Win, win, win in the new look website competition

As you may know, earlier this month we launched our new-look website www.rosemaryconley.com. We hope you like the enhanced site, which has been made easier to navigate and has a fresh new feel.

To make it even more exciting, I’ve launched our first-ever competition on the site and ten lucky visitors can win one of ten one-year (9 issues) subscriptions to the Rosemary Conley Diet & Fitness magazine worth £19.99 each - just by answering a simple question!

So, that’s a whole year of receiving your copy of Rosemary Conley Diet & Fitness magazine delivered to your door – before it even hits the shops!

Each issue is packed with great diets, tasty recipes and fab food ideas, along with real-life slimmer stories and advice from our panel of experts and it can really help you to lose weight and, most importantly, keep it off once your reach your goal.

We pride ourselves on the excellent content of the magazine and I can honestly say that I read every word that goes in it. I care passionately what is written and included as I want it to be informative and accurate, and inspirational to our readers. I love it when readers tell me they read it from cover to cover and then read it again!

The competition is easy to enter, simply click here and complete the form, and make sure you get your answer in by 31st August. But, if you’re not successful, check out the latest subscription offers to make sure you don’t miss every issue.

Sheer joy when the job is done!

As many of you know, the Special Olympics GB 2009 are being held in Leicester this week. People of all ages with learning difficulties are participating in 21 sports and competing for that coveted place on the podium to collect a medal.

Yesterday was my day to be privileged to be asked to present some of the medals at the gymnastics venue. When I arrived in the morning I was escorted to the sports hall by one of the 1500 volunteers who were helping the wheels turn smoothly of this mammoth organisational challenge that had descended upon Leicester. 2,700 athletes with their coaches, families and friends who needed to be at the right place at the right time, be fed and watered, and made to feel welcome.

I felt very welcome as I was shown to my seat to watch the competitors complete their chosen tasks. There were a variety of disciplines from gymnastics with a hoop, a rope, a ball, and lots more. There were different categories for various ages and for different levels of ability. I felt incredibly inadequate as I tried to imagine how the judges could mark each competitor as each one was unique. Some had cerebral palsy – in various levels of severity – and many had Down syndrome, and again, in greater or lesser degrees. But one thing was the same for every one of them. They gave their performance 100%!

The effort and work that had been invested by these special young people was incredible. When one of them had finished her routine in front of the judges and realised that she had remembered every bit of her routine, she leapt with glee and flung her arms around her coach. I doubt there was a dry eye in the hall.

At the end of the afternoon it was medal time. As each one came forward to receive their medal, they felt really special. The cheers from the balcony from family and friends was electric and I hope they will take away some wonderful memories and feel that all the effort was worthwhile. Every competitor received a medal to reward them for their determination and efforts and those who received a bronze, silver or gold – well, they felt really special.

But my greatest admiration went to the coaches who had given their time to develop their protégés to be the best they could be. No-one can reach their best potential unless they are helped along the way by someone who believes in them. Someone to coax and encourage – a dream catcher. The relationship between athlete and coach is magnetic. I know this from my own experience as I try to learn to ice skate. My coach, Karen, is brilliant at knowing how far to push me and she is amazingly encouraging. Because the relationship is working so well, I am skating better than I could imagine and I love every minute of my one-hour-a-week lesson when I can manage it.

But, back to the Special Olympics. I was chatting to some of the volunteers and they are on duty for the whole seven days for 12 hours a day - and loving every single minute of it. Some had travelled from far away to be here this week and some were local who were happy to give of their time. They said they were having such fantastic fun, making new friends, getting to know the athletes and their families and seeing them succeed. It is at events like this that we can see the very best in folk.

So, well done to all the athletes, the coaches, the families and friends who came along to support. To the volunteers, Thank You! You have all made a big difference to some very special young people and I sincerely hope they will always remember the fun time they had in Leicester in 2009.

British Franchise Association's Franchisee of the Year

Yesterday I went to London with Angie Higgins, one of the Directors of Rosemary Conley Diet and Fitness Clubs and, Sarah Skelton. Sarah runs a very successful franchise in and around Norwich in Norfolk and last November she was awarded our highest accolade, Franchisee of the Year, because she is exceptional.

Each year the British Franchise Association organise two award ceremonies – one for franchisors, (that’s like the ‘parent’ company of a franchise) and one for franchisees (people who have bought a licence to operate a business using the franchisor’s brand name and method of operating a business). Each year we enter our Franchisee of the Year for the BFA National Award for their Franchisee of the Year. In that competition you enter alongside franchisees from massive brands such as McDonalds, Prontaprint, Kall Kwick and so on. Ten finalists are selected and from those a Gold, Silver and Bronze Award is given at a Gala Dinner, this year on 1st October, the evening before the BFA Franchise Exhibition at the NEC in Birmingham.

To become our Franchisee of the Year franchisees have to be extraordinarily successful and show they are prepared to go the extra mile for their members, market their business continually, follow the ‘Franchisor’s model’ and run a very effective and profitable business. Each year we submit an application for the BFA Franchisee of the Year Award and this is the third occasion in the last 15 years that our Franchisee of the Year has made the finals. Nine years ago, our franchisee Karen Perkins reached the finals and won Silver which was an incredible achievement.

Yesterday Sarah Skelton sat in front of the seven-strong judging panel at HSBC’s head offices in London. Angie and I accompanied Sarah but were not allowed to speak. It was all down to Sarah.
It was a daunting sight but Sarah delivered her presentation with confidence and passion. Sarah absolutely loves her business and everyone in that room was left in no doubt that her business and her members meant the world to her. The sheer effort Sarah continually invests into her business is awesome. She is focussed, determined, compassionate, smart and dedicated. Her business statistics totally buck the economic trend with every aspect of her business significantly building, year on year. She understands her business and doesn’t get diverted by ‘trends’ which would take her away from the fundamental service given by our franchise: to offer fun, safe and effective diet and exercise classes to suit everyone. She organises six outings a year for her members to suit all pockets – from skittle evenings to trips to health farms. In a couple of weeks she has two coach-loads of members going to London to see Mama Mia. She even sponsors her local kids’ football team- providing their strip and giving them a Christmas Party and teaches them team building by running mini-seminars for them.

Angie and I sat listening to Sarah like two proud parents. We had smiles on our faces the whole time and at the end of the 30-minute presentation and Q & A session, Sir Bernard Ingham, President of the BFA and one of the judges, said. ‘Thank you for exhausting us!’.

We don’t know whether Sarah will be a winner and if she isn’t, whoever does win has to be superman or – woman, and they will no doubt deserve it. But we couldn’t have asked more of one of our franchisees. Sarah was totally brilliant yesterday and is exceptional in the way she runs her business and is a phenomenal ambassador for us. Well done Sarah and BEST OF LUCK!

