Bikini shoots help me stay slim : Eva Mendes

London: Hollywood actress Eva Mendes says that posing in bikinis give her the motivation to stay slim.

The 37-year-old actress who often has to strip for photo shoots, knows that her body must be in tip-top shape and so she does her best to stay away from junk food, reported Contactmusic. "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," said the stunning actress. Although she is very conscious about eating healthy and doing lots of exercise now, the `Hitch` star said it hasn`t always been that way. "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 litres 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," she added. PTI