Racer Wins After Losing 70 lbs. on Smart for Life^®

June 7, 2010 – Boca Raton, FL – Summer of 2008, Dominic Aubrey of Quebec, Canada, weighed over 300 pounds and could barely fit into his motorcycle racing suit.  In December 2008, Aubrey began the Smart for Life^® Cookie Diet losing 70 pounds in five months.  This month, Aubrey’s racing season has improved bringing in a 4^th place on the first race this year and winning the Class Championship in 2009.

“Smart for Life is proud to sponsor Mr. Aubrey during his 2010 Racing Season,” said Dr. Sasson Moulavi, M.D.  “His dedication to improving his weight has also earned him a healthy body, confidence and determination to win.  Many of our clients experience this same transformation and I couldn’t be happier to encourage and support Dominic’s winning season – both on the track and off!”

Aubrey continues to eat the Smart for Life products in order to reach his goal weight. In addition, he incorporates into his day 2-3 appetite suppressing underWAY^TM beverages made by Smart for Life’s sister company Better Health Beverage.

“Before losing the weight, I was happy to just finish a race without fainting,” says Aubrey.  “I now perform well thru the whole race weekend and even won my class championship, no doubt due to my new, healthy lifestyle.”

Smart for Life^® cookies are made without toxic preservatives, are 60% organic, and include a proprietary Super Fiber blend known as HeroFiber^TM.   HeroFiber^TM is also used in a drink its sister company Better Health Beverage launched called underWAY^TM.  Many people use the cookies not just for weight loss but as a healthy meal replacement that is easy, convenient and actually costs less than they currently spend on food.

Before

After

ABOUT SMART FOR LIFE^®

Smart for Life^® cookie diet is a comprehensive weight management approach to health and wellness which utilizes natural, hunger-controlling foods to deliver visible results. The company was started by Sasson Moulavi, M.D., “Dr. Sass,” on the principle of improving people’s lives by providing a quick, safe, easy and affordable means of weight control. Smart for Life’s e-commerce program provides an accessible weight-loss management program to consumers across the country.  In addition, the over 30 weight-loss centers each staffed with a medical doctor and provide in-person counsel to consumers supporting the e-commerce program as well as the medical program.  Over the past 7 years, Smart for Life^® has helped hundreds of thousands of people lose millions of pounds - improving their health, appearance and happiness.

For more information, please visit www.smartforlife.com or contact

Jessica Lieberman or Casey Miller of Behrman Communications at 212.986.7000

jlieberman@behrmanpr.com | cmiller@behrmanpr.com

High resolution photos, TV spots and interviews are available upon request

Smart for Life^® Diet Cookie Found to be Most Filling Cookie

Chatelaine Magazine Identified Smart for Life^® Chocolate Chip in its Health Spotlight.

June 2, 2010 – BOCA RATON, FL – The trailblazing company whose Smart for Life^® weight management products featuring the cookie diet component was recently named the “Most Filling” diet cookie in the May Health Spotlight of Chatelaine Magazine, Canada’s leading women's media brand read by 1 in every 3 women in the country.

Smart for Life^® continues to receive multiple awards including an 87% User Rating on the website DietsInReview.com.  

In addition, Doctors Scientific Organica (DSO), the baking facility where the products are manufactured, meets the rigorous requirements from a variety of certifications including NSF’s Cook & Thurber, audited to the highest food safety standards in the industry. Also, DSO was recently awarded a perfect score during an inspection from Randolph Associates, an independent auditing company.  The Smart for Life^® Cookie Diet bakery achieved a perfect score for remaining pest-free for the last 12 months, thus earning this prestigious recognition. 

“The Smart for Life^® team continues to strive to maintain the highest of food safety standards since we manufacture products that people eat.  Our team understands how the foods we make improve people’s health while helping them to lose weight.  This dedication makes us the leader in our industry,” said Dr. Sass Moulavi, Founder and Medical Director of Smart for Life^®.

Smart for Life^® cookies are made without toxic preservatives, are 60% organic, and include a proprietary Super Fiber blend known as HeroFiber^TM.   HeroFiber^TM is also used in a drink its sister company Better Health Beverage launched called underWAY^TM.  Many people use the cookies not just for weight loss but as a healthy meal replacement that is easy, convenient and actually costs less than they currently spend on food.

“You don’t often see a food or beverage company that has a board certified medical doctor, who is also a weight loss specialist, on staff and involved in developing products. Our company does, and because of this we continue to develop great products that win us praise,” added Richard Kayne, COO of Smart for Life^®.

For more information, please visit www.smartforlife.com, www.under-way.com or contact

Jessica Lieberman or Casey Miller of Behrman Communications at 212.986.7000

jlieberman@behrmanpr.com | cmiller@behrmanpr.com

High resolution photos, TV spots and interviews are available upon request

Smart for Life^® Bakery Awarded Perfect Pest Control Score on Recent Randolph Associates Audit

Doctors Scientific Organica Earns Perfect Score from Orkin.

