Eva Mendes says posing in her underwear gives her the motivation to stay slim.

The stunning actress often has to strip off for sexy photo shoots so knows her body must be in tip-top shape, meaning she does her best to stay away from junk food.

She said: "My job requires me to do a lot of underwear and bikini shoots. That's what encourages me to put the chocolate-chip cookies down."

Although she is very conscious of eating healthily and doing lots of exercise now, the 37-year-old beauty says it hasn't always been that way.

She told Britain's InStyle magazine: "I never cared about exercise or what I was eating until I got into my 20s and then I started to really get into it. I just wasn't feeling good, so I started eating well, working out and going from drinking no water - ever - to up to three liters a day. All the stuff that I didn't do as a kid. Ever since, I've really believed in the beauty philosophy of starting from within and it kinda changed my life."

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