Let’s save our own life!

It is reported that if we eat healthily, are at a healthy weight, take regular exercise and we don’t smoke we can reduce our chances of developing a serious, life-threatening illness by a massive 80%!

Our problem is that we imagine we won’t have the stroke, the heart-attack, the bowel cancer or go blind – it will happen to someone else. But they don’t. The statistics are frightening when you learn how many people are affected and how lives are devastated. But the great news is that even losing SOME weight and taking SOME exercise can dramatically improve your health.

Last week we heard from one of the Trialists who had been testing out my new diet which will be the basis of my new book to be published in the new year. Bill is in his 60’s and is a big man. Bill lost over 1 ½ stone during the trial period and last week told us that he had serious case of cellulitis caused by a insect bite that become badly infected. Bill was told that had he not lost the weight, been eating healthily and taking regular exercise recently, his condition would have left the doctors no alternative but to amputate his leg. Bill is now well on the road to recovery, thankfully.

It’s never a ‘good week’ to start our diet and it’s never a ‘good’ time to get ill either. So, even if we only increase our activity by going for a 15 minute walk every day, or going to an exercise class or playing a sport, it can have a dramatic effect on our health. Then, couple that with eating less high fat food, stopping snacking on crisps and chocolate between meals, and cutting back on our alcohol by 50%, we really could save our life!

Check out our website if you want help, (www.rosemaryconley.com) – we have diet and fitness classes throughout the UK and an online slimming club for those who can’t make it to class – or just make a few simple changes to your lifestyle. You will be so glad when you’ve done it.

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.

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!

Is breakfast cereal good or bad for our kids?

Over the weekend there have been reports highlighting the high levels of sugar in breakfast cereals specifically targeted at children, plus another report highlighting biscuits for babies and toddlers that contain unhealthy fats and excess levels of sugar and salt. Cow & Gate have withdrawn some of their products and Heinz have defended their range of baby biscuits on the basis that they have a lower fat, lower sugar option available. I think there are two issues here.

Let’s look at breakfast cereals first. In my view, eating any cereal is better than none though I accept some are healthier than others. Research has proven that breakfast eaters are slimmer than those who skip it, and that our levels of concentration are increased if we start the day with this important meal. If we choose to eat cereal, we take it with milk which is a valuable source of protein which helps the growth and repair of our body – a fact which is particularly important in the case of growing children. The ideal is to select cereals with higher fibre content and you can check out the nutrition panel for sugar and salt content to discover which ones are better than others but in reality, I would rather a child ate a breakfast of any cereal, with some milk, than eating a packet of crisps and a chocolate bar on the way to school.

Now on to babies. Babies have tiny stomachs and need more energy-dense foods, which includes fat, to enable them to consume sufficient calories during their early lives as they grow so fast. That’s why, when I create any of my low fat diets, I always say that they are healthy for the whole family except for children under two years of age.

Once past that stage, I would question the wisdom of always giving toddlers biscuits to eat as snacks between meals. Why not introduce them to different fruits and vegetables to acclimatise their taste buds to healthier foods at an early age. It is not good that children are often only happy eating fish fingers and chips, chocolate biscuits and ice cream. I’m not against these foods being eaten occasionally, but if we are to help our children to be healthy into the future, we should help them to understand which foods are good for us and which ones should be classed as occasional treats. This is exactly what we are aiming to do by launching our Kids 2 programme. Check out our website for details.

Call for unhealthy sandwiches to be better labelled

Which? magazine has published a report highlighting the fact that pre-packed sandwiches can contain a scary amount of unhealthy salt, fat and sugar. They are calling for more information to be included on the labelling and for the nutritional content to be more easily understood.

Of course it is helpful to know how many calories and how much fat is in a sandwich but there is no doubt that manufacturers will include any ingredients they choose to enhance the flavour and make you want to go back for more tomorrow. And who can blame them?

In this age of credit crunch there has never been a better time to make our own sandwiches with our favourite fillings but in a low fat and healthy way. Pre-packed sandwiches have to have a spread of some kind to seal the bread and prevent leakage from the sandwich content as a pre-packed sandwich obviously has to last at least 24 hours if not longer. If we make our own, it will only be a matter of probably 5 hours before we come to eat it, in which case we don’t need the low-fat spread and we can substitute that with low-fat alternatives such as Branston pickle, HP Fruity sauce, Hellmans 3% fat Extra Light mayo, mustard, Marmite or Horseradish sauce. Whilst Horseradish and mustard are high in fat in themselves, if you have enough to matter, eating a sandwich would blow your head off!

When we’re trying to lose weight, the key to a successful sandwich is bulk. Putting as many salad vegetables into the sandwich such as lettuce, cucumber, tomato, sliced peppers and spring onion, and then adding a small amount of wafer-thin ham or chicken, can give you a substantial meal at significantly fewer calories and less fat than a pre-packed alternative.

Why not try some unusual fillings such as Horseradish with beetroot, cottage cheese and Marmite (if you’ve never tried this, it’s amazing), wafer-thin ham and my low fat cheese (available from Morrisons and Asda), egg, tomato and basil and Philadelphia Extra Light with smoked salmon.

The key to your success is finding a sandwich which you enjoy and which fills you up. For children, why not cut the sandwich into different shapes with the help of a pastry cutter and add carrot sticks to a rabbit shape and some seedless grapes with some star-shaped sandwiches plus a small yoghurt or Fromage Frais. Just use a little imagination and you can turn a healthy lunchbox into something your child is proud to show their friends and their teacher.

Healthy school dinners

Healthy school dinners are in the news again and I think the government has to be very careful not to push children away from eating moderately healthy food by making the food too different to what they are used to eating. It took 20 years to get the great British public to reduce their smoking habits dramatically. Gently, gently is my philosophy for helping children to eat more healthily and I think we should increase the effort to encourage them to become much more active. It is kids’ inactivity that is the biggest cause of children’s obesity – not the food. We are working towards a programme for children which will be launched on 16th April. Watch this space!