Trousers malfunction-4:The lady who made the trousers fall

Rosemary Conley

These days, marketing and product publicity are deployed so masterfully that people fall in the trap as though blindfolded!

Rosemary Conley, the 54-year old  fitness guru of the Lord Mayor of Leicester, Mr. Colin Hall, ( of the trouser malfunction fame) was anyway very famous and has now become more well known. No news item about the fallen trousers ends without a mention of the fitness guru who is training him to shed his extra weight.

·        In 1986 Rosemary discovered a low-fat diet plan, which transformed her body in a way she had never been able to achieve with previous diets.

·        In 1993, Rosemary launched her Diet and Fitness Clubs and its national network today has  190 professionally qualified exercise teachers currently running more than 2,000 weekly classes across the UK for over 80,000 members.

·        In 1996, her Diet & Fitness magazine was launched. This award-winning publication has more than 5,00,000 readers and became market leader in its sector after just three issues.

Her product titles are very seductive and compelling as you will see from the website. :for example, she wants us to make a donation to some charities whenever we consume extra calories on special occasions. This way we become conscious about what wrong we did and learn now onwards to eat healthily and not feel the guilt of overindulgence. She calls this "calorieoffset: Do not feel guilt, feel grateful"

·        From 1996 to 2000 she  was a consultant to world-famous retail store Marks & Spencer and helped them to develop their low fat, calorie-controlled food range.

·        Rosemary has presented her own TV Series on BBC etc channels  seven years.

• Rosemary was awarded CBE (the Commander of British Empire) by the Queen in 2004 for her services to the fitness and diet industry.
• She  has 37 years' experience of helping people to lose weight and become fitter. Sales of her 29 books and 29 fitness videos exceed 90,00,000 copies, and she is widely acknowledged as the UK's most successful diet and fitness expert.

Her advice for us:

If your motivation is high when you start a diet, you are 10 times more likely to succeed, so how can you stop the willpower from waning?

 (

http://www.rosemaryconley.com/content/rosemary-writes-archive/rosemary-writes-april-2009.htm)

When we embark on a diet and fitness plan our motivation is strong and the results on the scales are fast and easy to see. The challenge comes when the novelty wears off and the weight doesn’t drop off at the same rate it did at the beginning.

Here are my top 20 tips to keep you motivated:

1. Determine your goals. Find a reason for getting slim and fitter and write it down eg a forthcoming holiday, wedding or special event for which you really want to be slim. Set a timescale and note down your results as you achieve each milestone.
    
2. Reward yourself as you reach each goal eg each time you lose 7lb. Enjoying short-term rewards for your success whether it's buying a new pair of shoes or booking a manicure can keep you motivated.
    
3. For each pound you lose on the scales, place the equivalent weight in the form of books or cans into a bag. If ever you feel frustrated when your rate of weight loss slows down, pick up the bag to refresh your memory of how far you have come.
    
4. As well as weighing yourself each week, always measure around your bust/chest, waist, hips and widest part. Make a note of your weekly inch or centimetre loss. Sometimes we lose inches even when our weight remains the same.
    
5. If you live near one of our diet and fitness classes, do go along. Being in a class with people just like you and participating in an exercise session that will burn fat and tone you up will help you to stay on track. There is a workout at every class we run.
    
6. Find a diet buddy to encourage you on your journey and avoid negative people.
    
7. Whether a member of our RC class or our RC online slimming club, you will receive a certificate for each stone you lose. Stick these on your fridge to remind you of your achievements.
    
8. Always keep your ‘before’ photograph handy and take interim pictures too so you have a visual record of your progress.

   1.  

9. Go clothes shopping and try on a dress in your ‘old’ size and realise how much you must have slimmed down.
    
10. While shopping, find your dream dress and hold it against you in the size you are aiming for and imagine yourself wearing it. If you can afford it, buy it and use it as a goal.
     
11. Keep motivated by reading the stories of our successful slimmers featured in this magazine. They did it and so can you!
     
12. Start a scrapbook of momentos of your weight-loss journey, Slimmer of the Week certificates, congratulatory notes and cards to remind you of how well you are doing.
     
13. Cut out your favourite low-fat recipes from this magazine. Keep them in a folder as your personal recipe book.
     
14. If you have a bad day, don't beat yourself up. Just get back on the diet, eat your three daily meals and do a bit more exercise to burn some extra calories.
     
15. Get your hair restyled. Go to a good salon and speak to a stylist to find the best manageable style for you. A new hair colouring can take years off you.
     
16. Never discard the largest garment you wore when you were at your heaviest. It will act as a real motivational reminder of your progress.
     
17. Celebrate each time you reach a new ‘stone’ category on your weight-loss record card, for instance going from, say, 13st-something to 12st-something.
     
18. Exercise helps your skin to shrink back so keep active and massage cream over your body after every shower or bath to help keep your skin soft and toned. Treat yourself to our Body Firming Cream. It’s great value, very effective and smells and feels delightful. I use it every day.
     
19. Start dressing thoughtfully to emphasise your slimmer figure. Take pride in your appearance and you'll find that people will pay you compliments, which will encourage you to keep going.
     
