Sponsored by
Why Claire's made it her business to be slimmer, healthier and happier
Having watched Claire Young become runner up to Lee McQueen on The Apprentice, it is hard to imagine that she could have more energy.
She worked and talked at one hundred miles an hour, but appearing on the show made Claire realise that she was overweight.
"When I sat with all my family and friends and watched it on TV, I couldn't believe how gigantic my bum was, so I made a mental note to do something about it."
And do something she did.
She enlisted the help of a personal trainer, ditched the drink and unhealthy eating, took up running and lost three and half stone and dropped three dress sizes.
"I have always loved my food, even as a child and I'd become a yo-yo dieter," explains the 31-year-old businesswoman from Wakefield.
"When I moved to London, my weight just crept up and I think I was in denial about it until I saw myself on The Apprentice. I can't believe that I managed to work such long days while carrying around three and a half stone extra."
She started dieting and exercising just over a year ago and has managed to keep the weight off.
"I felt I had really damaged my body – I ate too much and I drank too much and I was really unfit; I couldn't even run 100 metres."
Being a person who needs a goal, Claire sets herself the challenge of doing runs for charity.
"I need something to keep me motivated," she admits. She also sends herself to a marine boot camp in Spain when she starts to lose her resolve. Claire also believes that regular exercise such as running and Pilates and more recently lishi, a Chinese form of exercise, help keep her stress levels down.
"It is really hard for our generation who are on the go all the time, particularly women who have to juggle so many things, to remember to have time to relax. It is so important; if you don't you burn out. You need to get the balance right."
Looking at Claire's hectic lifestyle since leaving The Apprentice, it is hard to see when she gets time to unwind.
The blaze of publicity which surrounded her after the programme resulted in numerous job offers including one from Birmingham City chief executive Karren Brady, who she met on the series.
"We got to virtually signing the contract and I suddenly realised that I didn't want to work for anyone else. If I was ever going to run my own business then this was the time. I was 29, I wasn't married, and I didn't have kids. If it failed it was only me that was going to suffer."
She has set up her own wedding business, Elegant Venues, as well as advising retailers and small businesses. She has just signed a two-year contract with BT to help small enterprise, as well as still being in demand on the media circuit.
As a result she spends two or three days a week in London or travelling, although she still calls Wakefield home.
She realises that the Apprentice bubble will not last forever and she has to make the most of the opportunities that arise from the exposure.
"I still ring up Sir Alan (Sugar) and Karren Brady if I need any advice and to run things past them. They are so helpful. I have been very lucky indeed."
Despite her packed diary, she still manages to give time to charity work, especially the Prince's Trust of which she is an ambassador.
"I had a pretty privileged middle-class background which I thought was pretty normal," says Claire.
"Then I visited some deprived schools with the Prince's Trust and saw such deprivation I was shocked. I have always been taught to work hard and the value of money and also to give something back when
you can.
"I don't think that out of 365 days a year, giving 10 to the Prince's Trust is too much to ask.
"I like working with young people, especially teenage girls."
Being a canny Yorkshire lass, Claire has one eye on the future and although her first love is business she says she does want a family.
"At the moment I do work seven days a week and luckily my boyfriend is a farmer and he works seven days a week as well.
"But in 10 years time I'd like to be based in the North, having sold my first business and started another.
"I'd like to have lots of children and a big house in the country with dogs and horses. I am a country girl at heart."
Claire Young has teamed up with Chinese health and wellbeing organisation Lishi to encourage us all to take stock and untangle our work and home lives, as part of their Balancing Britain Campaign.
www.lishi.org
Email to a friend
Print this page- Leeds lose Ward to Palace: Is there anyone they can afford now?
- Sheffield Wednesday leaving it late to hijack Leeds United over Ward
- As Snodgrass dithers over Leeds, Warnock throws a lifeline
- Ball is in Leeds United’s court over contract - Snodgrass
- Police turning blind eye to Asian voter fraud, says MP
Looking for...
Featured advertisers
Jobs
Search for a job
Motors
Search for a car
Property
Search for a house
Weather for Yorkshire
Saturday 26 May 2012
Today
Sunny
Temperature: 9 C to 21 C
Wind Speed: 17 mph
Wind direction: East
Tomorrow
Sunny
Temperature: 9 C to 22 C
Wind Speed: 13 mph
Wind direction: East
