I REMEMBER... Rosemary Conley

Rosemary Conley, 76, is one of Britain’s most celebrated diet and health experts with a career spanning half a century. Her 1988 book The Hip and Thigh Diet has sold over 2 million copies to date and she continues to write about nutrition, immunity and fitness

ANIMALS WERE A HUGE PART OF MY CHILDHOOD. I had very severe asthma when I was little and I couldn’t run around with the energy that the other children at my school had. My best friend was a Sheltie dog called Sue. I would put her in my pram and find things in the shed which I would train her to jump over like a showjumper! I’ve had dogs in my life ever since.

WHEN I WAS ABOUT 22 I KNEW I HAD TO DO SOMETHING ABOUT MY WEIGHT. I’d done a Cordon Bleu cookery course and I couldn’t stop eating all the delicious dishes I was making. Then I was eating whole tubs of ice cream too, and even cooking chocolate—which tastes horrible by itself! I had a very dear friend who told me, “You would look so lovely if you lost a few pounds.”

(Clockwise from top left) Rosemary in the garden of her family home in Countesthorpe, Leicestershire, aged two; Rosemary with her brother Robert, and her parents in the garden in Countesthorpe; Pictured with Sheba the dog; Rosemary, aged 18, attending the Good Grooming course at night school with Tutor Kathy Parker in 1964; Rosemary with her daughter Dawn, just a week old, in 1975; Dawn aged 18 months with Beauty the dog

Since then I’ve had people on social media claim that I was fat-shamed, but I can assure you I wasn’t. What she told me was said with immense love and kindness. Having someone tell me they could see beyond my weight and compliment me was a hugely motivational thing which I’ve never forgotten.