We're well in to February now, and it's been great to see so many new members in class losing fantastic amounts of weight, and some old faces back!  We're all focused and enjoying the exercise, but some are finding it a little harder than normal to shift the weight.  My theory is that that's fine for a while - as long as we're not gaining.  When it's cold we just want to snuggle under a blanket and hibernate.  Use this as an excuse to fill up on comforting, warming foods, such as low fat soups and stews - the ideal foods to make you feel fuller for longer and satisfied.  Spring is just around the corner, and that is when the spring in our step will come back and we can get completely back on track.

Our members found a way to warm up in January by coming along to my Burns Night.  I may live in Brighton, but I’m still an Edinburgh girl, and wanted to bring a little touch of Scotland to my ladies.  We had a three course Burns Supper, made by Jon from www.cashewcatering.co.uk and music and dance calling for the ceilidh was from The Sussex Pistols http://www.users.globalnet.co.uk/~tinvic/pistols.htm . My brother Scott is an actor and he addressed the haggis which we all toasted. Then later when the band had a break, local actor friends Owen Aaronovitch and his wife Fiona Bruce (no, not that one!) sang 'Aye Fond Kiss' and she read 'To A Mouse'. We then darkened the room and Scott read the scary 'Tam O'Shanter' to a gripped audience.  The band returned and we danced on. Everywhere you looked you could see people laughing and smiling and having a great time!  Burns Night really was when we Burnt off what we'd put on over Christmas. We'll definitely have an event like this again - thank you to all who came and made it such a fantastic evening!

Lesley x

Happy New Year everyone!

Classes are now all back open, and we're all getting back to normal. The only thing that's abnormal after the Christmas break is that more members than not have gained weight rather than lost any.  But that is acceptable.  We all overindulge sometimes and in many ways the best time to face the music is the first couple of weeks in January - when you're not the only one who's gained a pound, or two, or more...

Often people dread coming back as they think it's only them who have been 'naughty', when they're actually in the majority.  Some stay away thinking that they'll get back on track by themselves, and then rejoin once they're less embarrassed by what the scales will say.  But then left to their own devices, the weight creeps back on, and they take longer and longer to come back, if ever.

But Rosemary Conley Diet & Fitness Clubs exist to offer support to people who are struggling to control their weight.  At a weigh in it is only the member and the instructor who know what you weigh, and then once you've faced up to the figure on the scales as your new fresh start weight, you can deal with it.  Put the past behind you and move on - positively.

So if you're a lapsed member reading this, then come back being assured that you are not abnormal and you will be supported.  And if you're a potential new member unsure if you can go the distance, then come along knowing that you will not be the only person who doubts their own ability at times - we have all been there.

We look forward to welcoming you soon!

Lesley xxx

Yikes, so long between blogs again! It's the time of year where we (RC instructors) are really busy planning; sorting out any new classes, and booking leaflets and advertising for our New Year campaigns, when we just know that so many of you are going to be joining (or returning!) to our classes for a fabber, fitter and firmer 2011.

But before New Year we've got Christmas to go through, and I just wondered who you relate to in the following...

...So we’ve got four weeks until Christmas –

Positive Polly thinks “I can still lose half a stone by then” and feels FANTASTIC in her little black dress over the festive season.

Negative Nelly thinks “I might as well give up now until January” , eats her own body weight in Celebrations, drinks 3 litres of Baileys and puts her party dress to the back of the wardrobe.

Which one would you rather be??? 

(Thanks to Philippa Aldridge. No idea who wrote this, but pinched it from her facebook page.)

Lesley xxx

Last Friday was our Rosemary Conley Annual Convention.  As a whole organisation we meet up twice a year - in April at Center Parcs which is very aerobics based and we learn lots of useful information and loads of brilliant routines for us to take back to use in class.  And then the convention is every October and is business based.  Rosemary sums up all of the company's successes and achievements over the past 12 months, and reveals all of the exciting plans in store for the next 12.  Later in the evening we have a dinner dance.  As we spend most of our time working alone going to our classes, both events are great as they really help to bring us all together and make us feel part of a big organisation, working throughout the country to help people reach their target weights and have healthier and fitter lives.  Hearing the stories and seeing the pictures of people who have lost weight in the last year NEVER fails to move me.  Maybe next year we'll be moved and delighted looking at pictures of YOU!

Lesley x

PS I took the opportunity to get a picture of Dean, Rosemary and me with the Veg Soc award we won for our clubs contribution to National Vegetarian Week 2010.

Some of us took part in a walk4life walk along Brighton seafront this morning.

You can see us briefly on ITV local Meridian news at 45s and 1m20s - we're the ones with the big pink Rosemary Conley banner! http://www.itv.com/meridian-east/walking-4-life75028/

And we're in the top left corner (just!) in the piece in The Argus. http://www.theargus.co.uk/news/8415641.Hundreds_take_part_in_Brighton_Walk4Life/

Last weekend Tiffany Eneas, franchisee for Portsmouth, and I hooked up again, this time to make some low fat vegan nibbles at Viva!'s Incredible Veggie Roadshow at the Brighton Dome.

