Kenneth Glad
Years of dieting had brought little lasting success. In 2024, she began pairing the training routine she had already built with a more structured way of eating.
By September 2024, Claire Ronayne, a 47-year-old personal assistant from southern Hertfordshire, had been trying to lose weight for years. She was exercising regularly and felt fitter, but the scales were barely moving.
Then a friend told her about personal trainer and nutritionist Charlie Flax, according to The Telegraph. Ronayne got in touch, hoping for an approach that would fit around her existing lifestyle.
That meant keeping red wine, steak and meals out with friends on the table.
Why the new plan felt different
Ronayne told the newspaper that earlier attempts had included keto, Slimming World and WeightWatchers. She would often follow strict rules for several weeks before slipping back into comfort eating.
Flax gave Ronayne personalised targets for protein, carbohydrates and healthy fats, with the amounts spread across meals and snacks.
Cheese, olive oil and butter were still part of the plan, despite Ronayne previously seeing foods like these as something to avoid while trying to lose weight.
Ronayne had already been exercising regularly for a few years. She first got into strength training during the pandemic, when she began joining two cousins at an outdoor gym.
After indoor gyms reopened in 2021, she kept going, adding weights, walking and high-intensity classes to her routine. She became fitter and stronger, but her weight changed little.
From weight loss to strength
Ronayne said to The Telegraph that convenience had shaped much of her earlier family eating, particularly when her children were younger. Quick meals, larger portions, takeaways and regular treats gradually became part of normal life.
Lockdown intensified those habits. At the time, she said, dieting mainly meant restriction to her, rather than thinking about how protein, fibre and overall food choices might support her activity.
Within about a year of starting the new programme, Ronayne had lost around 12.5kg, and moved from a size 14 to a size 10.
She also began setting herself fitness goals, completed a 10km race in under an hour and managed her first pull-up, achievements she had once thought were out of reach.
Her husband Rich has also become more active, and walking and running are now activities they regularly share.
Ronayne now pays less attention to the number on the scales and more to what she can do physically. Getting stronger, staying active and keeping the routine manageable have become more important than reaching a particular size.
Sources: The Telegraph