For details of Sarah’s and our other classes across the UK, please log on to www.rosemaryconley.com

Why Portion Size is so important

Yesterday I talked about portion control at my diet and fitness classes that I hold at the Holiday Inn in Leicester. Having taken the same class in this hotel for 23 years there isn’t much I haven’t talked about to my members, particularly as most of them have been attending during that time! But portion control is one of those subjects that should be right at the top of the list of priorities if you are trying to lose weight, alongside low fat eating and exercise.

In January 2008 we launched Rosemary Conley Portion Pots. They come in a set of four brightly coloured measuring cups which accurately regulate how much cereal we should eat, how big our portion of rice should be and so on. If you live alone, you measure your uncooked rice in the blue Portion Pot and then cook it. If you are cooking for others as well as yourself, you cook your basmati rice first then take a red Portion Pot-full of cooked rice and place it on your plate. They both offer 183 kcals and it’s accurate within a calorie or two.

Every morning I measure my Kellogg’s Fruit ‘n’ Fibre with my yellow Portion Pot and I know that’s the right portion for me. The yellow Portion Pot measures 125 ml of wine too. That’s a pub measure and the sort of quantity 20 years ago we would have accepted happily in a pub, served in one of those little round-topped wine glasses. But pour a yellow Portion Pot of wine into one of today’s enormous wine glasses and it looks ridiculous. And that’s the problem. We are just ‘getting used to’ bigger portions and it is ruining our figures!

Lots of prospective dieters have wonderful intentions. They are determined to stick to the diet and exercise regularly. They eat the right foods and stop eating Mars bars mid-morning and crisps with their wine. But unless we watch our portion sizes, we are going to find the rate of weight loss extremely slow and that’s disheartening.

If you are wanting to lose weight and you wonder why you’re not losing weight as you should, think about treating yourself to a set of our Portion Pots. They come with a card giving almost 50 different foods that can be measured in them. They are cheap but revolutionary – and they could double your rate of weight loss. If you join a Rosemary Conley Diet and Fitness Class they will be given to you free when you join, but if you can’t get to one, check out our website where you can order a set.

Courage and perseverance, against the odds

On Saturday evening Mike and I were privileged to be guests at the Opening Ceremony of the Special Olympics GB Leicester 2009. It is the second time that these very special Games have been hosted by our home town Leicester and we, as a city and county, feel very honoured to be staging this event again. The last time the games were hosted here was in 1989 and it is the first time the games have been hosted twice by the same city, so ‘well done Leicester’ for that.

But this event is not about where the games are held. It is about the 2,700 athletes with learning disabilities who have been encouraged, developed, trained, and motivated to participate in this experience of a lifetime. There are 21 sports from badminton and basketball to swimming and sailing, supported by 1500 volunteers. It is a phenomenal challenge for everyone involved.

For the rest of us we take being healthy and able-bodied so much for granted. We have our legs and arms, sight, hearing, speech and don’t even consider what life would be like without them. We don’t even think about how we put on our shoes or clean our teeth, talk to each other and move about. But for anyone with cerebral palsy or Down syndrome, or any of many types of learning difficulty, all of these simple tasks are difficult and for some, impossible.

So, when these very special athletes walked, or were wheeled, into the Walkers Stadium to be cheered and applauded by a 23,000-strong crowd, they indeed felt very special. For once in their lives these individuals felt very important. The experience must have been awesome. None of us can imagine the effort that will have gone into the training that they will all have undertaken on the journey to reach this point. The patience and encouragement given by their coaches will have been amazing. The families of the athletes will have supported and encouraged them. They will have made sacrifices but now, hopefully, they will feel that having arrived here, with their son or daughter to be participating in this amazing event, it was well worth every minute of effort.

As the athletes paraded around the arena they moved to their seats but that in itself presented another challenge. Endeavouring to seat 2,700 disabled people took time and needed patience from everyone. It was gladly given. Once seated they clapped and cheered all their fellow comrades with even greater energy than the rest of us, as each team from all over Great Britain arrived into the stadium. I have no doubt that they will have slept very well that night!

As I sat watching the evening unfold, I realised that this amazing event was extraordinary. Not only did it empower and reward the athletes for being talented in their particular sport, but they could be among newly-made friends who were just like them. During this seven days they wouldn’t be the ones who were a bit different. They won’t be the only one that perhaps was a little slower. Now they were among folk who understood them – their coaches, their friends. They will feel ‘normal’, not ‘different’ this week. And the icing on the cake will be the fact that they will be making their families very, very proud.

On Wednesday I have been given the enormous privilege of presenting the medals at the Gymnastics championships. I can’t wait to see the event and meet competitors and the medallists. The Special Olympic Oath reads: Let me win but if I cannot win, let me be brave in the attempt. An oath that says it all.

For the rest of us, as we get up this morning and go about our usual daily tasks, perhaps we should pause for a moment and appreciate that our bodies allow us to rush around and not be dependent upon others. If you are starting your diet this morning, realise what an easy task that is compared to the efforts of others not so fortunate. We really should not make excuses for the way we live our lives but be thankful that we have choices and that we are able to make them ourselves.

Inch loss is as important as weight loss!

When we start to diet I believe we put too much emphasis on weight loss. Obviously getting on the scales is a great guide to how well we are doing in our slim down campaign but we shouldn’t forget to measure ourselves too.

The problem with scales is that our weight can fluctuate according to the type of food we have eaten, the time of the month – all manner of things, in fact. Some people become obsessed and weigh themselves not only every day but several times a day! That is madness.

If you want an accurate record of how you are doing, weigh yourself on the same set of scales at the same time of day once a week only, wearing as little clothing as possible. Always make sure your scales are on a board, not carpet, and try not to keep your scales in your bathroom as the steam will damage them. As well as weighing yourself, always measure yourself too and write down your measurements. Sometime you will lose inches when the scales refuse to budge but overall, you just want to shrink so inches off is great!

One of the most exciting and graphic things that happens on our magazine photo shoot days is when our successful slimmers arrive with their ‘big’ clothes – the clothes they used to wear before they lost weight. There is nothing quite so categorically, emphatically, illustratively clear than seeing how those inches have disappeared from how they used to be! It never ceases to amaze me and I just love to see these men and women ‘re-born’ into their new, slim and fit bodies. Brilliant.

So, if after your busy week you are feeling that you really must do something about your weight, get ready to start your diet on Monday. Plan your shopping, think about joining a class (see our Rosemary Conley website for details of our Clubs) and get your scales and tape measure ready. Write down your details, take a ‘before’ photograph of yourself and look forward to a slimmer future. You’ll be so glad you did!

Have a lovely weekend.

Customer Care – the Key to Success

It was a big mistake when United Airlines showed little interest when one of their passengers complained that their guitar had been damaged in transit.

