The Emmerdale favourite has lost 76kg – 12 stone – over a prolonged period of 10 years and said she did so with a combination of changing habits to become her healthiest self.
She revealed before entering the jungle that she began her healthier lifestyle in 2015 and really ramped up her self care action in 2017.
Speaking on This Morning, Riley said she had reduced her snacking, swapped takeaways for home cooked meals and incorporated gym workouts to her daily routine.
The 49 year old said: “What happened was I decided to lose weight for me. Everything I had tried previously didn’t work. I did Slimming World, [but] all those sorts of things didn’t work for me, probably because I wasn’t being honest and dedicated to myself. I just did it for me and I was patient and I had to realise all the mistakes I had made year after year.”
Here are some of the tips she gave for losing weight sustainably.
Keeping track of food intake
Lisa revealed she has logged her nutrition, not only to make sure she is sticking to calories, but to make sure she is getting enough of food groups such as protein and fibre.
She said it helped her “get a more accurate, realistic gauge of what she was consuming” while also helping her to “identify the days when she wasn’t making the healthiest choices”.
Overhauling her diet played a huge part in her dropping eight dress sizes.
Speaking during another This Morning appearance, she said breaking the habit on food choices was a difficult one to grasp.
She admitted choosing the wrong options for many years left her in a cycle which she couldn’t break: “My vice is crisps – that’s the one thing I find it hard to say no to.”
Lisa Riley at the Inside Soap Awards 2024 (Jeff Moore/PA)
PA Wire
Lisa admitted lunch before would be a sandwich crisps and a fizzy drink with snack options normally easy to grab chocolate bars, sandwiches or cereal.
She added: “I have made better choices and reduced my portion sizes.”
Now her diet includes more nutrient-dense options and fresh food. Breakfast often consists of porridge and honey; lunch could be butternut squash soup with oatcakes; and dinner is cod with roasted vegetables. Snacks include nuts, fruit and coffee.
Another vice for Lisa was alcohol.
And so she has quit the drinking and left it to special occasions only.
She said it also affected her food choices the next day.
She said: “Alcohol was my comfort blanket. The Malbec I love would be accompanied by feel-good food the next day – bread that was swimming in butter.”
Another component of Lisa’s healthier lifestyle has been finding an exercise routine that works for her.
She has posted on social media about enjoying yoga for helping her stay active and improving her mental health.
She said: “Crazy crazy busy day… now to quieten my brain and let everything go I’ve got my private yoga session… just what’s needed…and the end of the day. Namaste.”
Lisa Riley starred in Fat Friends on ITV1 Network in 2002
Lisa also enjoys cardio workouts and HIIT training at home, as well as hitting the gym most days of the week.
She told Prima: “The reason I love love love going to the gym at least five/six times a week…because I know when I look like I do in my little video….then I have pushed myself to the max….and my quote is “sweat is fat crying.”
As well as doing the physical work, she says it is important to look after your mental health.
And that includes not beating yourself up about the scale number.
She said: “You can tell if you’ve lost weight because your clothes – and common sense – will tell you, so don’t hop on and off the scales 10 times a day.”
