How Dawn French lost four stone

Dawn French, the British comedienne, has lost a lot of weight recently. She was half of the classic double act French and Saunders, and played The Vicar of Dibley, and was married to fellow comedian Lenny Henry for 25 years.

For years Dawn French was very overweight, certainly morbidly obese. In recent weeks photos have started to appear of her looking great. She has lost weight and looks so much healthier and younger. The huge smile on her face has not changed though, she is still looking as jolly as ever! So how did she do it?

Dawn French lost 4 Stone

Dawn has lost 4 stone (56 pounds), dropping from 20 stone down to 16 stone (280 to 224 pounds). She says that the main reason for deciding to lose weight was for her daughter – she wanted to stay healthy longer to be able to support her daughter for longer. Dawn is also now 50 and this triggered something which led to her taking action.

Dawn’s Healthy Diet

Dawn’s weight loss is not down to any faddish diet. No brands to be sung or systems used. She used the good old-fashioned method of eating a healthy and balanced diet and ditching the junk food. So off the menu was chocolate, crisps and booze and on the menu was healthy salads, fruits, proper meals.

It took Dawn around 19 months to get down to 16 stone, and at 16 stone she is still overweight, in fact, she is still obese (classed as BMI over 30). But she is much healthier and no doubt will continue to work on her health and fitness.

There really is not a lot to eating healthy. The health food companies will try to hoodwink you into thinking that healthy food is a highly complex subject and the only way to eat healthy is to buy an exotically named bar of something in a wrapper, but really health food is simple, natural, sensible food.

• Healthy eating tip: Buy fresh food from green grocers, butchers and fish mongers. If it has already been cooked, put in a tin or jar or wrapped in plastic, then it is probably laden with chemicals and excess sugar.

Dawn French Exercises!

Successful weight loss is a two-sided coin. Healthy eating on one side (heads?) and exercise on the other. Dawn combined regular cardio workouts with core strength. Impressive for someone so overweight, but she just started out at an easy pace and worked up.

Dawn started walking every day to increase her fitness and burn extra calories. Walking is an excellent form of exercise and so often overlooked. Many people say “I cannot exercise, I am not fit!” but walking is exercise and most people, even those overweight and unfit, are able to walk.

Dawn walks her dog twice a day which includes a walk up a hill near her house. She told BBC News that when she started walking she would be out of breath before she got to the top but now she sometimes walks up the hill twice.

If you walk for 2 hours a day you can burn 300 to 600 extra calories.

As well as walking Dawn started Pilates. Pilates does not increase your heart rate enough to improve cardiovascular fitness, instead it provides a workout for your muscles and helps to improve core strength and toning. Strength is vital for fitness and good health, especially as we grow older.

Being strong and fit greatly reduces the risk of falls later in life, and these can be debilitating. If an obese person gets injured after a fall in their later years recovery can take a long time, and sometimes they never fully recover, which greatly reduces the chances of ever losing weight and getting fit. This is why it is so important to start now.

So, if Dawn French can lose weight and look great after so many years of being obese, this is proof that anyone can do it.

Start today by going for a walk. Walk to the green grocers and buy some fresh fruit and vegetables, then carry them home. That is a good workout. Then you eat!

 

 

Photo by the Diocese of Oxford, CC Licence.