Lisa Riley has shed 10 stone by giving up booze.
The Emmerdale star turns 40 on Wednesday (13.07.16) and won’t celebrate by swigging champagne or drinking cocktails because she’s discovered the physical benefits of ditching alcohol and gone from a size 30 to a 14-16.
Speaking about her change in lifestyle, Lisa said: "I feel so much better for not drinking. Now I don’t think I’ll ever drink again. I never say never, but at the moment I don’t think I will. This is what baffles me most – not drinking doesn’t bother me at all.
"I’m still the life and soul of the party and dancing until the wee small hours. If you’d told me I would toast my 40th birthday with a glass of water, I’d have thought you were crackers… I realised there were lots of empty calories in booze so that is why I gave it up."
The actress – who appeared on ‘Strictly Come Dancing’ in 2012 – admitted her party lifestyle took its toll on her mentally and she regrets many of her past antics.
She told the Daily Mirror newspaper: "It was mayhem – I was the ultimate party girl. I was always first to the bar and last to leave. I’d always send the first cab away. I could put away the drink and I loved it.
"But now I don’t find the fact that I don’t drink weird, it is everybody else who does. People say, ‘Oh go on, just have one’. Why? I don’t need to. I like myself so much more for not drinking.
"I do have regrets from my drinking days – the fear I had upset somebody, the jigsaw morning when you’re trying to put together what happened the night before. I don’t miss any of that. Now instead of partying until 6.45am, I’m in the gym at 6.45am."
Lisa Riley ditches booze and sheds 10 stone
