Love your scales! Free online weight loss programme launched
10 May, 2010
The website www.readytoloseweight.co.uk aims to attract and appeal to men and women who need to lose weight by providing them with a host of free resources including recipes and other useful tools.
Visitors to the site can also register for the free online weight loss programme which has been developed by local healthcare professionals. The 24 week programme offers personalised support to help members achieve realistic weight loss goals.
Registering is easy, all you need to do is enter your weight and height. Once registered the system works out your BMI (body mass index) and sets you an initial weight loss target to work towards. Your progress is then tracked through a graph on your personalised home page designed to keep you motivated.
Amy Stephenson, Specialist Public Health Services, City Health Care Partnership said: “The online programme is based on a healthy lifestyle so people don’t need to worry about being hungry and certainly shouldn’t think of it as a diet. It’s more about changing attitudes towards food and exercise. We know what works and can guarantee success if people stick to the programme. It can also be accessed from the comfort of your own home at a time that suits you. All you need to get started is access to the internet and a set of scales.
“By increasing activity levels and making better food choices you will see results in your health and be able to do some of the things you never thought you would be able to do. We would encourage anyone looking to lose weight to visit the website and sign up to the programme to try it for themselves.”
Each week members will be sent a personalised email with challenges and additional tools including details of how to incorporate physical activity into your everyday life, as well as food and activity diaries. Members can choose to track their meals and food intake either through a points system, or by portion size giving them the option to choose the method that best suits their lifestyle.
The programme offers members a new way of life and new ways of thinking about food and exercise. It aims not only to help people lose weight, but also to keep it off.
Vicky Moore, 23 years old from Hull has been following the programme and has lost three stone to date. She said: “I started comfort eating and the weight just piled on, I went from a size 8 to a 16 in one year and I just got bigger and bigger until I got up to a size 22 earlier this year. Previously I tried every diet going and even signed up to the big commercial weight loss companies... you name it, I’ve done it.
“The programme has taught me lots of different recipes and how to use a slow cooker. I learnt a whole new way of cooking and I’ve been recording how active I am. I now use a pedometer to count my footsteps and feel much more confident in myself than I have done for ages. I would recommend this programme to others, it’s the only one I’ve tried where I’ve lost weight and kept it off.”
The programme is free to join with no hidden catches. To celebrate its launch City Health Care Partnership is giving away a free pedometer to the first 500 people who register. To find out more visit www.readytoloseweight.co.uk.