Normally when I do cookery demos I spend time running up to the day making the recipes a few times, and tweaking the ingredients to ensure that the final dishes are as scrummy as can be! This time though it took longer - I had to work out the calories and fat of each serving (I like sums, so easy enough to work out the calories and fat in the whole of the ingredients, but dividing it in to each little nibble took longer).

The theme of our demo was that it's not necessarily our meals which make us gain weight, but the nibbles we eat between them. So we made some party bites – high in flavour, low in fat: Stuffed Vine Leaves from one of Rosemary's cook books, Chestnut Tarts, Tofu Tarts (like quiche) and Mini Maple and Pecan Parcels.  We gave out little samples of each dish, and they all went down well which is great.  If anyone would like the recipes, please email me and I'll email you a copy.

We also had a stall selling some of Rosemary's products, and gave away loads of free back issues of Rosemary's magazine with FREE trial vouchers. So if you came, you took one, and you're reading this now, we look forward to welcoming you to class soon!

Lesley x

Rosemary Conley Diet & Fitness Clubs have won the Vegetarian Society's National Vegetarian Week Cauldron Local Hero Award for our exceptional effort to celebrate the Week.

See here http://www.nationalvegetarianweek.org/hero_awards.asp

As my cookery segments with Dean were added to RCTV to coincide with the week, head office were happy for me to collect the award on their behalf.

So on Saturday, 11 September 2010, Tiffany Eneas, franchisee for Portsmouth, and I made our way to the Radisson Edwardian Mountbatten Hotel in Covent Garden for the Celebration Dinner with the other winners.  The award was presented to us by much loved veggie cookery writer, and Veg Soc Patron, Rose Elliot.

Wow is it really 10 weeks since I last blogged?! Doesn't time fly when you've got so much to do?!  I still intend to fill this in with my weight history; from being a child with chubby legs and not really bothered by it - until someone else noticed them!... up to the current day and the constant joy of maintaining my ideal weight.

I'm using the Bank Holiday to catch up on loads of things that are always on the 'to do' list (including pop in here!) and have just finished making arrangements for our Christmas nights out to see Calendar Girls and The Full Monty which should be fun!

Classes are going well at the moment - quieter because of the summer holidays, but fun because my current routine is one taught to us by Sandy from Rosemary's head office who is fantastic.  Class members love it, probably because it's more like a dance routine and we don't even notice we're exercising - almost! ;-)

Off to catch up with even more stuff, but if you're reading this as a lapsed member, how about deciding to come back now?  Maybe one of my favourite quotes will inspire you:

You haven't failed until you have stopped trying

Hopefully it won't be "so long" before I pop in again,

Lesley x

RosemaryConley.TV is an internet based TV channel which was launched last year and is a great tool for members to use to keep focused between classes.  It contains thousands of free healthy recipes, diet, fitness and well being videos available to watch 24/7.

Although Rosemary is the figurehead for our organisation - with a great figure, and a sensible head, so very apt! - she wants all of us franchisees to get involved and appear on the channel too. I recently went up to their new purpose build TV studio to cook alongside top chef Dean Simpole-Clarke, who you'll know if you read Rosemary's magazine.

I'm a vegan (but a pink fluffy non preachy one - so don't let that put you off joining my classes if you're a bit Gordon Ramsay in your attitude to vegans! ) so made some dishes that are meat free, egg free and dairy free - and delicious!  I've taken in mini versions of the Maple Date and Pecan parcels to classes all week and they've gone down an absolute treat!

I'm also delighted that Rosemary has mentioned my videos in her news sections on the 17th http://www.rosemaryconley.tv/Rosemary-World/News/vx/2712_939081/News-17th-May-2010.aspx and the 24th of May http://www.rosemaryconley.tv/Rosemary-World/News/vx/2712_945660/News-24th-May-2010.aspx where she says that I'm able to give advice on specialist diets.  I'm completely honoured that such a guru has praised my knowledge in this way!

Here's the Sausage Onion and Tomato Tart http://www.rosemaryconley.tv/Recipes/Vegetarian/vx/2712_938994/Meat-Free-Diets---Sausage%2c-Onion-%26-Tomato-Tart.aspx

Eggless Pancakes http://www.rosemaryconley.tv/Recipes/Vegetarian/vx/2712_938995/Egg-Free-Diets---Egg-Free-Pancakes.aspx

and Maple Date and Pecan Parcels http://www.rosemaryconley.tv/Recipes/Vegetarian/vx/2712_938996/Vegan-%26-Vegetarian-Low-Fat-Diets---Maple%2c-Date-%26-Pecan-Parcels.aspx

Enjoy!

Lesley x