Lily Allen: 'Doctors ordered me to lose weight after diagnosing heart murmur'

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Allen, 22, sparked concern when she shed 19lbs and dropped from a size 12 to an eight in just six weeks.

But Miss Allen, who topped the charts with Smile, said the weight came off when she was told the "scary" news that she had the heart condition.

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Wow: Lily shows off her slim figure after doctors suggested she diet to keep healthy

She told a magazine: "I found out I had a heart murmur about three months ago. I had switched doctors and just went for a routine check up, which is when they discovered I had this irregular murmur.

"I have been asthmatic all my life, but this was really quite scary. When they asked me how much exercise I did, I had to be honest and say hardly any."

And it was that medical discovery that turned her life on its head.

Allen said: "I make sure I work out three times a week now, and I don't hold back. It's a hardcore routine and I'm usually in the gym for at least an hour-and-a-half.

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Then: Lily in April wearing unflattering jeans before she dropped from a size 12 to eight

"I used to love nothing more than sitting in front of the telly with two packets of Ginger Nuts and two bags of milk bottle sweets - and I'd devour the lot.

"But this heart thing has made me cut back on all that kind of crap. I now find that, because I am looking after myself, I don't feel like eating the bad stuff so much."

She told Grazia magazine: "I really want to stress that I haven't done this because I want to become some skinny minnie - I will never be like that.

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Now and then: Lily Allen showed off her leaner look at Fashion Rocks

"I just like being more toned, it has made me really happy and I know I will never be super skinny because I would never be happy.

"I don't understand people who are crazy thin and deprive themselves, they must be miserable.

"I was going pretty crazy back in the summer, drinking way too much and partying loads.

"But now I don't want to drink so much, I've been cutting back. I should also give up smoking, but haven't quite managed that yet."

A heart murmur, a quiet rushing sound that a doctor hears in the heart with a stethoscope, is often harmless but can also indicate a hole in the heart or a heart valve problem.

Tony Blair had to go into hospital when he was Prime Minister for treatment for a heart murmur after feeling palpitations.

Allen, who is dating Chemical Brothers performer Ed Simons, 37, recently revealed she wants to make only one more album before retiring at 25 to start a family.