Desi Today Magazine
It’s very difficult to lose weight. That’s something that either you would have experienced yourself, or you would have been told by people trying to shed pounds.
The difficulty actually comes in two stages. The first stage is of course the process of trying to lose weight itself. There are countless diets and weight-loss plans floating around out there which promise all kinds of “miracle” weight loss. But there are no miraculous ways to lose weight. You need discipline and motivation to succeed.
But even if you do manage to lose weight and achieve your target, a bigger problem very often leads to ultimate failure – the inability to maintain your new weight. Most people who lose weight on various diets usually end up regaining it.
But an innovative program, called Easy Slim, that has been running at a local Pharmasave pharmacy for the last 10 months has been achieving remarkable success in not just getting those on it to shed the pounds, but also to keep them off.
The secret to continuing success of this diet-based plan, according to program
administrator Happy Boyal, who is also the Front Store Manager for Pharmasave Sullivan Square & Pharmasave Newton in Surrey, is that clients get the chance every week to discuss their progress and other issues with her.
“At these meetings, the clients and I not only monitor the progress they are making, but also discuss various issues that they want to talk about. We are thus able to adjust their program accordingly. It also gives us a chance to maintain focus on the goals.
“And if necessary, if their determination is flagging, I can help motivate them and regain their determination,” says Boyal.
When Boyal speaks to the clients, she speaks with complete credibility. That’s because Boyal, who says she was overweight and had tried numerous diets previously to lose weight, herself undertook the program before deciding to launch it in her pharmacy.
“We launched this program last April, when we created the Easy Slim weight loss program, I decided to undertake the program myself to see whether it was effective before offering it at my store.
“I said if I want to be a coach for this program, I want to understand for myself how it works. I want to see the results, and I want to feel how a dieter would feel on this program – what are the challenges, and how I would be able to help people overcome them,” she said.
It turned out to be a huge success for Boyal – she lost more than 50 lbs. on the diet. In fact, she roped in her husband to also go on the same plan, and he lost more than 40 lbs.!
One of the key components of the diet consists of consuming Protein based foods. This diet was originally developed more than 20 years ago in Europe by Dr. Tran Tien Chanh, MD, PhD.
Boyal, who is now a Certified Easy Slim Weight Loss Coach, says the Easy Slim diet is such a success because there are a number of differences between Easy Slim and other diets.
“Firstly, many diets strictly limit what you can eat while you are on the program. But as humans, we have natural cravings for different kinds of foods. Easy Slim takes care of that by offering a tremendous amount of variety in its food packs,” said Boyal.
She said we have more than 65 different choices for dieters to pick from.
“Every taste and food texture you can think of is available among our food packs. We have chips, breakfast items, various kinds of shakes. There’s a flavour for every craving,” she said. “You can even have chocolate!”
Boyal said it was also important to have this variety because most people are very busy and do not have the time to do all the diet planning that other diet plans often require people to do.
“You have to do so much planning, measurements, buying the right kinds of food – these are the requirements of many other diets. But our foods are mostly ready to go, and they are partial meal replacements. A dieter is allowed to combine his or her own food with our products for their meals,” says Boyal.
And this is the second strong feature of the Easy Slim diet, said Boyal. “When you are on a diet where you eat exclusively the products they provide, what are you going to do after the diet program is complete? Well, you are going to go back to your usual food, and since you’ve not been trained to incorporate your regular food in proper quantities into your diet plan, you will usually end up regaining all the pounds you lost,” she said.
Boyal said this feature summed up the strength of the Easy Slim diet. “We not only help people lose weight, but during the course of this program, we also educate people about what they should eat to be able to maintain a healthy weight,” she said.
That’s because to maintain healthy weight permanently, it is important to change your eating and lifestyle habits permanently instead of just losing the extra weight.
“We also don’t believe in providing pills to suppress appetite as part of the Easy Slim program of weight reduction. That’s usually just a short-term solution. People need to understand how to modify and maintain their dietary habits for the long term in order to stay at an optimum weight,” she said.
The long-term secret to the Easy Slim program is that people on the program are trained to adopt a balanced diet after they have lost their excess weight.
Boyal explained that a medically managed diet is important,therefore the dieter’s progress is generally overlooked by our team of professionals which consists of Physicians, Pharmacists, and certified coaches. Remember “it is not just about losing weight, but also about what kind of weight you lose.”
“You want to be losing fat, not muscle. Not everyone’s body composition is the same. So it’s important that the program should be tailored for each individual dieter’s needs,” said Boyal.
As such, the first thing Boyal does with a new client is to find out detailed information about the person’s physical makeup. New clients have to fill a detailed Health Profile, which includes information on all aspects of their health and fitness.
“If they have medical issues, we have to know about them, and what they are doing about those issues. And these also include psychological issues that may play a role in the success or failure of the diet program,” said Boyal.
And it is based on this initial questionnaire that Boyal and the client design the program for the client.
“Every person’s needs are different – the amount of weight they need to lose, the kind of balance they need between the different food types – fats, proteins and carbs – they consume. I tailor the program for the individual after they have provided their information,” said Boyal.
Clients are provided an initial package of supplements as well as a fixed number of protein food packs. They are also given a folder containing detailed instructions on how they can achieve the best results, as well as a DVD containing lots of useful materials.
The instructions include details about suggested menus for all meals, and pointers on which food groups to eat and which ones to avoid.
Subsequently, clients get to talk to Boyal on a weekly basis to discuss their progress. And that meeting is a very important part of the Easy Slim program.
“Being on any kind of diet can be a challenging matter. All sorts of things happen in people’s lives that can have an effect on the diet plan, and I try to help the clients sort out these issues during our meetings,” she said.
Boyal said she sometimes spends up to half an hour with a single client during these weekly meetings.
“Easy Slim is a very effective program. But you have to remember that the success of any diet eventually depends on how disciplined and motivated the dieter is. If you are going to walk out of here and straight into a junk food outlet, even the best diet program in the world will not help you!” she said.
And that is where Boyal’s weekly appointments with her clients provide Easy Slim the edge over other diets.
Boyal also has an edge because she is multilingual. She speaks English, Punjabi, Hindi, Urdu and Fijian. “So I have no problem communicating with people who only speak or understand one language or another of these,” she said.
The support system for Easy Slim clients does not stop with the weekly meetings with Boyal. There is also a comprehensive website at www.pharmasavesullivansquare.com that offers access to a wealth of material, including video clips.
Easy Slim has been a tremendous success so far. Boyal said more than 100 people had already successfully undertaken the program since it was launched.
For further information about the Easy Slim program, contact Happy Boyal at:
604-303-6343
Email: happy@pharmasaveeasyslim.com
Or you can personally drop by at:
Pharmasave Sullivan Square
#106, 15325 – 56 Avenue, Surrey.
