends 2,000 calories a day.
While some, like Martine, have experienced great success through the diet due to the one-on-one support and advice they receive that helps to combat the ailments preventing them from losing weight on their own, others have been very critical. Nutritionist Lauren Windas warned Marie Claire readers that the plan can be “extreme” and “overly restrictive”, noting that while it can see some short-term results it may not be sustainable and could cause side effects like thinning hair and dizziness.