Rosemary Conley - how to lose weight and get fit

About 20 years ago (when I was considerably lighter than I am now) I embarked on the Rosemary Conley low fat and aerobics route. In 5 months I lost 1lb short of 2 stone!
I don't agree with "low fat" per se and it has been shown how products claiming to be low fat often contain high amounts of sugar to give them some taste.
But at the back of my mind is the niggling feeling that of all the methods I ever attempted, her joined up diet and exercise programme worked for me.
Shame her exercise classes seem to have disappeared under competition from gyms, step, Zumba etc.
I still have the videos too, wonder if the old video recorder even works

Same here; got her books and videos all over the place. As someone who has never been particularly overweight I found the diet interesting because my weight has always been in my thighs and, no matter how thin I was [7st at one point] my legs were always huge. I did find that sticking to the diet resulted in my skin, hair and nails becoming very dry though so moved on [theneverendingdiet] and someone did tell me to actually put on weight which would make me more in proportion. Need advice on where to go now as a 64 year old that still has huge legs .

I am another one who found the combination of diet and exercise classes worked well for me. It was a shame that the local RC groups no longer exist. The one I attended was taken over by the local franchisee and I continued to attend for a while but it changed quite significantly. The diet recommendations kept changing in line with current thinking and the exercise classes now seem to be dominated by competitive gym bunnies.

However I notice that Rosemary Conley still has an on-line club, perhaps I should rejoin and give it another go. (Originally lost 3.5 stone but have regained 1.5). I also have a load of RC dvds, Just going to hunt them down and then dance round the living room.

A question for Rosemary:

How successful are people who use an on-line slimming site compared to those who attend a weekly class?

would Rosemary consider bringing out an extremely low impact exercise video?

Some of us suffer joint pains etc, and cannot start from scratch with a jumping about video. I used to follow her videos where some poor woman would be sat at the back of the video doing the exercises from a chair, but I would rather that all the participants were equally slow and gentle on screen.

some of us just need something to start with something slow to build up our muscles and stamina and confidence.

hi, iam 60 yrs old been dieting since age 16, used to be able to loose weight around 7lbs in three weeks. I am quite active do 5 aquafit classes a week, line dancing, dancersize class. all last for 45/60 mins . also on a day its not raining I walk to classes. I watch what I eat eat healthly, also been on various well know diets. I know feel no diet works for me at all. don't really like sweet foods. My son is getting married on 17th sept this year I would dearly loved to be 9st 10. by the way I'm 11st 9 and 5ft 1. can you help me rosemary please.

A good low impact DVDs would be good ?

The new diet sounds a bit like the 5:2 with 6:1 for maintenance. Higher calories but are there any other differences Rosemary?

Just been looking online for a local RC class but there only seems to be online membership now. Is this nationwide or just where I live?

My question was similar to chelseababy's about the 5:2 so I am interested to see the answer to that.

I would also like to ask how to manage the low calorie days without getting hungry or (more importantly) feeling unwell. I eat a pretty healthy diet generally and try to stick to 1200-1500 calories as I am trying to lose a stone and this seems to work for me. I feel fine doing this. But if I eat less I get light headed and feel nauseous - this has put me off the 5:2 but I think 800 calories would have the same effect

I have a sweet tooth and although I eat well I find it impossible to get through the day without a sweet treat. I have managed to lose weight by working around this but I would like to ask Rosemary two questions if I may

1) how hard is it to educate yourself to not feel like this? I have tried and failed many times

2) is sugar really the evil that everyone says when consumed in moderation? Giving up sugar seems to be 'the thing' these days but I don't see why it has to be all or nothing

Thank you

You look amazing Rosemary. Is this because you always practice what you preach - or do you have the occasional splurge? Are there any things you just couldn't give up? And if so how have you been able to work around them. I think this is the problem with many diets is that they are too forbidding which makes you crave other stuff all the more

Having been a vegetarian for over 40 years, I am finding that lentils, chickpeas and other staples like nuts now tend to give me wind! Quorn is also rather bloating, and as I suffer from migraines I had to give up cheese and chocolate many moons ago.
My question to Rosemary is:
I wonder if she could come up with a modern diet book for veggies as I loved her hip and thigh book, but the vegetarian recipes are now a bit dated. I also am finding joint pain is stopping me from prancing about too much which is adding to the bulk around the middle. A more gentler routine to start like gilliangillian suggested would be great too. Many thanks.

