Kim Day praises the Howard's Way experience
Howard's Way dieter, Kim Day, has maintained her weight loss for some ten years - thanks, at least in part, to Howard's Way's 'free for life' maintenance support.
ST ALBANS, UK, June 03, 2010 /24-7PressRelease/ -- Among the many drawbacks to dieting is the fear that, after all the effort to lose weight, that weight will return at the end of the diet. Yet Howard's Way dieter, Kim Day, has maintained her weight loss for some ten years - thanks, at least in part, to Howard's Way's 'free for life' maintenance support.
According to Kim, who joined Howard's Way in June 2000: "At the time, I weighed 90 kilogrammes and wore clothes size 22. I was a very active and fit person - going to the gym most days, sometimes twice a day, running regularly and doing two or three energy cycling classes a week.
"However, my weight had got out of hand while I was pregnant with my two children due to complications with my pregnancies and me being on steroids for four years.
"I had heard about Howard's Way through a friend whose wife had lost over 56 pounds (four stones) with them.
"Up to that point I had tried everything - and I was convinced that no diet worked for me. All the other diets I had tried had worked - up to a certain weight - and then I would 'stick'.
"Subsequently, I've realised that the only reason my weight 'stuck' was because I had started to eat unhealthily again," she said.
"I started the Howard's Way very low calorie diet (VLCD) being very sceptical and convinced that, once I got to that certain weight, my weight would stick once again. I was also convinced that I would get the shakes and feel terrible - which is something that happens to me if I have not eaten for a while - and so I would have to give up the diet.
"But, once I started the Howard's Way diet, I had a real surprise," Kim smiled. "The first three days of the diet were hard but I managed to get through them, thanks to daily phone calls to my locum. Once the three days were over, my energy levels went through the roof and I found the whole experience liberating and easy.
"The weight fell off me and, once I reached my 'sticking' weight, I just carried on losing my excess weight.
"I found the whole process easy because it was simple," she added. "I achieved my whole weight loss while feeding on chocolate shakes - and nothing else.
"This made it easy for me because there was no thinking about what meals to have. There was nothing easier than three total food replacement (TFR) shakes a day and, after 16 weeks, I had reached my goal of 60 kg - that is, I'd achieved a total weight loss of 30kg.
"I found drinking four litres of water a day easy - once I got into the habit of drinking it and, in the July while still on the Howard's Way programme, I even went on a family all-inclusive holiday. I found this easy because I was in ketosis and the amount of water I drank increased considerably to around ten litres a day because of the heat.
"So far - ten years on - I have had a few times when I have needed to go back onto TFR and do a recovery programme but, on the whole, I have managed to keep most of the weight off," said Kim.
"When I have needed to do 'recovery', I've phoned my locum and she is happy to let me do the programme, fitting in with me when I can see her.
"I think the Howard's Way programme worked for me because I'm an 'all or nothing' kind of person," she continued.
"Since doing Howard's Way programme, I've learned what you can eat and what kinds of food you can eat to keep you on track. The information I received while doing the programme was a great help with this.
"I feel comforted to know that Howard's Way is there whenever I feel that I need to take control of my weight once again - before it gets totally out of hand."
Obesity specialist Penelope Howard, of the Howard's Way very low calorie diet (VLCD), commented: "Our aim is to teach our patients about nutritional values of food; how to see past misleading advertising on food; how their bodies use different foods, and which foods - such as white sugar - are likely to have an addictive quality about them. We also want to keep them nutritionally supported and healthy while they shed their excess weight at the rate of 14 to 21 pounds every four weeks while they are on the programme."
According to Penelope, the Howard's Way VLCD:
• helps patients lose all the weight they want to lose
• keeps them fit and healthy while they do so
• re-educates them on the properties; values and dangers of foods for their future weight management
• offers free support and guidance for life
To interview Kim, and/or for 'before and after' photos of her, please contact Bob Little Press & PR (tel 01727 860405; email bob.little@boblittlepr.com)
About Howard's Way VLCD
Penelope Howard had been researching into very low calorie diets (VLCDs) and weight loss since 1992 and worked with obese patients and a VLCD for some five years before she founded Howard's Way in 1998.
Those enrolling on the Howard's Way VLCD initially agree to an 18 week programme involving regular meetings twice weekly for the first four weeks, then once a week from there on. For the 'Distance Dieter' these meetings are replaced with one-to-one 'support calls' every week. In addition, Howard's Way staff try to speak to those beginning the diet for at least five minutes a day to provide vital 'moral' support.
Howard's Way recognises that the hardest struggle is maintaining lost weight. So, while dieting, all patients are talked through weekly handouts to gain knowledge and understanding on the workings of their body and the effects of eating certain foodstuffs. Additionally, Howard's Way Maintenance support is 'free of charge for life' for all our dieters.
Typically, most patients lose at least three stones (20 kilos) in weight, men often much more, in the first 12 weeks of the diet. Those who choose to carry on with the diet continue to lose about a stone (6.5 kilos) every four weeks.
The Howard's Way VLCD comprises specially formulated foods, in the form of: milk shakes; soups; and fruit bars; containing the full complement of vitamins, minerals, protein and essential fatty acids that an adult requires but restricting the calorific intake, to induce a state of 'mild dietary ketosis' after day three of the diet.
Further information from:
Penelope Howard: + 44 (0)1923 773851 / penny@croxley.demon.co.uk
Bob Little, Bob Little Press & PR: +44 (0)1727 860405 / bob.little@boblittlepr.com
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