Rosemary Conley
Advocate of low-fat spot-reducing diet and exercise.
Last updated
Rosemary Conley is an English businesswoman, author, and broadcaster on exercise and health. She became internationally known for her low-fat diet and exercise programme, The Hip & Thigh Diet, which sold over two million copies. Her spot theory of fat reduction, claiming people can lose fat specifically from the hips and thighs, has no scientific basis.
Career
Conley started leading weight loss classes for women in her area in 1972, calling her venture the Slimming & Good Grooming Club, after she had shed pounds herself. She built up several clubs and eventually sold them to IPC for £50,000, staying on to manage their growth. When she got gallstones, she chose a low-fat eating plan instead of an operation; the weight she lost motivated her to share the approach.
Her franchised clubs operated from 1993 to 2014 and ranked among the top three, with Slimming World and Weight Watchers. What set them apart was a 45-minute aerobic session led by a certified trainer alongside dietary guidance, appealing to those who wanted a fitness alternative to a gym. By 2004, the franchise had grown to 180 clubs serving 80,000 members.
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Sources
Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.
- Wikipedia: Rosemary Conley (CC BY-SA 4.0).
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