'Fat actress' Kirstie Alley drops pounds for Jenny Craig ads

Alley, who has starred in a string of movies and is best known for playing Rebecca Howe in 'Cheers' during six years on the show, was on the Jenny Craig diet for eight months and is now showing the world the results in ads created by JWT.

Alley took up the Jenny Craig challenge in January and has been documenting her struggle to lose weight on the diet firm's website.

"Yeah! Victory! Victory! I lost almost 4lbs last week! I was really on top of my game! I increased my exercise -- I started with long walks and then yesterday I pumped it up to my circuit workout -- I even took a LONG walk which actually turned into a 'HIKE'' through the woods. I've learned something really important -- I need to rest and sleep well. I think this really, really, really helps the weight loss process," Alley wrote in her most recent entry.

Alley's fight with weight has been played out over a number of years and in a number of television shows, culminating in the show 'Fat Actress' where she lampooned her size.

In the ads, which are running on US TV and in magazines, Alley says: "It's like giving birth to a kindergartener" as a small boy bounces by on a space hopper

The new ad campaign follows one Alley made when she became the brand's spokeswoman in January. In that ad, Alley was talking aloud to Jenny Craig, the 72-year-old founder of the Jenny Craig company, telling her: "Jenny, I'm fat!"

Jenny Craig is similar to companies like the now defunct Atkins Nutritional in that it not only espouses weight loss, but sells a range of products for dieters.

Scott Parker, vice-president of marketing for Jenny Craig, said: "It teaches people to eat smaller portions more frequently."

As well as NBC's 'Cheers', Alley has starred in another NBC show 'Veronica's Closet', the 'Look Who's Talking' movies with John Travolta, and Woody Allen's 'Deconstructing Harry'. She got her big screen break in 'Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan'.

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