Dave Carroll is a professional musician and he was devastated to find that when he collected his Taylor acoustic guitar after his flight into Chicago’s O’Hare airport, it had been broken so he took up the matter with United Airlines. They just were not interested. Frustrated at the lack of customer service, their irresponsible attitude and complete disinterest, Dave decided to write a song about his plight.

So Dave composed a song and called it United Breaks Guitars recorded it and then posted it on YouTube. In the first 10 days it had 3.5 million hits and it has been a PR disaster for the airline. Their share price has plunged no less than 10% wiping $180m off the company’s value!

This story made it on to BBC Breakfast this morning and no doubt many other channels – TV and Radio. The story will be retold in training sessions across the globe to reinforce the point that customer service is key.

We take complaints very, very seriously because, thankfully, it is relatively rare that our company receives any. When we do the complaint will be thoroughly investigated, resolved and we will ensure that the person complaining is more than satisfied in the end. I have been known to ring the person personally. It is worth the effort just to hear their shock when they answer the phone! ‘ Hello,’ I say, ‘This is Rosemary Conley and I’m ringing about ...’. The call is met is silence at the other end and then a tentative voice says – ‘Who is it? Did you say you were from Rosemary Conley’s?’. ‘It is Rosemary herself’ I say and then we have a lovely chat. When I explain that I take any complaints very seriously because I want all of our customers to be really happy with our products and services, they know I mean it. The situation is always very easily and satisfactorily resolved.

We work on the principle that we would rather you told ten of your friends that you received excellent customer service from us rather than you tell 100 folk that our service was rubbish. It’s a pity United Airlines didn’t follow the same principles.

Tom Daly has done it!

This time last year many of us hadn’t heard of the name Tom Daly but he shot to fame when he was included in the British diving team for the Beijing Olympics. He hit the headlines because then he was only 14 years old. Whilst he performed well at the Olympics, he didn’t win a medal. And as we all said at the time, ‘but he has plenty of time – he’s only young’.

Today we woke up to the news that Tom had won Gold in the 10m Diving at the 13th Fina World Championships in Rome. It was Tom’s first World Championship competition. What an astonishing achievement and many congratulations to Tom! Olympic Gold Medallist, Matt Mitcham, came fourth.

Tom, has now experienced the amazing feelings of being the best in the world at his chosen sport. It is an extraordinary achievement by anyone but particularly by someone as young a 15 years old.

The discipline, the focus, the hour and hours every day training are way beyond our comprehension. All of his training has to be done alongside his schoolwork which will mean very early mornings and relentless training after school hours. The support from his family will have played a major part because no one gets to the top without others being there for them, encouraging, rewarding, appreciating their talent.

I was saddened to read that Tom had had to change schools because after the Olympics last year Tom became a victim of bullying. How very sad is that? Why can’t folk be supportive of success and happiness rather than jealous? Such negative response says more about the aggressor’s lack of self-esteem and I believe parents have a lot to answer for in that respect. We should empower, praise and encourage our children, whether they are talented or not, but at least we should look for the best in them and tell them so.

I am just off to collect a cheque for STEPS, the charity we support as it helps children with cerebral palsy and Down syndrome to progress their limited abilities in a way that changes their lives. For them there will be no Gold medals but the day they take their first steps, unaided by a parent or walking frame, is even more significant. They will probably have worked just as hard as Tom Daly to reach that point, and, just as it has for Tom, it will change their life forever.

Be encouraged by how quickly the body responds to exercise

Exercise is one of those things we know we should do more of, we know it’s good for us but somehow we just don’t quite make the time and effort to do enough of it. As a nation we watch on average 27 hours of television a week and yet we say we don’t exercise because ‘we don’t have time’!

To exercise we must be motivated – either by the activity itself, (because we love doing it), or by the progress we are making, (by doing what we’re doing and getting better at it), or by seeing ourselves become significantly fitter or stronger quite quickly, (being able to do much more than when we first started).

Mike, my husband, enjoys playing squash and golf. He hates exercising on machinery as it seems so pointless to him whereas playing a competitive game gives him the motivation to get his shorts on, make an effort and reap the rewards of increased fitness as a by-product. Mike hadn’t played squash for about 15 years but recently decided to take up the sport again, playing with the same partner, Dave, he played with when we were next door neighbours. Dave is a good player and they play very well together. The great thing is that, by being competitive, Mike pushes himself harder and the great bonus is that his fitness levels are increasing dramatically. And quickly. Last night he managed four games instead of the normal three and he can now see his fitness building and that is really spurring him on.

I too find exercising on machinery unrewarding – well, boring, actually – but I love my ice skating and I enjoy teaching aerobics, toning and salsacise at my classes and the combination keeps me fit. When I started skating a few months ago I wrapped myself up in ski shirts and a fleece to keep me warm but now I have progressed to doing some quite challenging manoeuvres which really push me. I have a fantastic coach and she is giving me the belief that I can try this or that exercise or move and, over time, I have progressed. I come off the ice at the end of my hour long lesson positively glowing. I feel really hot and I’ve loved every minute of it.

Last evening one of my trial dieters, 21 year old Ryan, came along to my class. He is a really great young man and he has already lost over two stone on the Trial and he came to my class so that he could exercise with me. He came with his sister and it was wonderful to see two young people wanting to get in shape in a healthy and effective way. Two months ago Ryan would have struggled to do the class but last night he managed really well. Often I hear of new dieters buying one of my DVDs and just being able to do the warm up initially. That’s great. But imagine how happy they feel when, within a week or two, they find themselves able to attempt the main aerobic workout? It is so motivating to see yourself progressing.

At all of our classes our instructors are trained to cater for everyone not matter what their age, capability or fitness level. Within our classes you could have a 23 stone member who has just joined, exercising alongside a member who has lost five stone and who is now at their target weight. You could have Ethel who had a new hip six months ago alongside Susie who had a baby three months ago. They can all exercise at the right level for them under the careful eye of a qualified fitness instructor who understands their individual needs. The training our instructors receive is exceptional so you would be in very good hands.

What I love about exercising in a class is the comradeship and the music. Exercising with others is fun and if you are working out to great music, you’re away. You will enjoy yourself. Add to that the fact that you have to use your brain to follow the choreography and that will stop you getting bored. It really is a great way to get and stay fit.

For details of our classes check out our website or look for my DVDs. They will all help you slim down and get fit. Enjoy

You’re never too old...

Whether you are a fan or golf or not, you would have to know that over the last few days the Open has been held in Turnberry. For the less well informed, the Open is a major world golf tournament and Turnberry, (Scotland) is the best links, (by the sea), golf course location in the world.

I have never played golf but I was brought up in a golfing family. My parents played golf and I spent many an hour trundling around a golf course from when I was about six. My brother, Robert, showed great talent from an early age and at his peak played off a handicap of 2. Mike, my husband, is also a good golfer so the game still features in my life, albeit at a distance. And when we are in Portugal, our villa backs onto a golf course and there is nothing I like better than going around the beautiful courses as Mike plays.

