Lisa Riley has lost an incredible 12 stone after overhauling her diet and exercise regime, and the Emmerdale star has shared the secrets behind her weight loss transformation

Emmerdale’s Lisa Riley has wowed fans with her incredible weight loss journey, shedding a whopping 12 stone.

The actress, best known for playing Mandy Dingle in the ITV soap, shared the diet and exercise plan that helped her lose the weight with her fans last year.

Lisa kick-started her weight loss journey during her time on Strictly Come Dancing in 2012, which boosted her metabolism. Speaking on Loose Women in 2016, she revealed: “I saw a difference dancing seven hours a day and then I just ate soup as I didn’t want all that food jiggling around while I danced,”

The star admitted it’s hard to recognise herself now, saying: “It’s hard for me to see my reflection now. I used to have a shelf from here to here and where’s that gone? It is insane. I looked so different before. I was happy before but now I am happy and proud. I needed to do it though. Who knows though. People can yo-yo diet.”

Lisa Riley’s healthy journey began during her time on Strictly Come Dancing ( 
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The Emmerdale actress has cut out carbs in the evening over recent years ( 
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The dedicated vegetarian also revealed she eats smaller portions and avoids eating after 6.30pm. She said: “I don’t believe in fad diets, even though I have tried them before. I have no food after 6.30pm. I only eat a carb if I need one and absolutely no bread or booze. The star has cut out bread and alcohol, and opts for a ‘fun’ Zumba class over the gym, as she finds the popular workout area rather “

Lisa has also swapped bread and booze for Zumba and healthy choices. Lisa, who cut out alcohol back in 2015 as a show of solidarity to her expecting friends, understood the caloric impact of drinking.

Chatting with The Mirror at that time, Lisa mentioned: “I realised there were lots of empty calories in booze so that is why I gave it up. If you add up through the week what I’d consume in alcohol calories it was mad.” Lisa joked about giving up alcohol for nine months along with her pregnant pals, but laughs that she hasn’t had a drink in nearly a year now.

Having shed an impressive 11 stone, Lisa opted for excess skin removal surgery in 2017, chatting to Mirror.co.uk three years on, stating: “People forget how gigantic I was. With the skin removal I lost twelve stone, one pound. The surgeon chopped off one stone, four pounds. Since then my weight has more or less stayed the same.”

In Lisa Riley’s Baggy Body Club, her 2017 TV documentary, Lisa shared her worries regarding her appearance after the major weight loss. She confessed: “When I made the decision to lose weight, I never for one second imagined that I would end up looking like that.”

The celebrity shared: “It never occurred to me that the loose skin would be so bad. I thought why on earth have I lost all this weight? I looked worse than I did when I was obese. And it was the pain as well. The skin was flapping about and dragging.”

After overcoming her initial fears, the 47 year old decided to undergo four surgeries to fix her loose skin. She had a fleur de lis tummy tuck, got rid of ‘bingo wings’, had a boob lift, and removed excess skin from her thighs.Now fully recovered, Lisa is thrilled with her new look and told the Mirror she’s not shy about wearing “sexy little sets” of underwear anymore. She also said: “I had never been able to wear sexy underwear, before it was all just functional, mumsy bras and big knickers. Now I can wear little sexy sets. On the train from Manchester to London, the old me would have had a coffee, baguette, red wine, crisps, and a cake. Now I plan my meals and order a sparkling water, people can’t believe it.”