Britney Spears says she has never been healthier.The “Toxic” singer, who recently showed off her toned body in a skimpy bikini while on holiday in Mexico, revealed her fantastic new figure is down to a strict high-protein diet.

She told America’s OK! magazine: “I’m the healthiest I’ve been all my life.”

“My diet has a lot to do with my getting into shape. I have no sugar. I don’t eat fruit or even fruit juice because of the sugar.”

“I eat chicken and salmon and rice. I eat avocados.”

“I’ll have egg whites for breakfast and sometimes turkey burgers for lunch.”

“I try to do just 1,200 calories a day. It may sound like it’s not much, but it’s actually a lot of food if you eat the right things.”

Britney has also embarked on a new exercise regime and has been doing “lots of cardio and weights” five times a week.

Meanwhile, it has been claimed the 26-year-old singer is going to try to regain full custody of her two sons, Sean Preston, two and 23-month-old Jayden James.

Britney is believed to have visited celebrity lawyer Barry Tarlow’s office with her mother Lynne on Tuesday (August 19, 2008).

She is reportedly determined to get her sons back in the next six to nine months.

Britney currently has two visits and one overnight stay with her children, while her ex-husband Kevin Federline has primary custody.

A hearing has been scheduled for September 16.

Britney’s custody battle has so far cost her an estimated $700,000 in legal bills.

Paris Hilton has defended Britney Spears against accusations of bad parenting, insisting the troubled singer is a “great mother”. Spears is currently fighting to win back visitation rights to see her two sons with ex-husband Kevin Federline after she was stripped of all custody rights following a stand-off with police earlier this month (Jan08).

The dramatic events of 3 January (08) were sparked after she refused to hand back her youngest son, Jayden James, to Federline’s minder following a scheduled visit. But Hilton sympathises with her former partying pal, and has called on the media to stop harassing the star.

She tells E! News, “I wish the best for her (Spears) and I just wish everyone would leave her alone so she could live her life. “She’s a great mother and a great girl and I really care about her. She’s a very sweet girl and I love her to death.”