As a single mum, trapped in a crummy flat and a series of dead-end jobs, Lisa Kelly thought she was stuck for good in a miserable rut. But what a difference a diet made, reports JO HAYWOOD

WHEN Lisa Kelly goes to work she has a life-size photograph of herself by her side. This is no daily ego trip for the Scarborough single mum. If the truth be known, the picture is larger than life size - more than four stones larger.

In the distinctly unflattering snapshot, she is a size 20, weighing in at 13st 7lbs. When it was taken she admits that her weight was at an all-time high while her life was at an all-time low.

"I'd reached rock bottom," she said. "I'd split up with my partner, I was on income support and had no hope of getting a decent job.

"Everything I touched, apart from my daughter Naomi, now aged 10, was a disaster. My weight was out of control - and so was my life."

Just when Lisa thought things couldn't get any worse, she learnt that her father, a prominent businessman, had committed suicide.

She was devastated, but this was not a straightforward loss. She hadn't spoken to her father for three years.

"He'd made my childhood a misery," she said. "He was verbally abusive and I found him frightening. I think he was the reason I had no faith in myself.

"Good jobs and equal relationships with men were for other people, not for the likes of me."

Looking at Lisa as she is now, a fit, happy, healthy size 12, it is difficult to believe she was once so low.

She has a new man, a new home and a thriving business running her own Rosemary Conley Diet & Fitness franchise.

She was first introduced to Rosemary Conley classes by her friend, Julie Carrier. She was sceptical at first, but realised she had nothing to lose - except several stones piled on during years of comfort eating.

Lisa didn't exactly make a flying start. "I found the exercise session really difficult and I didn't like it a bit. Also, I only lost one and a half pounds in the first week."

But she stuck at it. The following week she lost three pounds. Within two months, she had shed a stone. And by the time her first anniversary rolled round she had lost more than four stones to reach her weight now of 9st 7lbs.

She had reduced her joke-provoking bustline from 42D to 34B and instead of squeezing herself into ill-fitting size 20 tops and elasticated skirts, she could take her pick from the high street size 12 rails.

"People often think that going on a diet is expensive, but I used to spend at least £10 a week on chocolate and cigarettes and then more on cakes and biscuits," said Lisa.

"I was comfort eating but I was anything but comfortable with myself. I'd treat myself to two or three mint Aeros or a pack of Cadbury's Chocolate Fingers but I wouldn't enjoy them.

"All the time I'd be thinking 'I shouldn't be eating these'. Then, once I'd finished, I'd feel huge regret and guilt. I was constantly doing battle with myself - I never felt good about being me."

Now Lisa feels very good about herself, and she feels it is her duty - and her pleasure - to pass on her knowledge to others through the nine Rosemary Conley classes she teaches every week.

"It's been my life's ambition to be positively involved in other people's lives," she said. "And now I'm really doing it. I want other people to benefit, as I have."

In the past six months, she has helped ten women to lose two stones each and four others to shed three stones.

"The first step, coming into the class for the first time, can be so very hard, though I make it clear from the start that no one is there to judge," said Lisa.

"I'm no goody-goody myself. I still go out to the pub and drink lagers and I enjoy eating out with friends, but then I know I can increase my exercise a bit and my weight isn't going to get out of hand.

"And since I've lost all that weight I can now exercise more. I've just started going out for runs and I love it."

If you are just starting out on a diet, here are a few encouraging tips from Lisa:

Relax about the diet and enjoy it. Healthy food is delicious!

Plan meals ahead and use the freezer, so you can put meals together quickly when you're very hungry.

Measure yourself in centimetres - it really is rewarding to see how much you're slimming down.

Speak positively to yourself. Remember you're worth the effort of getting back into shape.

Updated: 09:05 Tuesday, September 24, 2002