20. Losing your excess weight, getting fitter and eating more healthily is the best thing you can do to stay healthy. Next time you go to the doctor, ask them to check your blood pressure and cholesterol level. Seeing the improvements to your health will motivate you to keep it up long term. You really could be saving your life!

1. 21.This additional tip is from me, not from Rosemary but me...

1. "Keep the photograph and news item cutting about the trousers malfunction of Lord Mayor of Leicester - or35 year old Angelina McAvenna who was HER student.

Trouser malfunction-3 .....Was this a punishment by the God?

Scenario-1: It is 23^rd June, 2010.The ‘Telegraph (UK) headlines scream.“ Lord Mayor bans "intrusive and outdated" Christian prayers before council meetings. A Lord Mayor has banned the traditional Christian prayers at the start of council meetings, calling the practice “"outdated, unnecessary and intrusive".

Nick Britten wrote further: “Mr (Colin) Hall, who has just taken over the mayorship in Leicester, said the “majority” of councilors and city council staff were not practicing Christians therefore there was little point in having the prayers” and also that “ "I am delighted to confirm that I will be exercising my discretion as Lord Mayor to abolish the outdated, unnecessary and intrusive practice. 

Mr Hall declined to comment (on the reactions from the Church) but the Deputy Lord Mayor, Robert Wann, said …..: “We have many faiths within Leicester and we respect all faiths accordingly. Equally we respect people with no faith and on this occasion the Lord Mayor has decided not to have prayers and we will abide by that."


Leicester is a huge population with large minority groups. The council members have familiar sounding names like Hussein Suleman, Manish Sood, Ramila Shah, Veejay Pael, Rashmikant Joshi, Piara Singh & Harshad Bhavsar! This will give a glimpse of minority settlement.

Scenario-2: On the same day, 23-6-2010, another paper The Mail Online (UK) headlines scream in the mayor's support:

“What's God got to do with it?' Atheist Mayor bans traditional Christian prayers before council meetings. It quoted Mr Hall saying that  'I consider that religion, in whatever shape or form, has no role to play at all in the conduct of council business.”

Scenario-3

A week later, on 30th June, 2010. The same ‘Telegraph’ (UK) headlines scream:

“Lord Mayor's trousers fall down.  A lord mayor has apologised after his trousers fell down during a visit to a local library".

Scenario 4: On 1^st July, the Church mouse blog post headline screams:

“New proof of God's existence - Mayor bans council prayers, then his trousers fall down in public” He adds : Clearly the Lord was not so impressed, as he has now humbled the mighty Mayor in possibly the most embarrassing incident Mouse has ever heard of for a public official.

 

It further says: "..Mouse has seen the mighty ha(n)d of God at work in this.  Surely this is proof that God intervenes in the world. ”

 

Let the headlines scream. Let the people take whosoever's side, but one thing is clear. Councillor Hall means business. No fuss. he knows where to put his foot down. And also knows where to lend his weight. ( He weighs nearly 100kg)


And believe me, the God had no hand in his trousers succumbing to gravity. It was his weight loss effort. If he has his way, there will be hundreds and hundreds of incidents of pants falling down on the streets of Leicester.


Not convinced?  Read further., why his trousers fell down. 

 Scenario 5: 4^th  July, 2010: It is reported that the Indian-origin Labour MP Keith Vaz has gifted a belt to the Lord Mayor of Leicester, whose pants became loose and fell down few days ago. vaz said: "I hope this small gift will help him in his civic duties.
Vaz has known the Lord Mayor since he was in his teens, said: "I am delighted that the Lord Mayor has gone on a diet. This is something that we all aspire to do but none of us would have expected such dramatic consequences."


Councilor Hall has started a city-wide campaign for physical fitness.

Called 3x30 ( see the logo), people who sign up will be pledging to make that change to their lifestyles by exercising 3 x 30 minutes a week. The 3 x 30 Pledge will  motivate people to exercise,  through discounts to the local Council Leisure Facilities , receiving incentives , prize draws  and so on.

Once you achieve 3 x 30 minutes of exercise and hit specific milestones you will receive incentives such as a pedometer, exercise DVD, signed football shirts/tickets, water bottles etc. There will also be prizes for the 100th/200th pledger and so on. Leicester City Council has been successful in securing funding to deliver free swimming lessons to Adults across the City. 

Lord mayor has set himself a target to reduce his weight by 3 stones ( 18 kg) from the current weight of 16 stones (97 kg )  ! He follows strict diet, does exercises and to attend his meetings, goes walking very often.

How he forgot to get the pants altered for his new slimmer waist or to fasten them with a belt is a mystery. may be he was busy wearing his official  heavy 18-carat gold chain set in velvet with a medallion, dated 1867

Is not this  fun  that an innocently falling pair of trousers has given best publicity to a  right meaning mayor , who has chosen to express his views on church and prayers , on the need to keep fit and be active.

  

Both his actions will make the city a wonderful place to live with health and harmony.

Councilor Colin Hall, the Lord Mayor sure knows that “There is a vast difference between saying prayers and praying”