Local heroes, not size zeros. That's the message behind a traffic-stopping poster campaign for fitness chain Curves, launched throughout Northern Ireland today. Jane Bell gets a few fitness and diet tips from slimmer It's mid-January - and already, for most of us, those New Year resolutions to lose fat and get fit have gone the way of all flesh.
Just when you're thinking of putting it all off until the summer, along Real women, real results. That's the message behind a new advertising of eight local women. Curves is Northern Ireland's largest women-only The women were photographed for the poster at the chain's gyms, not in a photographer's studio.
They wore their own clothes and did their own hair, with just a final touch-up to make-up before the shoot. And their own words have achieved real results, says Catherine McCann of Curves. realistic way.
Size 0 is not only beyond the realm of possibility for most women, it's beyond the realm of reality. It's not uncommon for women looking at such images to feel even more pressure to be prettier, thinner and perfection. If we can accept that such perfection is unattainable and even undesirable, we can set more realistic goals that would ultimately help us feel better on the inside as well as the outside.
30-minute workout, three times a week, is already having for many women with varying age, marital status, career, lifestyle and weight-loss goals to demonstrate our breadth of appeal. Equally important are the health benefits of regular exercise which are central to our founding principles. This is attention to the risks of high blood pressure, type II diabetes and who may have tried a conventional gym but felt self-conscious there.
Curves offers a different experience. There are no mirrors, or men. It suits all levels of fitness, yet you can still burn up to 500 calories in one work-out.
to send a message to women, who don't exercise regularly or who may be overweight, to pick up the phone and give them a call. striving to reach a common goal of fitness and health. I don't feel out of place.
The staff are always at hand to help. Your goals become their goals. I always thought I would feel out of place at a gym.
Little did I realise how it would change my life. It has shown me that I can stick at things. The more I work out, the more I enjoy it and the easier it is to stick to the programme.
It has taught me that exercising can be fun, that in order to lose weight you must eat and the monthly goal assessments keep me motivated. COMMENTS: In the past, I felt very self-conscious about my body and really wished I could lose even half a stone. But I never seemed to succeed in anything I tried.
Since joining, I have lost more than a stone and my shape has really toned up as well. I am still able to eat whatever I want as long as I do my three work-outs a week. I really enjoy the whole experience.
people. I've made some great new friends there. feel very welcome.
After a few months, I started to feel a difference in myself and I really enjoy going to my 30-minute workouts three times a week. I am so much lighter and feel really good. I intend to stick at it and reach weight.
With sensible eating and the support of my friends and the staff, I progress. A year later and I feel like a new person. I am brimming with self-confidence and a new-found zest for life.
COMMENTS: Seeing my holiday photographs motivated me to join. I'm only in my 20s and I was a size 18/20 so I was feeling very down. I didn't eat healthily, I never stuck to any form of exercise and I hated trying on new clothes in shops.
Since then, my self-confidence has risen so much. I'm now the life and soul of a party, whereas before I would have been hiding in the corner. I feel healthier and have lots more energy.
Now I love going shopping. Nothing beats the feeling of being able to slip into a size 10/12 dress. This summer, I wore a bikini on the beach and didn't feel self-conscious.
All I need to do is look at those old holiday photographs to keep motivated. That and, of course, all the compliments that come from my 'keep fit' videos but I soon got bored of working out on my own. I joined a gym but once the first instruction was over I was once again left on my own.
I didn't like being in a mixed gym either. But Curves has turned my life around. It has given me an interest in life again and I simply love it.
It gives me a buzz, wakes me up and I feel really alive. I have gained more confidence in myself and I have also gained some very good friends. The staff are great.
Nothing is too much trouble for them. COMMENTS: It has totally changed my life. I had given up on dieting any difference or not doing the workouts properly.
But now I know I am because you see the results on paper. The staff are so friendly and encouraging. The fact that it's only a 30-minute workout is brilliant as I As lifestyle and family responsibilities go, Crossgar woman Maria Hollywood has always had a lot on her plate, with just a tiny side order of 'me time' As a busy mum and hands-on granny, with a severely disabled teenage daughter, the last thing on her mind was her own health and well-being.
the run. Instead of a satisfying, balanced meal she might just grab a couple of chocolate bars from a vending machine. As for gyms and exercise - that Before she noticed it, Maria's weight had crept up to 14 stone and, a size 20, she was wearing a size larger again for comfort .
Typically, it was her instinct to put others first that made her decide to neuromuscular disease that causes a wasting away of the muscle tissue, was breathe during the night when she is sleeping, she explains. We have already lost one daughter to this disease. There is a constant risk of She goes to a local high school here in Downpatrick.
We're very offer and for the respite care provided by the Children's Hospice, Horizon House. Because Michaela is well, with the support of my husband Michael, I But, of course, times have not always been as good. Between Michaela and her sister, Martina, who was 14 when she died, we have spent a large part of the past 25 years at the Royal Victoria Hospital for Sick Children.
We spent more time there some months than at home. developed scoliosis. She missed four years of primary school and weighed seven kilos at seven years of age.
During that time, there was no such thing and that may have been a chocolate bar out of the vending machine. Over those years, which were spent going up and down to the hospital, think about it. I felt tired all the time and generally low.
But it day. She needed me and my husband to be fit and healthy otherwise how were we going to look after her? I started to realise that I needed to lose weight and boost my energy and stamina levels.
Because Michaela has no strength in her hands, she also needs help to do the little things we all take for granted, like open her school bag or comb her hair. Maria saw a sign on the side of the road for the women-only work-out centre, I decided to call in and find out more, she says. Because the Curves work-out only takes 30 minutes I thought it was do-able for me.
The 'no men, no mirrors' set up at Curves made her feel more at ease at the There's no 'magic wand' to losing weight and keeping it off, says Maria. It develop new habits for life. By cutting back on carbohydrates and completing my work outs, I am not only healthier but I have also lost weight and inches, she says.
Now a trim size 14, she has kept one pair of size 22 trousers from the big old days as a reminder. I have a size 16 pair of trousers but they're too big and practically fall off! And I love wearing little fitted tops now sweet tooth - one chocolate was never enough.
My habits have changed totally. Now, I can have that one sweet if I want it but I can keep the lid on the Quality Street tin! I enjoyed my Christmas dinner and didn't leave anything out, but was just as glad to get back to my routine of lean protein and plenty of fruit and veg.
You need never go hungry. It's not how much you eat but what you eat that matters. It's what you eat 99% of the time that counts.
If you have a bad day, just With exercise built into my life, the increased energy and strength have been a great advantage to me. Before Curves I thought I had achieved nothing for myself. Now, I feel like I have achieved so much.
The half an hour I'm there is just for me. It gives Maria the stamina for family life with her other two daughters, Marie and Angela, and her four grandchildren, aged from eight years to one. Just a few short years ago, Maria would never have believed she'd pose for an advertising poster for a fitness club.
The experience was fun and confidence-boosting. I'm not used to being the centre of attention but it was a laugh - Calendar Girls with clothes on!
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