Rosemary Conley Talks Fitness And Diets

The original and best fitness guru, Rosemary Conley is pretty active in her hectic life. Not only is she launching her new book 'Slim to Success' diet and cookbook, but she's just put the finishing touches to her new TV series, which sees a range of slimmers complete the rigorous regime set to them by Rosemary. I chatted to her about cooking a good stir-fry, why she loves Nintendo Wii fit boards and just why she doesn't think celeb fitness videos are a bad idea after all.

Hello Rosemary, how are you?

I'm very well thank you. The sun is shining so that's always good.

Have you been up exercising this morning?

No I haven't been out yet, but I will go later I think.

What have you been up to recently?

Right, well I've been finishing off the TV series which will be shown on Thursday night for the first time and it's the second series, so that's very exciting. We've been looking at the final weigh-ins of the seven trialists and getting them to have a make-over, try on some clothes and feel good about themselves. It was lovely to see them transformed to see how they have progressed over six months. It's different to last time, because in this new series each programme features one person. The viewers are more connected with them then as well like that. I've also been working on my book launch, which features all the diets and lots of different recipes that they (the people in the programme) tried out for them as individuals. you know some of them would say, 'Oh I like curries' and we would create a recipe for them.

What's your favourite recipe from the book?

There is so many, to be honest. I mean there are really tasty ones. I'm not a huge fan of fish, but one of the ones I like is really nice is haddock and mayonnaise. It's nice, fresh and healthy.

So you're not guilty of going for the odd takeway then?

I don't go to takeaways at all, no that's fine though because when you think about it I eat lots of fresh food and I enjoy cooking, it's my favourite thing to do. I love cooking stir-fry's with chicken and I will go and buy some really special ingredients and when you put it all together you have a beautiful dish. And it always goes down well with my husband!

Do you think that cooking is a big part of getting people to stay in shape?

It would make a major contribution, certainly. Especially with the ongoing trend towards obesity in children. I think that children haven't bee taught to cook in school unless their parents taught them and I think some knowledge about food is absolutely fundamental. What's happening at the moment is that they're watching TV and they're watching chefs doing these extraordinary things and they think, 'well I can't cook that' and they go to restaurants instead and that doesn't help at all either. The biggest problem with dining out is that you go through the menu and because you've gone out and given your evening up you think, 'right, I will have a starter then' and then a large main course, and then possibly dessert, so you end up having twice as many calories as you normally would. I think with the credit crunch, people are going to have to think about cooking and stop buying ready meals.

How do you stay in shape today?

I'm quite active, I'm on my feet a lot and I tend not to snack between meals and I never buy a bar of chocolate. It's not that I don't like them , it's just I don't want to be fat. I want to be thin more than I want the bar of chocolate. I enjoy being slim, I know what it's like to be overweight, I hated being overweight, I hated my clothes being tight and It's just lovely being slim.

You were one of the original fitness guru's, what do you think of all the celebs that release fitness DVD's?

I think it's all about what the market wants, and there's no doubt that there is a market for people to feel that 'right, I like that person, I feel I have a relationship with that person and therefore if she's teaching me how to exercise in my living room, I might actually do it'. And to be honest with you, if it does make people get up, and providing that the celebrity has had a trainer and they advise and teach the workout, I think it's not a bad thing. I think some of them are better than others and it's sometimes hard for the public to ascertain which are the good and bad ones.

Are you bringing out any fitness DVD's this year?

No I'm not, I'm doing one the January after next though, I think. Well, I've also already got one out with Coleen Nolan, it's a very good one too.

What was Coleen like to work with

She was lovely, really lovely, complete professional, and obviously she has a very busy lifestyle, and trained so hard- it was extraordinary and I really commend her for that. I think she is actually bringing out her own fitness DVD in January too.

You launched the Wii fit boards, did you know how successful they would be?

They are absolutely fantastic, we launched it at the end of April and I was one of the first to try it and they're such good fun. There are four areas on it- yoga and aerobics, balance and strength work too. Balance is my favourite actually, it's so well done and really clever. I would say to anybody, that if you want to get one of those, get them now, I mean there is such demand for them, so order early if you want one for Christmas.

Slim to Win With Rosemary Conley is on ITV at 7.30pm, and the first episode airs 9th October.

Slim To Win Diet and Cookbook is available now to buy.

FemaleFirst- Laura Terry