Golf is a great sport and a wonderful form of exercise because it gives players a reason to spend hours walking in the fresh air. So, even though I don’t play, nor have any inclination to play, I am a fan. And never more so than this weekend – having watched quite a lot of the Open.

Why? Because the game is full of surprises. I think Tiger Woods is the most charismatic player of recent years. He shot to stardom because of his apparent natural flair and talent. He is also fit, good looking, and seems to be a nice bloke. But at the moment Tiger is off form and he didn’t make the ‘cut’ which meant that he didn’t get through to the third day because he didn’t play well enough. Instead, the man at the top of the leader board was a 59 year old golfer called Tom Watson. Tom has been playing golf at top level for over 40 years and was able to play in the Open because he is still a great talent. But playing 72 holes of championship golf over four days is hard physical work, no matter what your age. Nine months ago Tom was fitted with a new hip but yesterday he played brilliantly - again!

On the final day the performance of the top players in the world kept us all on the edge of our seats. One minute Tom had lost the lead, then he was back up their again. In the end it was a tie between Tom Watson and fellow American Stewart Cink and they had to play an extra four holes. Sadly for Tom, he lost. Stewart Cink, aged 36, came up trumps and clinched the championship and we have to commend him for that. But Tom Watson did much more than that. He showed everybody that even when you are almost 60 (his birthday is in 10 weeks’ time), if you are fit and healthy, you can still perform at top level and enjoy every moment. And he proved that golf is a great sport, no matter what your age.

It is very easy for folks to imagine that as they get older there is no need to bother about staying fit and healthy. They could not be more wrong! If we keep our weight down, keep fit and active, supple and agile, have something to aim for and find something we enjoy doing, life is worth living to the absolute full. And age is no barrier, nor should it be.

My job is to help people to lose weight and become healthier and fitter, no matter what their age. What I do know is that by just doing regularly a couple of classes (which I teach on a Monday evening), I have kept myself fit and in reasonable shape into my 60’s. I am so glad I did as I can live life to the full and I feel fit and healthy.

No matter what your age, it is never too late to slim down and shape up and our Rosemary Conley Diet and Fitness classes can help you achieve your goals. Why not check out our website www.rosemaryconley.com for a class near you.

Supermarkets are ruling the roost!

Yesterday I had a meeting with my publishers regarding my new book. The book is nearly written – just the exercise section to complete – and I am pretty sure that when the book is published in January, it will be a best seller. I really don’t mean that to sound arrogant but this all-new diet has been tried and tested with better results than any of my previous 30 diet books and I know folk will want to buy it. But the key is not whether the customers will buy it, but will the supermarkets stock it?

When I first started writing books in the early 80’s, you could only buy books in a book store like W H Smiths or Dillons, or in the book section of a Department Store. Now, more books are sold in supermarkets than in bookshops and with that comes their ruthless buying power and conditions. Personally, I don’t mind who sells my books as long as they are on the shelves but now the supermarkets dictate the shape of the book, and if you want to produce a publication that is a bit of a different shape, say longer or taller, that’s a no-no. The book has to be the right shape to fit on the shelves or the supermarket won’t stock it. And it is as simple as that.

I’m fortunate because I have a good track record of producing books that sell so getting my books listed into shops isn’t too much of an issue – but it still has to be the right shape!

Don’t get me wrong, supermarkets do a great job and we have more choice than we’ve ever had and that has to be good. But they are incredibly powerful and I’m not surprised that farmers and suppliers get nervous and sometimes I think they push too hard to get the prices down.

Five years ago we launched a fantastic low fat Belgian Chocolate Mousse. It sold in a pack of two for £1.49 and each pot contained a massive 200g serving. It was an instant hit. Launched in Asda, in the first year we sold 3.5 million pots to very satisfied customers. But the suppliers were forced to put it on offer at 99p. They did this on several occasions but they could not sustain that price point. To accommodate the demands of the supermarket this year they re-packaged it in a smaller pot and, as I predicted, the sales fell. Of course they would. The whole point of this fantastic product was that it was a mega-eat! Dieters loved it because they couldn’t believe they could eat that big pot of scrumptious chocolate mousse for 122 calories and 2% fat! Needless to say, the mousse is being discontinued and has probably now sold out in all Asda stores. It’s a shame because it was a great product.

The only food product I now have in Asda is my Rosemary Conley's Mature Cheese with less than 5%fat, which is the best low fat cheese on the market. I’ve visited Wyke Farms who make it. I’ve met the cows who produce the milk. I use the cheese and it is incredible. You would not guess it is low fat. It deserves to be stocked in all the supermarkets but getting it in there is really difficult. So, in fact, I am grateful to Asda for stocking it and I hope it will establish itself as a must-have for any cheese-loving dieter. I just hope that we are able to sell enough to keep it stocked!

Look on the Packet

Yesterday I spent the day adding some final touches to the new book I have written this year to be published in January 2010. Not only will the diet be published in book form for sale in shops around the country, it will also be adapted into a handy format issued to all the new members who join Rosemary Conley Diet and Fitness Clubs.

When I create a new diet I like to put it to the test so I run a Trial. That way I know that it is not only effective but also the comments of the Trialists are helpful in enabling me to make any adjustments. Their observations are always fascinating and I always love to hear how their health has improved, even after just four weeks. Yesterday was my day for extracting the comments from their questionnaires and deciding which ones to include in the book and which might go on the back cover. They didn’t disappoint.

One of my Trialists lost 1 stone 8 lbs in the four week trial and one day, as he walked around the local park one lunchtime to get some more steps registered on his pedometer, he felt his shorts didn’t feel quite right. He looked down to find them only just still there and his ‘sunshine’ summer briefs on show for all to see. At 45 years old he felt he must have looked ridiculous wearing teenage-style almost-falling-off shorts!

But one comment that came up again and again was the realisation that if you developed the habit of looking on the labels on the back of food products when you were shopping in supermarkets, you could dramatically reduce your calorie intake. My Trialists just hadn’t realised previously how much fat and how many calories were in the foods they ate. On top of that, they hadn’t realised how much food they were eating and that by eating differently, (healthier), and at set meal times, within a set calorie allowance, they could lose weight incredibly fast and not feel hungry.

Food labelling varies and sometimes it is confusing but my rule of thumb is simply to look at the ‘energy (i.e. calories) per serving’ and the ‘fat (all fat) per 100g’ as this will give you a percentage fat figure. To lose weight I recommend that you eat foods with 5% or less fat (except oily fish and some lean meats) and that way you will be automatically eating a low fat diet. If you do that, do some regular exercise or activity, you will lose weight. Don’t be confused by the RDA on food labels. RDA stands for Recommended Daily Allowance of calories for men and women but these figures are for your weight to remain constant, not to lose weight. To lose weight you need to reduce those figures by around 600 calories a day. Personally, I think the RDA is misleading and unhelpful on labels and if it were left to me, I’d drop it from food labelling.

