Lose Weight For Life With Lisa Riley The secret to her success
TV personality Lisa has dropped from a size 28 to a 12 and wants to help us transform our own bodies
What’s the best thing about your weight loss?
Shopping and underwear! And wearing clothes that I never believed I could ever fit into. I have a real joy in fashion now. I was in Palma when I was obese and couldn’t buy any of the lovely clothes, then 4 weeks ago I was there again and bought the most beautiful purple top. I came out thinking, Wow, what an achievement! I’ll never tire of the feeling I got when I walked into that boutique.
What helped you slim?
My honesty diary. I write down every single thing I eat and every feeling I have about food, whether good, bad or indifferent. I don’t eat after 6.30pm so sometimes I have to work at planning meals, for instance if I’m working late. And sometimes I’ll be in a hurry and that almond croissant is winking at me because that’s the quick fix, but I know I’ll have to write it down in my diar y so that helps me resist.
How long did it take to reach a size 12?
I keep stressing you must have patience and embrace the fact that month by month the clothes will continue to get smaller. It took me two years to lose 12 stones. A lady I met through work face-timed me recently to say she was in Tesco tr ying on clothes and had gone from a size 28 to a 20. She was so happy!
How do you find willpower to resist fattening food?
I have the Timehop App on my iPhone with a full folder of photographs of “obese Lisa” to remind myself! I’ll go out to an exercise class or aqua fit instead. I don’t hold the magic wand of willpower, I can’t give that to you, it is something that you have to work at and you will gain more of as you lose weight.
What do you find hardest to resist?
Crisps! It’s best to just not to go down that aisle in the supermarket. A good tip is to shop online because then your brain can’t wander. When you’re out shopping you have got everything you need and all of a sudden you have this chocolate surrounding you. Before you know it you’re grabbing it and putting it into your trolley. I was the ultimate grabber when I wasn’t necessarily hungry.
What other dangers can we avoid?
In the 8-day kick-start eating plan in my new book Lose Weight For Life we don’t do any snacking. One trick is to have a couple of pints of water and I swear the pang will go away.
How can we lose weight for life?
I wanted my book to be like a friend that’s with you when things are tough, to share the things that have kept me on track because I know what you are going through. These rules, and the ones I wrote about in my Honesty Diet, are for your head as well as your body. There are days even now when I see myself as obese Lisa, but I’m not, I am this girl in my new skin and enjoying ever y minute of it. It’s about eating well, moving around more and changing your attitude towards food for life. It takes time and patience.
What advice do you have for others?
Don’t ever be bullied into losing weight. You can talk to your friends and you can talk to your family but always do it for you. You shouldn’t feel like you have been forced into something. Healthy eating will become part of your life, like it is part of my life and forever will be.