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Revealing the Howard’s Way programme, the company’s founder and obesity specialist, Penelope Howard, stated: “If you’ve reached a body mass index (BMI) of 30 or above, it’s not your fault that you’re obese.
“Rather, you have an addiction to a particular food,” she added. “And, usually, we find that people are not aware that they have this addiction.”
Howard’s Way recognises this addiction and treats it in the widely accepted way that is used for treating any addiction.
Penelope explained: “We tell all our patients that the way their body and brain reacts to certain foods is exactly like an alcoholic's body and brain responds to alcohol. They are, in fact, 'addicted' to some foodstuffs - mainly, but not exclusively, white sugar.
“There is a huge correlation between what we do with our patients and what an expensive rehabilitation clinic does for an alcoholic or drug addict,” she said. “The only obvious difference is that we do not provide residential care – although our specialists are available ’24 x 7’ to provide support and advice via the telephone and in person.”
Howard’s Way puts its patients through a controlled abstention programme – from food – for at least three months to break the cycle of addiction. In doing so, patients are able to get rid of much of the effects of that addiction - their excess weight – in a healthy and safe manner.
Typically, most patients lose at least three stones (20 kilos) in weight 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.
Howard’s Way’s specialist staff counsel patients and provide guidance to prevent them from relapsing into their addiction.
“We educate patients so that they understand what it is that they are addicted to – and the whys and wherefores of their addiction,” Penelope continued. “We advise them how to avoid relapsing into their addiction – and to recover quickly if they ever do relapse.
“We also reassure them that we are ‘here for them’ at any time that they need us in the future – because an addiction is for life. However, just because you’re addicted to something, you don’t have to be in its grips for the rest of your life,” she said.
“All in all, we try to remove any feelings of guilt and low self-esteem that our patients have. Instead, we emphasise the ‘positives’ about their life – which is, of course, enhanced by the enormous weight loss they are experiencing,” Penelope said.
Howard’s Way’s radical ‘addiction and rehab’ approach is gaining in popularity in the wake of a recent report from The NHS Information Centre - ‘Hospital; Episodes Statistics Admitted Patient Care, England 2008/09’ – which showed that there were 8,085 admissions for obesity in 2008/09. This represents a 60 per cent increase over 2007/08 and a 360 per cent increase compared with 2003/04.
Howard’s Way operates from four centres – in Croxley Green, Stanmore, Luton & Dunstable, and Victoria, in London – but it also has a nationwide network of locums and other specialists to offer telephone support to those who want to take the rehab route to weight loss – and say ‘no’ to their food addiction.
About Very Low Calorie Diets (VLCD)
Some 45 per cent of Britain’s population is now classed as ‘obese’. Obesity has been shown to increase the risks of contracting a range of conditions including high blood pressure, coronary heart disease, diabetes, cancer and sleep apnoea - a respiratory disorder in which breathing is made more difficult by excessive body fat around the neck or on the chest. This excess body fat constricts the airway and, sometimes, the lungs, causing short interruptions in breathing during the night.
Those who are obese and who want – or need – to lose a significant amount of weight in a relatively short time are finding a very low calorie diet (VLCD) to be an effective way of achieving their goal.
A VLCD is a diet involving extremely low calorie consumption each day. It is defined medically as a diet of 800 kilocalories per day or less. VLCDs are formulated, nutritionally complete, replacement meals containing 800 kcal (3350 kJ) or less per day. VLCDs also contain the recommended daily requirements for vitamins, minerals, trace elements, fatty acids and protein. Carbohydrate may be entirely absent, or substituted for a portion of the protein - and this choice has important metabolic effects. The VLCD products are usually a powder which is mixed with water or another low calorie liquid.
A 1997 study concluded that the use of a very low calorie diet (VLCD) is very effective in rapidly improving glycaemic control and promoting substantial weight loss in obese patients with Type 2 diabetes. Moreover, a VLCD increases insulin sensitivity and reduces the substrate for gluconeogenesis. Thus VLCD treatment may improve glycaemic control more than calorie restriction alone. A VLCD is typically undertaken by an obese patient who wishes to lose a lot of weight quickly, as the risk to health that obesity presents is considered much greater than any risks of the diet itself, so long as it is undertaken with medical supervision.
Because of the extremely low calories per day, a VLCD diet cannot be used by children no matter how obese. Also, a VLCD must not be undertaken without appropriate supervision.
All Howard’s Way locums are given extensive medical training relating to being on the diet, and constant back-up is provided by Penelope Howard herself, to ensure the continuing good health of all Howard’s Way patients.
About Howard’s Way VLCD
Penelope Howard had worked with obese patients and a very low calorie diet (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 (howardsway.co.uk) 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.
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