So, if you are going shopping today, allow a few more moments to stop and read the labels on your food purchases.

Motivation is the key

As unique individuals on this earth we are all motivated by different things and some folk are more motivated than others. In my field of work – helping people to lose weight and become fitter – motivation plays a massive role.

As I read the amazing before and after stories of the successful slimmers who appear in my magazine, there is usually one particular situation which happened that triggered the motivation to start dieting and to do something positive about their size and health.

I remember the mum of a little two year old who was on the park with a friend. It was a big park but it was next to a busy road and, without warning, the toddler was running straight for the traffic. Mum desperately attempted to run after her child but at 16 stone she couldn’t run more than a few yards and became very distressed as her child ran nearer and nearer towards the road. Fortunately, her friend was slim and fit and was able to cover the ground quickly and when she caught up with the child, she managed to scoop him up and return him to his devastated mum. She was devastated as she realised that if her friend hadn’t been there, the story could have had a tragic ending. The mum joined one of our classes that week. When I met her she was a finalist in our Slimmer of the Year competition and had shed seven stone and turned her life around.

Many dieters don’t have such dramatic stories to tell. Getting stuck in the turn style at a football match, having to have an extension for their seat belt on a flight, getting stuck in a chair in a restaurant, breaking a chair when they sat on it in a friend’s house have all been reasons why one day the overweight, intelligent, sensible, normal human being decided to take their own life in hand and turn it around. And we need those embarrassing situations to happen to push us in to action sometimes and as long as we act upon them, we have to look back at them with gratitude even though, at the time, we wanted the floor to open up and swallow us.

Getting our mind in the right place is crucial to successfully sticking to a diet and we should never lose weight to please someone else. We will only be successful when we are losing weight for ourselves. Our decision. Our timing. Our way. Once you have decided you want to slim down, the proven best way to do it is in a group, and that’s why we enjoy such amazing weight loss successes in our Rosemary Conley Diet and Fitness Clubs classes and with rosemaryconleyonline.com you are not alone and you will be losing weight with others just like you.

If the time is right for you, check out our website and we will be only too happy to help. Today is the first day of the rest of your life. Make the most of it.

What else can we do to help?

We are building a TV studio at our offices for a new project to be launched later in the year. The studio is almost complete and recording is about to get into full flow. We need to hang some special fabric on the walls to offer some extra sound absorption, so yesterday it was decided to buy some, to hang around the perimeter, just as I’ve seen in other TV recording studios.

There is a bit of an ‘Arthur Daly’ side of me that many folk wouldn’t know about. I love the challenge of finding the unusual and getting it at a good price. I think many things are over-priced and I have no scruples about buying second hand – after all, that’s how we furnished our beautiful Georgian offices when we bought Quorn House 16 years ago. In the offices themselves (in the old bedrooms of the house) almost every desk is second hand, bought at auction from companies who had closed down. You would never guess as they all look immaculate!

But buying eighty meters of black felt-like fabric is not your normal purchase so I rang a friend at the auction house we furnished Quorn House from all those years ago. The auctioneer, Nigel Dearman, knows everyone. He suggested I ring ‘Mrs M’ who sells all kinds of fabric, so I did. Mrs. M’s shop is only open at weekends but she would be ‘happy to open up to meet me there in an hour’. I popped in on my way to my fitness classes. Mrs M was serving two other customers while she was waiting for me. They were buying sari material and Mrs M explained that they were ‘lucky to find her open on a Monday’ but she was there to meet Mrs Rosemary – but if there was anything else they wanted, ‘here is my mobile number, I could open up for you anytime if that would be helpful!’

Mrs M didn’t have the right fabric for me but she was happy to offer to go to the wholesalers to get it. ‘I will give you a very good price and I will call you tomorrow afternoon when I have it’.

I came away imaging the response I might have received from another shop. ‘No, sorry we don’t sell that’ ‘No, we’re closed till Saturday’. Our customers are the life-blood of any business and we should do everything we can to look after them. I hear of the extra-mile that our franchisees go to in order to support their members. They are genuinely caring by nature and interested enough to do anything to make their business a success because it is in their interest to do so. That’s why they still have good classes, even in a recession. It is all about genuine customer care. It is something I have held so importantly in the way I have worked in the thirty eight years I have been in business. Every letter I get receives a reply, if we can answer a request we will, and if a product isn’t right, we’ll sort it. And our company is flourishing.

Perhaps the whole country could learn a lesson from Mrs M! It really was a case of ‘I will do anything I can to help you’.

For details of your nearest caring Rosemary Conley franchisee, visit www.rosemaryconley.com

Back home safe and sound!

Friday was the last full day of our holiday and my holidaymakers took a chair lift up a mountain, walked down to a hut for lunch and then relaxed in the afternoon ready for our final evening’s activity – the big Awards Ceremony.

Everyone on the holiday wins an award, from Slimmer of the Week to who caught the biggest fish when we went trout fishing. There were Bravery Awards for those scared of heights but who still made it in the cable car or a chair lift, Perseverance Awards, Awards for performances at the Concert, and so on. Everyone wins prizes and a jolly time is had by all and everyone is looking forward to next year. I do not know of any holiday that creates so much ‘good’ in people and where friendships are forged and barriers are broken down. It is unique and wonderful.

On Saturday we travelled back to Zurich by coach. To have 39 women arriving at an airport together, but dividing up to go to three different destinations, Manchester, Birmingham and Heathrow, takes some organising but, with the help of one of the guests and our holiday administrator, all of us had been checked in ‘on line’ the previous evening which meant that we could be issued with boarding passes and luggage labels as a group. The big bonus of doing it this way was that our cases weren’t weighed which was a miracle. Normally we have a real struggle with excess baggage as Swiss are so strict. Great result!

So, why does this holiday work so well for folk:

Almost everyone lost weight – one gained ½ lb, two stayed the same but everyone else lost. Our Slimmer of the Week lost 6.8 lbs, 2nd 6.6 lbs, 3rd 6.0 lbs. And that was after eating a very substantial breakfast, a variety of lunches and a four-course dinner each evening – plus alcohol (though Pat, who came 2nd, had not drunk throughout the week and lost 6.6 lbs). But most of the food was low-fat and that certainly helped to keep the calories down.
This was an activity holiday. There were at least two walks a day totalling around three hours in total. On top of that we had three aerobic/toning workouts for 45 minutes.
We had little time to sit down and do nothing. If we weren’t changing clothes for the next activity we were rehearsing for the concert or getting organised for our next activity.
There was plenty of tuition in the form of ‘talks’, and therefore understanding of how to lose weight and become fitter. When you hear it and then do it, it helps.
We were in it together. The group dynamics helped enormously and everyone was encouraging each other, being interested in one another’s situations back home. It was great therapy for everyone.
And everyone was rewarded. Whether it was on the scales, in the Awards, or just feeling fitter and healthier, we all felt better for our week - even the three of us who ran it. Whilst we are constantly on the go, to see the transformations of the guests over the week is hugely gratifying which is why we do it again, year after year.

