It's hard to imagine the perfectly formed Jessica Alba ever battling with her weight but that's exactly what the new mother claimed happened following the birth of her first child.

From the outside, Jessica appeared to snap straight back into shape after welcoming daughter Honor in June last year.

But the actress says she found shedding her pregnancy pounds so tough that she broke down in tears at the gym.

In a bid to drop weight in super-quick time, Jessica spent gruelling hours in the gym and even wore a girdle to help slim her tummy.

A toned and trim Jess on the beach in Los Cabos, Mexico, just three months after giving birth

The 27-year-old tells Elle, "(The workouts) were horrible. I cried. And I haven't worked out since.

"Eight weeks after my girlfriend had her baby, you could see her six-pack. She told me to put an elastic band about my waist - any kind of band or girdle works, but I didn't recover as fast as she did."

See more new mums ditching their bumps - and then some - below