May 24, 2010 – BOCA RATON, FL – Doctors Scientific Organica, the commercial baking operation for the trailblazing company Smart for Life^®, whose cookie diet products have helped it to become the fastest growing weight management company in America, is proud to announce its recent perfect score awarded from Randolph Associates, an independent auditing company.

Committed to its Gold Medal Protection Partnership with Orkin, the Smart for Life^® bakery has achieved a perfect score for remaining pest-free for the last 12 months.  In appreciation for this accomplishment, Orkin will promote its customers that have achieved this recognition with an upcoming advertisement in Food Processing Magazine.  Along with this award, Doctors Scientific Organica meets the rigorous requirements from a variety of certifications including NSF’s Cook & Thurber, audited to the highest standards in the industry.

“Because we are in the food manufacturing business, it is extremely important that our facility do all that it can to remain pest-free,” said Doctors Scientific Organica Food Safety and Compliance Manager.  “Our customers depend on us to provide quality foods with state-of-the-art food safety audits, all day, every day.”

Richard Kayne, COO of Smart for Life and its sister company Better Health Beverage, and one of the principal owners of Filled Bagel Industries which brought us Bagel-Fuls, the number one frozen bagel product in North America, has never experienced a facility earning a perfect score.

Doctors Scientific Organica manufactures the Smart for Life^® variety of products including meal replacement cookies, cupcakes, crunch, bagels, soups and more.  Employing a staff of more than 50, the 20,000 sq. ft. plant uses state-of-the-art equipment and manufacturing practices to ensure quality control and customer satisfaction when purchasing these revolutionary products.  They also, when available, only use environmentally-friendly certified boxes from sustained forests.

Many people use the Smart for Life^® cookies not just for weight loss but as a healthy meal replacement that is easy, convenient and actually costs less than they currently spend on food.  Smart for Life^® cookies are made without toxic preservatives, are 60% organic, and include a proprietary Super Fiber blend known as HeroFiber^TM.   HeroFiber^TM is also used in underWAY^TM, an appetite suppressing beverage manufactured by sister company Better Health Beverage. 

For more information, please visit www.smartforlife.com, www.under-way.com or contact

Jessica Lieberman or Casey Miller of Behrman Communications at 212.986.7000

jlieberman@behrmanpr.com | cmiller@behrmanpr.com

High resolution photos, TV spots and interviews are available upon request

underWAY^TM and Smart for Life^® Continue to Support Charitable Organizations

Company Sponsors 3^rd Unicorn Children’s Foundation Event in Boca Raton, FL.

May 20, 2010 – BOCA RATON, FL – The trailblazing company whose Smart for Life^® cookie diet products have become the fastest growing weight management company in America, and its sister company Better Health Beverage with the new appetite suppressing beverage underWAY^TM, are proud to announce its ongoing sponsorship of the Unicorn Children’s Foundation, a local charity.  The most recent event, “2^nd Annual Denim, Diamonds and Dice Casino” in April raised over $50,000 in donations for Unicorn.  Along with other functions, in December 2008, Smart for Life^® was the event’s presenting sponsor of Unicorn’s “The Fabulous You!” which raised over $250,000 at Mar-A-Lago Club in Palm Beach.

The Unicorn Children’s Foundation is dedicated to assisting children and young adults with developmental, communication and learning disorders through education, awareness, and research.  Over the last decade, there has been a steady and startling increase in the number of children diagnosed with developmental, communication, and learning disorders.  Approximately 1 out of every 5 children is impacted by challenges associated with these disorders (i.e., autism and ADHD).

“We feel honored to continue to support such an important and worthy charity in our area,” said Richard Kayne, CEO of Better Health Beverage and Smart for Life^®. “Seeing the impact our donations make to the Unicorn Children’s Foundation is not only heartwarming but necessary as the children affected by these disorders increases every year.  We also believe healthy eating and avoiding obesity contributes to overall health and wellness.”

In addition to Unicorn, Smart for Life^® and Better Health Beverage have also contributed to various other local charities including the March of Dimes Palm Beach Division, Joe DiMaggio Children’s Hospital Tour de Broward, Jacob’s Run, Walk & Roll to Cure Spinal Muscular Atrophy, Habitat for Humanity, The Young Dancer Foundation of South Florida, Brandon Flowers Youth Sports Camp and many more.

underWAY’s key ingredient HeroFiber™ was developed by Dr. Sasson Moulavi (Dr. Sass), M.D., a Board Certified Bariatric Physician and graduate of University of Toronto and McGill University, who has dedicated his life’s work to finding easily palatable solutions to help Americans curb their hunger. HeroFiber helps to fill the stomach and reduce hunger pains, allowing dieters to consume less.  In addition to all the healthy appetite suppressing fiber in every 16oz. naturally flavored underWAY bottle, the three all-natural flavors – Acai-Pomegranate, Grape and Orange - have consumers raving about the taste.  With a mere 10 (low glycemic) calories per serving, and no hidden sugars, sodium or caffeine, underWAY™ is truly the healthy way to put hunger on hold. 

