4 | JULY 2019 Photography | IAN HARRISON
Welcome to
Women’s Health
Claire Sanderson
Editor-In-Chiefomething momentous
happened last month.
Truly mind-blowing.
I wake up every
morning and can’t
believe this is my life.
As Editor-In-Chief of this brilliant
brand, I meet astonishing people daily.
I’m inspired from morning to night and
I have the best team in the business by
my side. But something extra special
took place on 3-5 May. An event that
is undoubtedly the highlight of my
long career in the media.
Thousands of you turned out for
Women’s Health Live. Your positivity
was infectious. Your smiles were
beautiful. Each time I took to the
stage to host a panel with leading
wellness experts or to interview some
of my favourite women – there are too
many to name here, but head to page
24 for a full report – the enthusiasm
etched on your faces took my breath
away. You smashed the workouts, you
leaned in to learn from our guest
speakers and you mobbed our headliner,
US fitness superstar Jillian Michaels.
And even though we did have to call
security, I admire your collective
passion – I’d have mobbed her, too, but
I had to be professional. You’ve since
told me in your hundreds, both in person
and on social media, that you left the
event feeling invigorated, joyful and
more equipped to continue with your Follow me on Instagram @clairesandersonMeet team WH.
This photo was
taken after the
last guests left
on the final day.
Exhausted and
ve r y p r o ud , t h e y
can hold their
heads high.My Deputy Editor,
Victoria Joy, took
herself out of her
comfort zone at
WH Live, hosting
talks in front of
hundreds of people.
And she smashed
it. I couldn’t do any
of this without her.
wellness journey. Keep the feedback coming- we’re already plotting how we can make
next year’s event even bigger and better.
We continued our launch of Project Body
Love at Women’s Health Live, too – it’s our
new campaign aimed at helping you stop the
negative self-talk and appreciate your body
for what it can do, not just for what it looks
like. We ran several fascinating panel talks
and built an interactive wall, where we
asked you to take to Instagram and upload
an image of yourself, make a pledge to be
kinder to your body and say something nice
about your appearance, including the
hashtag #projectbodylove.
You’ll find Project Body Love content in
print and on womenshealthmag.com/uk
throughout the summer. I want to equip
you with the tools to combat self-criticism
and improve your body confidence. We
carried out nationwide research recently
and found that 91% of British women
wouldn’t describe their body confidence
as high. And I’m definitely one of them.
I’ve written a very personal feature on
page 104 about how I believe my lack of self-
esteem when it comes to my appearance
stems from my childhood. I’m now a mum
of two, including a three-year-old girl, and
I’m determined to bolster her confidence
at every opportunity so she doesn’t grow up
thinking her self-worth is based purely on
what she sees in the mirror.
All that’s left to say is a huge thank you for
supporting WH. Keep your eyes peeled for
details of next year’s Women’s Health Live
and continue to share your thoughts and
opinions with me – good and bad. I’ve got
thick skin. Promise. Until next month.
CL
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:^ (AT^ WOMEN’S^ HEALTHLIVE)^DRES
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INN;^ SHOES,^ WHISTL
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