Lisa Riley has opened up about some of the biggest advantages to her incredible 10 stone weight loss.
Speaking on ITV's Lorraine, she revealed her excitement about returning to the Strictly Come Dancing tour with her former partner on the show, Robin.
'I remember watching you on Strictly and the joy was infectious!' Lorraine exclaimed to Lisa. 'You looked so so happy to be there. I remember that catch when you lifted Robin, of course he can lift you with one hand now.'
'I know, don't tell anyone but that's the new thing,' Lisa laughed. 'Obviously the producers were like we've got to put the catch in, everyone wants me to lift Robin, and now I'm a lot smaller than I was, we were like "do you wanna have a go?"'
'He lifts me and the reaction we got in Bromley [their most recent stop on the tour], that was a real feel-good moment for myself as well,' Lisa confessed.
Lisa showing off her moves on the show
'You do look amazing, and you've done it properly,' Lorraine said. 'It’s taken a while, that's the way it should, it takes a wee while to pile it on so it's going to take a wee while to take it off. But just really healthy eating and all the dancing?'
'Yeah, all the dancing, lots of exercise, and of course, what you put in your body,' Lisa agreed. 'I don't go to the service station now and grab the crisps and the chocolate bar that I used to, I walk past it, and whether I am like a pre-programmed robot I don't know, I just don't see it anymore.'
'The alcohol was a big thing, I still don't drink, and I feel great in myself. After losing my mum I did have a dip, and now I just feel like I'm on a really good motorway, and I'm really happy in my life, my personal life, and it's like a jigsaw that comes together.'
'The more I have lost, it is a feel good thing, and you know that yourself,' she added, addressing Lorraine, who shed two stone herself in recent years. 'And what I love about you is you've got the Zumba classes, and it's so much fun! And I love that camaraderie that you have, if one of the girls in the group, she loses that 5lbs, we're like "go on girl", it's that real sisterhood together.'
Lisa has gone from a size 30 to a size 14
'They must be so proud of you,' Lorraine said. 'Obviously you should be proud of yourself, but they must be so proud of you.'
'They are, and when we're in the changing rooms getting ready for the classes, they're going "new jogging pants, new size" and I'm like "yes, get in!" and that's really nice.'
When asked by Lorraine what the absolute best thing about her weight loss was, Lisa replied 'People's reaction! 'I was at a christening three months ago and my auntie didn';t recognise me. I hadn't seen her for six months, and she was like "It's fallen off you!"'
'Everywhere I go people are like "How've you done it?" and it's not just what I would call a fad diet - they do not work, and I'm testament to that, they don't work. You've got to wake up and go "right, today's the day, I'm going to make change and it will be for my life, and that's how I live my life now"'.
She added that whilst the reactions are great, she also gets a kick out of being able to shop wherever she likes.
'Now I shop online, I go to the shops, because before I was a bit like "ohh, trying things on", but now I love it. And jeans, I can fit in jeans! I never would even contemplate wearing jeans cos it would make me look a lot lot wider.'
'It's the whole thing of if you've got it, flaunt it!'
