Strictly weight loss!

We are away for a few days in Portugal which means that I buy a daily newspaper to read on the flight and occasionally to read while away. I don’t normally buy newspapers (other than our local evening one) and rely on the television news to keep me up-to-date with world events. But, ridiculously, I do enjoy reading all the comments and self-written columns on the subject of Strictly Come Dancing!

I enjoyed reading Pamela Stephenson’s column in the Mail on Sunday as she described being squeezed into her dress, with microphone back cleverly secreted in her bra and donning two pairs of tights to keep her legs in good shape. She was brutally honest about the wizardry of the hair and make-up artists that went on to make her look so glamorous and I found her refreshing and entertaining.

For some reason Strictly does seem to generate masses of interest and of course, Ann Widdecombe’s entertaining presence is a gift to the tabloids. Completely resistant to any bad press or judges’ comments (after all, by her own admission, compared with the criticism she endured as a politician anything thrown at her during Strictly is small fry), Ann is enjoying being the centre of attention while Anton bravely soldiers on. He deserves a medal for his strength in throwing and dragging her around as well as his good humoured efforts in creating entertaining choreography. The BBC must be rubbing their hands – and why not? It’s good, clean family entertainment that makes you laugh out loud. Brilliant!

Yesterday the press were reporting that Pamela Stephenson and Felicity Kendall had both dropped two dress sizes and Patsy Kensit had lost two stone since signing up for the show. It reported that apparently celebrities were now seeing Strictly as the best route to take to lose those unwanted pounds that have crept on over the years. And it’s not really surprising, is it? Being physically active for around six hours a day, six days a week is enough to trim down the most stubborn figure but dancing with such precision and with adrenaline pumping nineteen to the dozen, is a sure-fire way to slim down!

However, the newspaper reported that Ann W had not enjoyed the same slimming down effect. Are we surprised? I don’t think so. Ann doesn’t appear to be spending a huge amount of energy within her dance routines. It seems to me that to execute the 90-second routine Anton is burning enough calories for both of them as he carries, spins and drags Ann across the dance floor.

Hopefully all this publicity about weight loss due to increased activity will help the penny to drop to the nation that if we want to lose weight we need to eat less and move more. It isn’t rocket science but it is a very simple and serious message. Being overweight and unfit is really bad for our health yet we have it within our control to do something about it. Let’s get more active today and if you want to lose weight as well, just have a look on www.rosemaryconley.com to find our slimming and dance/aerobic classes. They are fun and they work! Enjoy!