Lisa Riley, is best known for playing Mandy Dingle in Emmerdale as a guest appearance on the show in 1995 and joined the regular cast permanently in 1996. She left in 2001, however later returned in 2019. She has recently opened up about her battle with her weight and confidence. Lisa - who has gone from a dress size 28 to a size 14 - has been showing off her weight loss on social media and it hasnt gone unnoticed by fans, with many flooding her Instagram photos with comments.

The Emmerdale star said she now looks at old photos of herself and asks whos that girl as she no longer recognises her old self.

Lisa slimmed down after giving up alcohol and junk food in 2012, but was left with a huge amount of excess skin.

The actress relied on a simple trick to slim down. At the beginning of her weight loss journey, Lisa watched her portion sizes and has now added a minimum of 30 minutes of exercise a day to her lifestyle.

Opening up about her decision to lose weight, Lisa told the Mirror: I started thinking about my own health.

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People forget how gigantic I was. With the skin removal I lost 12 stone, one pound.

The surgeon chopped off one stone, four pounds. Since then my weight has more or less stayed the same.

Commenting on her new diet, Lisa added: Now, for lunch I eat either a bowl of soup or a plain jacket potato. Im never going to be a size 28 again.

The actress is known for playing Mandy Dingle in Emmerdale, but the soap has been suspended temporarily because of the coronavirus outbreak and Lisa is currently self-isolating at home.

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Over the weekend, Lisa shared a selfie, encouraging her followers to stay at home.

The sun is shining but I beg you PLEASE stay inside and respect the lives of EVERYONE.

Last year she shared a clip of her workout routine on a cruise with Strictly Come Dancing.

She captioned the video, which showed her sweating as she worked out on a machine: So here I am doing what I do best working out HARD.

Fans soon commented on the Instagram video as they encouraged her on her fitness journey.

You really are enjoying exercise, one comment read.

Wow you are so beautiful. A second added.

In 2012, the soap star shared her secret to maintaining her new weight loss.

I was the classic over-eater but I have completely changed my attitude towards food, said Lisa, whose favourite foods were crisps, crumpets, white bread and pasta.

I used to go out for a meal and have a starter, main and pudding. No wonder I was gaining weight.

Lisa Rileys Honesty Diet book was released last year and retails at 16.99. The diet plan came out on top five weeks running as the cheapest way to lose weight on ITVs Save Money: Lose Weight - costing just 11.79 for every pound lost.

Lisas Honesty Diet focuses on eating lots of fresh food and working out, with the focus on enjoying what youre eating and being as inexpensive as possible.

In 2017 she filmed a documentary detailing her weight loss titled Lisas Baggy Body Club.

Speaking in the film, she said: I feel like a balloon thats had all its helium taken out.

This encouraged her to open up about the battle on her ITV documentary. The actress underwent a tummy tuck, surgery to remove the loose skin from her thighs and the removal of excess skin on her arms.

Despite the tummy luck leaving scars behind, Lisa shared that it was worth it to get rid of the saggy skin.

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Lisa Riley weight loss: Emmerdale stars strict diet that led to losing 12 stone - Express.co.uk