For more information, please visit www.under-way.com or contact

Jessica Lieberman or Roxanne Ierino of Behrman Communications at 212.986.7000

jlieberman@behrmanpr.com | rierino@behrmanpr.com

High resolution photos, TV spots and interviews are available upon request

Double Calamity of Childhood Obesity Ignored by Parents

Health and Emotional Problems Plaguing the Next Generations Must be Addressed Now.

May 18, 2010 – Boca Raton, FL – Millions of kids who are obese will likely suffer from verbal abuse, societal ostracization, stigmas, health problems and eventually die at a young age.  The double calamity will occur if parents continue to avoid the problem and ignore the cries for help from our children declares Dr. Sasson Moulavi, M.D., founder of the Smart for Life^® Cookie Diet and its children’s lifestyle program THIN ADVENTURE^TM.

“I am amazed by the lack of concern I see from parents about childhood obesity,” said Dr. Sass.  “They have either given up or push the problem to the back of their minds.  Instead, they should be shouting from the rooftops for help.”

Dr. Sass is constantly shocked by the amount of parents who ignore their own weight problems instead of losing weight as a great example.  Being obese has become normal in our society; notice the size increase in transportation seating, furniture, even caskets.  Dr. Sass equates it to walking around with a 40-pound tumor in your abdomen and not seeking help. 

Most overweight adults have a choice when it comes to food.  Kids do not. They are obese due to circumstances beyond their control.  Adults, who are also parents, working in the food manufacturing industry (formulator, manufacturer, supermarket merchandiser, etc.) start a chain of unhealthy choices.  Poor quality foods are everywhere – on store shelves and in school cafeterias providing poor quality snacks to fill children’s bellies but not meet nutritional requirements. 

Overweight and obese kids will not only die younger but suffer from more diseases than if they were at a healthy weight.  Dr. Sass explains, “This is our first calamity – Global Warming and the War on Terror will be a small mosquito bite compared to this growing cancer.”

The second calamity is the emotional suffering overweight kids experience as teens.  A collective body of research clearly indicates that obese children are stigmatized and subject to discrimination by their peers.  This emotional suffering is very intense and severe.  (Schwartz and Puhl, 2003; Strauss and Pollack, 2003).

To start correcting these problems, parents need to take a stand with their kids and then with all channels involved in the food manufacturing industry.  Enormous as the problem is, it will only increase in size as it becomes the norm in our society.  Eventually, these generations will become adults who fall victim to our neglect. 

Dr. Sass urges adults to correct the problems first with their own kids.  “If you work together as a family, it’s easier.  Seek advice from your pediatrician, school, and companies such as ours who have plans that not only work but are easy-to-follow.  Commit to this plan – not just for a week or two, but for long term.  Giving up will only show you are weak and your kids will suffer.”

Visit www.smartforlife.com or call 1.877.701.SASS.

Lisa Goodman 1-561-394-5300 ext. 202, lgoodman@smartforlife.com.

underWAY^TM, America’s First Appetite Suppressing Beverage, Now Available at Discount Drug Mart throughout Ohio

underWAY^TM Sponsoring Cleveland Cavaliers Alongside Retailer.

This month, the trailblazing company whose Smart for Life Cookie Diet products have become the fastest growing weight management company in North America, now introduces underWAY™ - a scientifically formulated, appetite suppressing line of great tasting healthy beverages. Better Health Beverage is proud to announce that underWAY, in 3 delicious flavors, is now available in Discount Drug Mart locations throughout Ohio. 

Co-host of ABC’s Dancing with the Stars celebrity and “momtrepreneur” Brooke Burke was named brand spokesperson by underWAY™.  “I am proud to align myself with a product that provides the first real solution to a common problem faced by everyone – hunger pangs,” said Brooke Burke. “As a busy mother of four children with a hectic work schedule, I try to eat healthy and maintain energy and underWAY gives me an easily portable solution to keep me feeling full through to my next healthy meal or snack.