I am very much aware that this holiday is not an option for many folks reading this but you can still benefit from the education, exercise classes, support and group activity by joining one of our classes. Many of our holidaymakers are members of Rosemary Conley Diet and Fitness Clubs or rosemaryconleyonline. Check out our website if you need some help and support. That’s what we’re here for. www.rosemaryconley.com.

No one can put a value on feeling fit and healthy. It really is worth making an effort today.

Tears and Laughter!

It is now Day 6 of our splendid holiday in the Austrian alps. Everyone is energised and very relieved that the Concert, held last night, is over! Not only that, they have now had their final weigh-in too.

Despite having a vast array of foods on the breakfast buffet each morning, eating traditional Austrian food in a hut in the mountains yesterday, and a delicious four-course meal last evening – and plenty of drink to help people cope with their pre-concert nerves - most of the guests have lost weight this week. In fact three of them have lost over 6 lbs! One has hit ‘eight-stone-something’ for the first time in twenty years and gave me a kiss! Another admitted that normally on holiday she gains half a stone in a week so the half pound she’s gained this week is a remarkable achievement.

Our annual Concert is unique. Always held on the Thursday evening of our week, this unique exhibition of talent never ceases to amaze me. Where else would you see hotel guests stand up in front of an audience of ALL the hotel guests, from various countries, and perform? There were fourteen acts in total including Amanda who was a stand-up comedienne, Averil mimed to ‘Always the Bridesmaid, never the Bride’, Ann and Margaret had written a hilarious song, Ella told a very poignant story, Mary told jokes as well as compered superbly, Anne played the piano as Betty, Gwen and Rachel sang Edelweiss, Hazel sang Julie Andrews’ reworded version of ‘My Favourite Things’, Pat read a poem about living every day to the full, and 15-year-old Charlotte played a piano solo and then later sang a solo so beautifully we had tears in our eyes.

Always at these concerts we like to involve the audience and last night was no exception and as this is a fitness holiday, that participation has to involve physical actions! And the audience didn’t disappoint. To see everyone – including the foreign guests in the hotel - doing hand-actions, standing up-down, up-down, even jumping on the spot, when directed was just brilliant. Everyone had a ball! And it was all thanks to Mary, my friend and colleague, who is magnificent on these occasions, holding it all together and ensuring that everyone is ready and prepared for their piece. We all say she could have had a career on the stage!

So, if people weighed a little less on the scales this morning I guess they burned off some extra calories last night through adrenalin and laughter – and that has to be good medicine.

Everyone is fired up with enthusiasm to keep up the good work now that the foundations have been laid to eat healthily and take more exercise. They have averaged around 20,000 steps a day on their pedometers and loved every minute of being so active. They have stocked up on aids to help them on their onward healthy lifestyle journey and have treated themselves to my Gi Hip and Thigh Handbook (it’s like a diary to record what you eat and do every day), Facial Flexes to tone up their faces, Portion Pots to measure their portion sizes from now on and DVDs to exercise to once home.

Tonight everyone will be given an award for making such a great effort throughout the week and tomorrow we travel home again, back to our normal lives across the UK. But none of us will forget the fun and laughter of this week and we have all made lots of new friends. We are fitter, slimmer, healthier and happier than when we arrived so that has to make the holiday a success. I guess that’s why we keep coming back year after year.

Champagne and Fresh Air

It’s Day 5 of our Austrian Activity Holiday and the sun is trying to shine. Our holiday guests are getting fitter by the day and the weight losses are mounting up.

Yesterday all of the guests went to Bregenz, a beautiful town situated on Lake Constance in Austria. Bregenz is famous for its open air theatre with the stage being suspended actually on the lake. It is a magnificent sight and the stage makes an appearance in the latest James Bond film, Quantum of Solace, as the location for one of the big fight scenes.

Our group spent the day either taking a boat trip for lunch, shopping or just wondering around this beautiful town and by 5 o’clock everyone was back safely, positively buzzing after their enjoyable day.

Then it was time for our champagne cable car ride. The Lech tourist office have created a charming activity by converting one of the cable cars into a bar. Guests can sip champagne as the cable car slowly ascends the large mountain Rufikopf, enabling us to gaze in amazement at the magnificent views across the snow-capped mountain ranges, the beautiful summer meadows and enjoy an aerial view of our hotel and the small town of Lech. It is a charming way to enjoy the evening and the sun shone which made it even more spectacular. When we reached the top of the mountain we were able to get out and wander around in the cool, fresh evening air which is a tonic in itself. No wonder so many of our guests return year after year.

After the champagne it was time for dinner which is always exquisitely presented and totally delicious. We do feel very spoiled and it is hard to believe that the food is all low-fat and specially prepared for our group.

As we relaxed into the evening the nerves were beginning to emerge as Thursday evening is Concert Night! My colleague, Mary, is Concert organiser and she has managed to engage some 14 acts to perform from our group! I am getting nervous too as I still don’t know the words to the song that I am supposed to be singing (miming) in the finale!

Over the years our Concert has gained something of a reputation and many English guests, not in our group, deliberately book their holiday to coincide with our week so that they can come to our concert. No pressure then! The other guests (non English) who are also staying in the hotel find us all rather strange as we are having such a very happy time. We create so much laughter and activity. I wonder what they will think of us after tonight?

To think that last Saturday only a handful of our 37 guests knew each other and now they are all great buddies, having the holiday of a lifetime together. That’s why we keep on organising this trip. It really is too good to miss.

Fresh air and champagne? You just can’t beat it!

Expect the unexpected...

It’s Day 4 of our Austrian Activity holiday and it’s still raining! However, the damp weather has not caused us to have any less fun or laughter.

Yesterday we divided into two groups – the fit and the super fit – because Tuesday was the day to visit Norbert in his farmhouse half way up a mountain at the tiny place called Burstegg. It is a two hour, all uphill hike but it’s well worth the effort. Burstegg comprises just one farmhouse, which is attached to the cow shed, and a tiny church. The views are spectacular and Norbert and his wife, Francesca, run their farm and also welcome mountain walkers who pass by with home-made cider, venison sausage (like salami), cheese and bread – all locally made. If it’s sunny, you sit outside and soak up the stunning views. If it is raining, you sit inside in their living room. The food is simply served in the form of cubes of cheese, meat and bread on a breadboard and tastes exceedingly special – partly because we are not used to having food served so simply, but also it is just so, well, Austrian.

