Lisa Riley: "I was the fat, funny one – I never dreamed I'd be a size 12"

The former Emmerdale actress has lost a whopping 12 stone 7lbs in the last year and a half, an achievement that has left her glowing with health and happiness.

But it hasn't been easy, a point that the 41-year-old, currently wowing audiences in panto at The Wolverhampton Grand, makes repeatedly in a new book about her diet journey.

She has gone from a size 28 to a slender size 12, and admits that she only had herself to blame for taking so long to make the transformation. The book is called The Honesty Diet because it wasn't until she stopped lying to herself that she was able to lose weight, she says.

She confesses she always kept a Warburtons white loaf in the bread bin which she would eat toasted and swimming in butter. Breakfast would be four slices followed by a bowl of Coco Pops.

At work she would have a cheese and onion toastie with chips and a can of Tango but when the snack trolley came round during filming, she would down a prawn sandwich as well as doughnuts and cakes.

Crisps were also a weakness – "I could polish off a tube of Pringles in minutes, and go back for more" – and she always had a few bags of sweets on the go.

Pasta and garlic bread were particular favourites. At a restaurant she never ate fewer than three courses, plus sides and a bottle of Malbec, followed by a chocolate dessert and milky coffee. Even then, she would often stop on the way home for Pringles and chocolate to eat in front of the TV.

She says: "I can't stress enough how much of a game changer it was for me when I acknowledged what I was eating on a daily basis.

"Once I was realistic about the fact I was the one who had made - and was keeping - myself fat, I was able to start making real, substantial changes.

"It's so important to write things down and face them. Over the years, I'd told so many lies to myself about losing weight, I'd completely deafened myself with them. I'd got used to being different from other people and labelling myself the 'fat, funny one'.

"Until I recognized that the only person I was lying to about the mess I'd got myself into was me, I couldn't move on."

She started by writing an 'honesty diary' in which she wrote down each day what time I ate, what she ate, why she ate it and how it made her feel. Each night she wrote a brief summary of her day, and went to sleep holding an image in her head of what she wanted to look like.

"You write down every little thing you eat so it's in front of you in black and white. Any time you feel up or down, you make a note of it. I shed a fair few tears in those early days, I can tell you. Then, later on down the line, they turned to tears of joy."

Now she breakfasts on porridge with honey, and enjoys butternut squash soup with oatcakes for lunch. A favourite meal in the evening is garlic and chilli cod with roasted spinach and cauliflower, while for snacks she will turn to almonds or cashew nuts and fruit.

She never skips a meal but won't eat after 6.30pm and takes regular exercise.

She warns anyone inspired by her example it won't be easy but it will be worth it. "I’m not one of those people who’s going to say you can eat chocolate and ice cream and still drop pounds because that’s simply not true. If you're overweight, you're probably eating too much."

Following her weight loss, the actress had surgery to remove the excess skin she was left with as a result, and has a new man in her life.

She says now: "Dieting will always be a way of life for me now. People notice all the time that I’m careful but that is because I have to be.

"I am walking, talking, smiling evidence that with the right guidance, determination and self-belief – and a healthy dose of willpower – you can be the size you’ve always wanted to be.

"Back when I was delving into my wardrobe and pulling out size 28 clothes, I never dreamed I’d be able to walk into a shop and pick up a size 12 knowing it would fit me.

"But now that’s my reality every time I buy new clothes. And my God, I love it."

* Lisa Riley’s Honesty Diet is published by Michael Joseph, price £16.99.