I just want to be able to resist sweet things, I have put on a stone over xmas and I have a habit of eating chocolate every hour. At night I don't have a huge meal but can eat 2 cream cakes, a bar of chocolate, a bag of nuts and several biscuits. I excersise every day but just cant stop the craving for sugar, if I don't eat sugar I get dizzy and shaky. Anyone have any ideas why I get this apart from a sugar addiction.
Tonight I have had no snacks and am almost 'crawling up the wall' for a fix of sugar.

I have bought so many books and videos by Rosemary - even managed to buy the same book twice some how!

The 'Look inside' option is not available (yet?) for the new book on Amazon and I wondered about the format the new diet. Is it shown as a meal plan for each day for a set number of days, or are meals grouped for a pick and mix menu option?

I hope it's the pick and mix option!

Rosemary do you think supplements are a good idea for older people following your diets?

Hi geordiejock. I dont seem to be able to directly reply to you but you seem to be a very active person. You say that you eat healthily and dont really like sweet treats, so Id suggest that you look at your portion sizes and also the amount of savoury snacks you might eat and see if thats where you can succeed. Personally I bought a book at Amazon called Carbs and Cals and it actually shows you in pictures what different size portions look like. It was recommended to me by a dietician I saw in a diabetes class and is very good. Put simply, I learnt that
1. Calories in balanced with calories out= steady weight
2. Calories in with less calories out= weight gain
As you exercise regularly, doing activities that are fun and enjoyable (I assume you get slightly out of breath doing these activities as thats what you need to do?) there seems little more you could do there except a bit more of all the above eg stairs not lifts, walk not bus or get off a stop or two earlier etc.
I think if you think of it as a new healthy eating plan, with the odd treat built in, then it will become a lifestyle and not a diet- and you might break that cycle of dieting etc, which gets much harder as we get older! Good luck and even if you dont quite get there by the wedding then its not the end of the world (being healthy is the name of the game!) x

I attended the Rosemary Conley club in my local area with my daughters and found it invaluable for attaining and then maintaining a healthy weight and lifestyle. It was run by award-winning franchisee Miranda Menzies. Fortunately when under the classes ended Miranda formed her own club 'Weigh In and Work Out with Miranda'. I find I need the personal support and love the exercise element of the club. I'm sure other former franchisees have done the same and this may be worth investigating in other areas.

I've always tried to eat a healthy diet and recently have lost about a stone by cutting out sugar,cutting back on fat and reducing portion sizes. However I've never managed to get rid of my porky stomach. I do Pilates but have to be careful with exercise as I have a bad back. ( herniated lumber disc) Any suggestions?

Hello Rosemary, you are still looking fabulous!
After weight gain due to a thyroid problem, I successfully lost 3.5 stone a couple of years ago, by dieting on alternate days. I then reached a plateau and have maintained since. I still have more to lose, so managed to shed a stone before Christmas by the same method, but again have reached a standstill. Do you have a strategy in your plan to kick-start weight loss again when it grinds to a halt?
I walk 12-15,000 steps a day and do 4 or 5 main-stream exercise classes a week, which is probably as much as I can manage, at almost 70 years of age.

I've never been on a diet or to the gym in my life as have always been slim.However since I've been diagnosed with an under active thyroid i can't seem to get rid of all the weigh that came on with it.

Rosemary Conley classes were the ones that worked for me.
I stopped dieting and changed my eating habits for life.
I have been the same weight now for 5 years.
I use the DVDs.
I loved the classes because the talk was short and the exercise long! There isn't a lot you can keep saying on 'eat less and excercise more' so it suited me.
I now go to Zumba which is similar.
I don't have a question- just want to say 'thank you' and I spread the word when I can.

hi pamill4 thanks for your reply, I think possibility is portion control, as I tried no count diet on weight watchers similar to s world and didn't loose. now doing on line w w smart points and lost 2bls first week. think maybe I dnt really know when I'm full lol. thanks for all your suggestions which are helpfull