Alice hopes to impress the judges in X-Factor

SHE'S been on every diet in the book, but now Alice Wright is determined to slim down for good.

The 25-year-old sales manager lost 3.5st with Lighter Life before her wedding to Adrian in September last year, but the weight has since piled back on.

“I've put it all back on in a shorter space of time than I lost it,” admitted Alice, who lives in Rewe, near Exeter.

“I haven't had a goal to work towards and I love food!

“My weight has always gone up and down. I've done every diet in the book and I've been successful on quite a few of them, but it always comes back on and now I'm the heaviest I've ever been.”

Alice joined the Rosemary Conley group that meets in St James, Exeter, last week. She chose Rosemary Conley because the sessions include an hour work-out.

“I felt quite nervous because I haven't got a huge amount of co-ordination but it was actually quite fun and no one was really looking at you,” she said.

“I don't really like going to the gym because I don't feel confident but it didn't really matter there — there were other people messing it up too!

“Getting on the scales was quite nerve-racking as well. I've refrained from weighing myself for a while so I did get a bit of a shock.”

Alice is too shy to reveal how much she weighs, but she is currently a size 16. She hopes to lose 3.5st, which should take her to a size 10 to 12.

For the first two weeks, Alice will limit her food intake to 1,200 calories a day. From then on, she will follow the Rosemary Conley GI Jeans diet, which involves eating food low on the glycemic index, such as wholemeal pasta and rice, smaller portion sizes and avoiding foods containing more than five per cent fat.

“The leader, Jan Waugh, has given me a goal of 7lb to start with, to break it into small chunks that are easier to reach,” explained Alice.

“But with the two-week diet at the beginning you can lose 7lb in two weeks.

“I've been having Special K for breakfast and pitta bread with chicken and salsa for lunch. You get a book with ideas and some little pots to measure your portions. I'm feeling positive — although I'm going to miss my Twirls! Chocolate and cheese are my weaknesses.”

This time around, Alice isn't taking any chances. As well as going to classes and following the Rosemary Conley diet, she is also planning to see a hypnotherapist and keep an online weight-loss diary.

“I'll be having weekly hypnotherapy sessions, and looking at the reasons I might eat,” said Alice.

“I want to use it so my cravings for chocolate are suppressed a little bit!

“I'm also going to be keeping a weekly online diary to give me a bit of motivation, knowing that I've got other people tracking what I'm doing. I've also asked my friends and colleagues at work to stop me from eating Twirls!”

Alice aims to shed the weight by next April, when auditions for TV's The X-Factor will be held.

“I did it a couple of years ago and last time I sang Mr Big's I'm the One That Wants to Be With You, which was probably a bad choice!

“I wasn't as big as I am now, but I didn't feel comfortable with the way I looked. I think that made me more nervous. I want to do it again with a bit more confidence.”

Call 01823 339863 or email jan.waugh@rcdfc-exeter.co.uk for further details of local Rosemary Conley classes. Alice's online diary, The Slim Factor, will be at www.thisisexeter.co.uk/slimming every Friday from next week.