Norbert is a big man with a handshake that takes a week to recover from. He speaks no English but seems to communicate with a huge, beaming smile that emanates from his vast bulk and rugged, cheery face. Francesca is inspiring. There is nothing she doesn’t know about the flowers and plants that grow on the mountains and if she has a calf that is sick, she will scan the landscape to find the right combination of herbs, roots and petals to make up a natural remedy. She is a remarkable woman.

Any visit to Norbert’s ends with a glass of schnapps for everyone. Declining isn’t an option and by the time everyone leaves, having paid just a few Euros for a very memorable lunch, everyone is in excellent spirits as they walk down the endless path to the road again.

The less-fit group, on the other hand, went on a much flatter walk and still enjoyed a wonderfully typical Austrian lunch – but it lacked the unique qualities of Burstegg!

After we all returned from our walks, it was time for Mary’s workout in the Gym which everyone always loves, and then it was time for an early dinner before we took a bus to St Anton for the Tyrolean evening.

If we thought we had burned a few calories during the day, it was nothing to the thigh-slapping, leg leaping activities of the Tyrolean dancers. The super-strong male thighs emerging beneath the well-worn lederhosen was enough to give my all female group just the tonic they needed after a long day in the fresh air! They clapped, they laughed, they had wood chippings tossed over them and water sprayed in their direction and they loved every minute of it. It was a memorable occasion and the Tyrolean boys’ and girls’ performance was superb.

This morning’s weigh in was rewarding with one guest having already lost 6 lbs since Sunday!

Austrian Activity Holiday

It is now Day 3 of our Austrian Activity Holiday and we are all having a very happy time, despite the damp weather.

Yesterday we walked along the bank of the Lech river, through fields bathed in summer flowers, surrounded by mountains, clean air and a sense of extreme peace. The countryside is enchanting and exercise is a total pleasure.

Our 40-strong group chat to each other as we walk along, learning about each other’s lives. Somehow, doing something physical and having time to talk is amazingly therapeutic, particularly amongst such beauty. Nobody minded when it started to rain quite heavily. Out came the waterproofs and we just carried on chatting away, until we reached the trout farm.

The keen ‘fishermen’ guests soon found their skill in casting their lines and the damp conditions helped the catch rate. Within 30 minutes 35 trout were caught and within half an hour we were all sitting down to the most delicious smoked trout we’ve ever tasted, together with potato salad and a small slice of apple strudel!

Soon it was time to make our way back and only the Brits would want to stop off at the open air swimming pool to go swimming in the rain! Unfortunately, the pool was closed due to bad weather.

Then it was time for a sauna or steam bath – they have a magnificent spa area in our hotel which is designed beyond imagination it is so stylish – and then it’s time for our aerobics class. I really didn’t expect many to join me but almost everyone did and by the end of the session, the total day’s step count on our pedometers exceeded 22,000! And it was only 6pm!

Last night one of our guests organised a quiz evening which was hilarious. I had great fun asking fellow hotel guests (not in our group) to help with our answers, much to the hilarity of the group. They were so keep to help, as well as the bar staff, that you couldn’t help thinking that they wished they were being included in the teams!

This morning everyone is ready for their early morning walk, bright eyed and bushy tailed at 7.15 am with my colleague and friend Mary. At 8 am I am waiting at the scales for the daily weigh-in. We already have a 4 lb loss this week and two more having lost over 3lbs. Weighing daily helps people to know whether they need to cut back their food a little and maybe drink a little less. Only two have gained and that is only ¼ lb!

So, today we’re off walking again - an easy-option walk for those who are not quite so fit, and a tough uphill hike for two hours to a hut on a mountain side. I’m taking the easy walk!

Let’s hope we see the sun at some point!

PS You can buy one of our pedometers from our new-look website, www.rosemaryconley.com

Our Austrian Holiday so far!

On Saturday forty of us met up at Zurich Airport having travelled from Manchester, Heathrow or Birmingham and, on schedule, arrived within half an hour of each other. All was going so well until our transfer coach was delayed for 1 ½ hours due to an accident on the motorway which caused massive delays. So we, that’s myself and my two fellow holiday guides, looked after everyone’s luggage and we sent all our guests off shopping in the airport! The coach eventually arrived, everyone was wonderful and no one moaned once. Brilliant!

When we arrived in Lech in the Arlberg region of Austria, some two and a half hours later, a welcome drink of champagne awaited us literally as we stepped off the coach. What a welcome!

The views from the hotel are unbelievable. Beautiful mountains topped with snow, meadows blanketed with glorious flowers of every colour and description. Just imagine the scenes in the Sound of Music and that’s what we are looking at!

We have organised this holiday in the same hotel for 23 years. We have a packed programme and yesterday we enjoyed watching the Lech Town Band play in the town square, with the local residents dressed in traditional Austrian costume. It is a lovely sight. Last night, after an exquisitely presented four course dinner (all low fat of course) we watched a show of photographs of Lech in summer and winter. Everyone is relaxed and having a whale of a time.

But there is a serious side to this holiday. People come to eat healthily, take lots of exercise and learn about adopting a healthy lifestyle. Some are also serious about losing weight and we have seen some significant weight losses in previous years. To this end everyone who wanted to be was weighed in yesterday morning and each day, at 8 am, after the early morning brisk walk of 45 minutes, I weigh them again. This isn’t something I would normally recommend but unless they are monitored on a daily basis those drinks at the bar, the large and varied portions served to themselves each morning at breakfast can ruin their good intentions. And that’s not to mention the surreptitious apple strudel that might be consumed when no-one’s looking!

So today was the first day of monitoring. Despite generous portions of food and alcohol, because many had been on a couple of walks yesterday and some had even had a swim in the open air pool, most of them had lost weight this morning but some hadn’t. I’ve just finished giving them a talk on how to lose weight and portion sizes being crucial so I’m hoping the gainers will be losers tomorrow.

We are getting ready now to go trout fishing. It is an hour’s walk to the trout lake and we have to catch our own lunch. It is the most delicious trout I have ever eaten so I always feel it is worth the effort.
Some may go swimming afterwards and at 5 pm I will be teaching them aerobics in the school gym. This evening it’s quiz night so there will be lots of fun and laughter guaranteed.

Let’s hope it doesn’t rain for the trout fishing!

Off to the Austrian Alps!

Tomorrow, almost 40 women will be travelling with me and my two colleagues to Zurich, Switzerland and then on to Lech in Austria for a House Party Activity Holiday. It is the 23rd time we have organised this trip which started back in 1983. We stay at the same hotel, Der Berghof, which is run by the third generation of the Burger family.

