!["Everyone should try no gluten for a week! The change in your skin, phyisical and mental health is amazing!"](http://cdn2-b.examiner.com/sites/default/files/styles/image_content_width/hash/7f/ff/1353698514_6414_Untitled.jpg?itok=ZRmsyowa ""Everyone should try no gluten for a week! The change in your skin, phyisical and mental health is amazing!"")
Singer Miley Cyrus celebrated her 20th birthday on Nov. 23, 2012, and is fitter and healthier than ever, thanks to a gluten-free diet and rigorous workouts.
The athletic 5-foot-5 Cyrus recently switched to a gluten- and lactose-free diet, which she credits for her recent weight loss.
"Everyone should try no gluten for a week!" she tweeted. "The change in your skin, physical and mental health is amazing! U won't go back!"
Miley, who's often photographed going to and from the gym in Los Angeles, recently defended her slimmer physique, insisting it was the result of a diet overhaul, and not anorexia.
"For everyone calling me anorexic, I have a gluten and lactose allergy," she said. "It's not about weight, it's about health."
Cyrus's Pilates teacher also defended Miley against critics who said she had gotten too thin. "I think people need to chill out," Mari Winsor, 61, told People. "She's healthy and she feels good, that's the main thing. She's smart about her body. She wanted to sculpt her body, that's all."
The leggy 5-foot-5 Miley does Pilates for an hour a day. "She works hard," said Winsor. "When this girl comes in, she is on fire. She's focused. She loves her abs, of course! She's young and she's got a beautiful body."
Although Cyrus has vehemently insisted she prefers a curvy, healthy body a stick-thin physique, her recent slim-down comes as she attempts to transition from child superstar to ingenue actress.
Ironically, just last year Miley was mocked on Twitter for gaining weight, prompting her to tweet to her 10.5 million followers:
"By calling girls like me fat, this is what you're doing to other people. I love MYSELF & If you could say the same you wouldn't be sitting on your computer trying to hurt others. I don't wanna be shaped like a girl. I LOVE being shaped like a WOMAN."
Despite her declarations, Miley has dramatically slimmed down since then (and looks amazing). Cyrus, who has had a personal trainer since age 14, also runs, strength-trains and does lots of crunches and lunges.
