It's all in the calories

“This is not news to us,” says Nic Linford, who manages Fernwood’s Slimplicity Program. “In the twenty years that Fernwood has been around, we have always maintained that the key to weight loss is limiting the calories you consume and burning off more calories with regular exercise which includes strength training.”

Nic says there is no need to focus on diets that limit a specific food group, but instead taking a balanced approach to eating will ensure that women don’t feel deprived, hungry or lethargic.  “Another important thing we need to be conscious of is our portion sizes which have increased considerably in the past two decades.”

The study, which appears in the New England Journal of Medicine, was led by Harvard School of Public Health and Pennington Biomedical Research Center in Louisiana.

Fernwood’s Slimplicity program has seen thousands of women successfully lose weight and achieve their long term weight goals. Developed by an expert team of dietitians and psychologists, Slimplicity focuses on coaching women on how to achieve healthy and balanced lifestyle habits that can realistically be incorporated into everyday living. Members learn valuable skills to effectively take control of their own healthy eating plan through a supportive and thorough education program, which can consequently benefit the whole family.

The study also revealed that participants who had one-on-one consultations achieved higher weight loss then those who didn’t. “The great thing about Slimplicity is that members will receive one-on-one weekly sessions with a Fernwood Slim coach. They are coached on the importance of regular meals throughout the day, adequate meal portions and how to calculate energy balance. Having someone to support and keep us accountable is really important to stay on track,” Nic explained.