Each day will start with an early morning walk, then a daily weigh-in for those determined to lose weight this week, followed by a healthy breakfast, a talk, a hike, lunch in the mountains, a walk to the open air pool if folk wish, then it’s sauna or steam room time. On three days we do classes at the local school gym and in the evenings, after a specially prepared, low fat four course dinner, it’s entertainment time. Quiz nights, Tyrolean evening, even a Concert where volunteers from our group perform. It is always a fantastic week and many of the guests return year after year for this holiday of laughter and fitness. We all go back feeling energised and refreshed.

The only problem with a holiday like this is that you need so many different clothes as we change around four times a day into suitable attire for our various activities. The weather can be so unpredictable and we have known it to snow in the morning while we’ve walked up a mountain and then turn to 28 degrees in the afternoon for us to sunbathe and swim.

So, over the next nine days my blog will be recalling the fun and games we get up to.

Today my new diet Trialists come in to Quorn House for a celebration of their achievements. As a thank you, their names are going into a prize draw and one lucky slimmer will walk away with £250!

They have done brilliantly and I cannot wait to see what the final outcome will be of their average weight loss over the four week trial.

If you want to lose weight for your summer holidays, it’s not too late. Check out our website at www.rosemaryconley.com to find your nearest class or join our online club.

From morbidly obese to fitness instructor!

Two years ago Gill Butcher, from Northampton, went to work and every day on her way home she called to see her elderly mother. Once home, Gill would cook for her husband and then spend the evening on the sofa watching TV before collapsing into bed at the end of another exhausting day. They never entertained or went out socially because, apart from visiting her mother and going to work, Gill had become a recluse because she was ashamed of herself. Gill weighed over 20 stone and hated the way she looked. It was destroying her self esteem and her life.

Then Gill, who was then in her mid 40s, made a very big decision. Gill decided she had to do something to save her life so, she went along to her local Rosemary Conley Diet and Fitness Club to join. But when she arrived she was overwhelmed by fear and daren’t go through the door to enrol. She went home again, feeling very despondent and a failure. Next week, she plucked up enough courage to go along again. But as she stood near the entrance door, watching the other members walk in, she felt too fat and inferior to step over the threshold. And she went home again.

The following week Gill gave herself a good talking-to and decided this time she would join. As she drove up she was determined to see it through this time but, unfortunately, when she got to the door, she just couldn’t step through it. So she walked away and stood for a while, trying so hard to muster up the courage to make that life-changing step towards a healthier future. Fortunately, some of the members had noticed Gill on the previous weeks and one of them went over to her and, guessing what was the problem, said ‘Why don’t you come in with me?’. That was all Gill needed. Someone to help her into the room that was going to transform her life.

Once through the door Gill was welcomed by instructor Clare Hamblin, who runs classes for the Northampton franchisee, Diana Thomson. She was soon on those dreaded scales and the basic facts had been written down in black and white. When it came to the exercise, Gill felt nervous at moving around her large and unfit body to music but she did what she could and the instructor was kind and helpful as well as encouraging as she progressed through the workout. Gill didn’t feel at all pressured and wondered why on earth she had wasted the last three weeks!

Gill followed the diet and lost weight so fast over the following weeks and months. She adored the exercise and went to more than one workout a week. After 12 months Gill had lost 5 stone. Her body was toning up and Gill’s confidence was growing with every week’s weight loss. The true Gill was emerging and her life was changing.

After 24 months, Gill had lost an amazing 10 stone and was crowned our Slimmer of the Year 2009. Gill didn’t have the biggest weight loss of those who entered, but, in our view, she showed the biggest transformation, most toned body and the very best example of how you could turn your life and your body round. On top of that, Gill had decided she wanted to help others just like her so she started training as an Exercise to Music instructor so that she could take classes for her local Rosemary Conley franchisee, Diana Thompson, whose class she had attended.

Last evening, Gill sent me a message on my Twitter site to tell me she had just passed all her assessments and that she is now fully qualified to take our classes! How exciting is that! It’s a tough course and it takes a huge amount of dedication, hard work and confidence to qualify.

We love it when our members follow the diet and exercises and then become either instructors or franchisees for us. There is nothing quite like having someone who has been there, done it and then wants to pass that knowledge and encouragement on to others. WELL DONE GILL! Enjoy every moment of your new employment!

Please check out our website for details of how to become a franchisee, (or an instructor for one of our existing franchisees) or call Heather or Dawn on 01509 622000 for a chat.

Today is an important day!

Every day we are alive is important and I am grateful for every one of them. But today I am writing the diet for my new book which will be published in January. I have already designed the meals, (breakfasts, lunches, dinners), and they have been calculated for calories and nutrition, but today I put them together into combinations so that dieters can open my book and see that on, say, Day 6 the meal suggestions are already decided.

Despite the fact that all of the meals are interchangeable, (i.e. You can choose any breakfast throughout the book if you don’t like the one I’ve suggested for any day), when I put the book together the suggested meal plan needs to look appetising, generous, easy to prepare and not requiring complicated ingredients. I need to remove every barrier imaginable to encourage the potential slimmer to buy the book and give the diet a try. The secret is in the detail. Those little treats that make you think, ‘that sounds nice and it’s easy’ can give you a feeling of optimism that you actually could stick to this one! When you buy a diet book, you are buying hope. It is my job to turn that hope into reality.

The key is to come up with meal combinations that are going to fill the dieter sufficiently at the end of each meal to get them through to the next one without reaching for the Mars bar. If I can do that, and the dieter can enjoy what they’ve eaten and not feel it was like diet food, the dieter will lose weight and they will feel it was easy. If they feel it was easy and they are able to stick to the diet for several weeks, hopefully it will re-train their appetite and taste buds away from high fat food and massive portions so that they can modify their lifestyle from then on and achieve long term success.

Our Chef, Dean Simpole-Clarke, has created some brand new recipes to be included and my Diet Trial concludes tomorrow. Around 50 wonderful folk have given their best effort to the diet, (they just had the lists of meals), and recommended exercise and they will provide a massive heap of hope and optimism to my readers of the book. They will prove beyond doubt that if you stick to the diet and exercise, it really, really works. They will provide very valuable motivation to anyone picking up that book or who attends our classes.

Whenever I write a new diet book, we adapt it for use in our Clubs. Every new member who joins Rosemary Conley Diet and Fitness Clubs receives a New Member’s Pack and in it they receive a set of Portion Pots as well as the diet. Portion control is key and our revolutionary Portion Pots have proved a massive hit in helping our members to lose more weight. Portion control when you are guessing is dangerous and can often lead to little or no weight loss if you not bothering to measure your portions before you put them on your plate. In clinical trials it was discovered that overweight folk under-estimate how much they eat by as much as a third whereas slim people were fairly accurate. And with regard to exercise, most of us over-estimate how much we do!

So, if you want to lose weight now and cannot wait until January for my new book, check out my Gi Hip and Thigh Diet and a set of our Portion Pots. Both are available from our website http://www.rosemaryconley.com/ or go along to one of our classes and get the diet and Portion Pots free when you join.