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IN a figure-hugging party frock for the first time in her life, Lisa Riley couldn’t believe she was actually looking at her own reflection in the mirror.
After shedding 12 stone the actress had finally ditched the tent-like dresses she had worn for years and was rocking a glitzy size 12 outfit that clung to her newly-toned curves in all the right places.
And now she wants to help Daily Star readers et party dress ready in time for Christmas, just ike she did, so you too can feel a million dollars in he dress of their dreams. Lisa, 42, says: Wearing a size 12 dress for the first ime in my life was honestly the most mazing feeling.
“I wish I could bottle it and share it ut with everyone. But I truly believe if can do it, anyone can.
“I was obese, had a dreadful diet, rank too much and was filled with selfoathing. I was a complete over-eater nd emotional eater. I would eat when I was happy and eat when I was sad.
“But I decided that instead of feeling orry for myself and making up excuses had to do something about it and turn hose negatives into positives.
“And believe me, once you start seeing esults it becomes addictive.
“As my dress sizes started to drop and my choice of clothes grew, it spurred me on to keep going.”
Sagging
In the first part of Lisa’s party ress diet, she reveals how her own xperience can help you drop a festive rock size.
But the change in her outward appearnce isn’t the only positive that Lisa’s ealthy new lifestyle has brought. She says she is also much happier mentally and feels her body has finally ettled at the size that she should’ve een all her life.
And Lisa is also celebrating a return o Emmerdale, 17 years after viewers ast saw her as Mandy Dingle. She will o back to the village for a self-contained toryline in the new year.
It will be a very different looking Lisa eturning to the show, however. After her drastic weight-loss and corrective surgery to remove the ugly sagging skin she had been left with, fans worried that Loose Women star Lisa had gone too far.
She says: “I had probably replaced my addiction to food with an addiction to minimising food and exercising too much.”
She also doesn’t worry about what size the labels say in the clothes she buys. She explains: “I was a size 28 and now I love the shape of my body.
“I know I will never go back to the old me. Some of my clothes are a 12, some are a 14 and I couldn’t care less.
“From the age of about 14 I could never shop on the High Street – that is 25 years of my life I was limited to what I could wear. Now I know I can walk into any shop and know that I can buy any item and it will fit me.
“I can’t tell you how good that makes me feel.
“But when I got down to a size 12 I felt I didn’t look right. My face felt a bit gaunt – I’m not built to be stick-thin. Now I feel that my body is the right size and shape for me – I am toned everywhere.
“Like everyone, I still have my problem areas. I call mine my ‘back mushroom’, that fat above the bra strap that no amount of diet and exercise will shift. I haven’t ruled out further surgery to sort it out. But overall I am happy and I have learned how to dress for my shape and flatter my figure.
“The best compliment I have had is when someone said I had legs like Serena Williams! That makes me so proud because I know how hard I have worked to achieve it.”
Lisa finally feels that she can maintain her new look and lifestyle forever – and knows how you can, too. “It’s been a complete change of mindset and I know I can sustain this for life,” she explains. “The number one question people ask me all the time is how do I maintain my weight? Why haven’t I put it all back on?
“That answer is easy – it is because I feel good in my clothes for the first time in my life. I am fitter and healthier than I have ever been, both physically and
Booze
“Alcohol is empty calories,” she says. “Cutting out the booze had a massive impact on helping me to shed the pounds.
“Even if you can stop boozing between now and December when the parties all start it will give you a huge kick-start.”
One of the biggest diet changes Lisa has made was to cut out carbs.
While her favourite foods used to be white bread, crumpets, crisps and pasta, she now only eats carbs before 1.30pm and makes lunch her main meal of the day, with a lighter dinner before 7pm.
She says: “I know if you are feeling down that huge bar of Dairy Milk will make you feel better at the time, but now I know that doing an exercise class or treating myself to some new sexy underwear makes me feel much better for longer.
“If you follow my plan and change the way you think about food you will be able to fit into that dream dress for Christmas, relax and enjoy the festivities, then get back to it in the new year and still fit into the same dress or even a smaller one by Easter Sunday.”
Lisa Riley’s Lose Weight For Life published by Penguin is available now.