Emmerdale's Mandy Dingle, played by Lisa Riley, shared her real-life journey from a 12-stone weight loss to dealing with painful side effects.
The actress wowed fans when she revealed she'd slimmed down from a size 28 to a size 12 over 18 months, swapping takeaways for gym workouts and healthy meals.
However, Lisa's transformation was just the start of her journey to body confidence. Her weight loss left her feeling like a "saggy mess" with uncomfortable skin folds, leading her to undergo four surgeries.
In her 2017 documentary,
– where cameras followed her journey for seven months –the soap star confessed she felt "revolted" by her own image.
Lisa, 47, remembered: " When I made the decision to lose weight, I never for one second imagined that I would end up looking like that. 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."
Lisa, who last year shared an emotional tribute to her beloved mum, 10 years after her death from cancer, said: "When you are on this weight loss journey, food becomes the enemy and you have to go to the gym, you have to move. But the movement was becoming a severe problem. It really hurt, it rubbed and it would get red, and it was hard to clean between the folds."
Despite having support from loved ones, Lisa felt they didn't fully understand her struggle. So, she turned to the internet for help and started her Baggy Body Club to raise awareness about a common side effect of weight loss.
Initially scared of surgery, Lisa underwent four operations including a tummy tuck, thigh skin removal, a boob lift, and "bingo wings" removal. After several months of recovery, she's now finally happy with her reflection.
Lisa happily shared: "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."
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