It is every woman's dream, to be slim, trim and to stay so for the rest of her life. Slimming centres have been quick to cash in on this. Many of them promise quick and effective methods of shedding those unnecessary layers of body fat. But do these centres really fulfill their promises? Are they costing your health? Do they have proper infrastructure and medical expertise? These are the questions that have to be answered before you decide to enroll at a slimming centre.

Dr Veena Jain, the Director of Health and Nutrition at Vandana Luthera's Curls and Curves (VLCC) has nearly twenty years of expertise in health and nutrition. She has been concentrating on scientific ways of slimming and worked with the All India Institute of Medical Sciences and Nutrition Foundation of India. She has also been a consultant with many well-known Multinational Companies.

At the 31 VLCC centres across the country the main focus is on scientific methods of weight management. "Slimming should be given an integrated approach," says Veena Jain. "Obesity and weight loss has to be dealt with scientifically. Many slimming centers are offering wrong ways of slimming which harm the body instead of making you slim. At VLCC you eat and still lose weight," she adds.

Certain lifestyles, birth of babies, hormonal structuring makes women more obese than men. There is very little awareness among people who register for slimming courses about the quality of the centre.

How to choose the right slimming centre

Before choosing a slimming centre, check the facilities and how they go about treating weight loss. Check if they have medical experts to provide counseling and proper monitoring of the customer's health. A slimming centre must have a team of doctors specialized in psychology, behavioral sciences, nutrition and diet. They must study the person's physiology and psychology. The center should also have the proper equipment.

"We have 100% customer satisfaction and the main reason for this is our individualistic approach. Every human body is different and body composition is different, so each individual has to be handled differently. We first ascertain whether the person really needs to lose weight and then we undertake a thorough medical examination of the person," says Veena Jain.

She further adds, "Be wary of any slimming or health centre which promises more than 4-5 kilos of weight loss per month, because a weight loss of more than this will lead to further complications in the body. Gradual and steady loss of 1000 calories from a person's body every day is recommended."

"We reduce 500 calories from the diet, behavioral changes will reduce another 150 calories. Walking for 30-40 minutes will reduce 100 calories more. The remaining 350 calories is lost by the use of proper equipment," says Veena Jain. 1000 calories is equal to a 1 kg loss of weight in a week's time.

Special equipment is used to raise the body temperature, which results in gradual weight loss. Heat therapy is done through treadmill and vibrator. Quality and quantity of diet is very important. There should not be any crash diet.