“Following a successful launch of our Smart for Life products within Discount Drug Mart, we’re excited to launch underWAY while also sponsoring the Cleveland Cavaliers during their season and into the NBA Playoffs,” said Richard Kayne, COO of Better Health Beverage.  “The Cavaliers are spreading excitement throughout the state and we’re proud to be a part of it.  In addition, to support our product launch with Discount Drug Mart, we will have a regional TV media blitz in Cleveland, Dayton and Columbus to help support the trial and traffic for Discount Drug Mart.”

underWAY’s key ingredient HeroFiber™ was developed by Dr. Sasson Moulavi (Dr. Sass), M.D., a Board Certified Bariatric Physician and graduate of University of Toronto and McGill University, who has dedicated his life’s work to finding easily palatable solutions to help Americans curb their hunger. HeroFiber helps to fill the stomach and reduce hunger pains, allowing dieters to consume less.  In addition to all the healthy appetite suppressing fiber in every 16oz. naturally flavored underWAY bottle, the three all-natural flavors – Acai-Pomegranate, Grape and Orange - have consumers raving about the taste.  With a mere 10 (low glycemic) calories per serving, and no hidden sugars, sodium or caffeine, underWAY™ is truly the healthy way to put hunger on hold. 

Discount Drug Mart, an Ohio-based drug store chain, opened its first store in 1969.  Currently operating 69 stores, the company expects to announce further expansion in 2010.  The Discount Drug Mart mission is to provide customers with a quality shopping experience by providing a wide selection of products and services, low prices and superior customer service, all with the convenience of one-stop shopping. 

For more information, please visit www.under-way.com or contact

Jessica Lieberman or Roxanne Ierino of Behrman Communications at 212.986.7000

jlieberman@behrmanpr.com | rierino@behrmanpr.com

High resolution photos, TV spots and interviews are available upon request

Oncology Research Unit of McGill University to Study

Benefits of Smart for Life^® Cookies

April 28, 2010 – Boca Raton, FL – Smart for Life^® cookies will be the focus of a study in the oncology unit of the Jewish General Hospital, acknowledged as a world leader in many fields of investigation and a key teaching site for McGill University.

A correspondence was received from the Radiation Oncology Department of the Jewish General Hospital in Montreal, Quebec by Dr. Sasson Moulavi, M.D., founder of Smart for Life^® Cookie Diet.

“I am writing to you because I have heard many experiences from cancer patients who have told their story how these miraculous cookies have changed their lives.  Colorectal cancer patients have said that these cookies have made them achieve an ideal weight, but also have regulated their bowel movements and have ceased all the symptoms from getting treatment with radiation therapy,” wrote the Clinical Research Associate of Jewish General Hospital.

“It was quite by coincidence that post-oncology patients who used our cookies claimed an improvement in intestinal health and general well being,” said Dr. Sass  Moulavi.

Smart for Life^® cookies are made without toxic preservatives, are 60% organic, and include a proprietary Super Fiber blend known as HeroFiber^TM.   HeroFiber^TM is also used in a drink its sister company Better Health Beverage launched called underWAY^TM.  Many people use the cookies not just for weight loss but as a healthy meal replacement that is easy, convenient and actually costs less than they currently spend on food.

Smart for Life^® is eager to see that these clinical trials will shed light on the added benefits of Smart for Life^® beyond weight loss and appetite suppression.  

Smart for Life^® has recently published the results of its first clinical study that showed significant weight loss and satisfaction with its products.

Visit www.smartforlife.com or call 1.877.701.SASS for more information.

CONTACT:  Lisa Goodman 1-561-394-5300 ext. 202, lgoodman@smartforlife.com.

America’s First Appetite Suppressing Beverage Lands on Shelves across Florida

underWAY™ Now Available at 741 Publix Super Market Locations in Florida

and Various Southern States

This month, the trailblazing company whose Smart for Life^® Cookie Diet products have become the fastest growing weight management company in North America, now introduces underWAY^TM – a scientifically formulated, appetite suppressing line of great tasting healthy beverages. Better Health Beverage is proud to announce that underWAY in 2 delicious flavors, is now available at 741 Publix Super Market locations from Atlanta, Georgia and throughout the entire state of Florida.

Co-host of ABC’s Dancing with the Stars celebrity and “momtrepreneur” Brooke Burke was named brand spokesperson by underWAY™.  “I am proud to align myself with a product that provides the first real solution to a common problem faced by everyone – hunger pangs,” said Brooke Burke. “As a busy mother of four children with a hectic work schedule, I try to eat healthy and maintain energy and underWAY gives me an easily portable solution to keep me feeling full through to my next healthy meal or snack.”

"We're proud to partner with Publix Super Markets," said Richard Kayne, COO of Better Health Beverage. “Not only does Publix strive to be the premier quality food retailer in the world, it sets the bar for the category in terms of customer service and product offering.  In addition, to support our product launch with Publix, we will have a TV media blitz in all the key metropolitan markets from Atlanta and throughout the state of Florida to help support the trial and traffic for Publix.”

underWAY’s key ingredient HeroFiber™ was developed by Dr. Sasson Moulavi (Dr. Sass), M.D., a Board Certified Bariatric Physician who has dedicated his life’s work to finding easily palatable solutions to help Americans curb their hunger. HeroFiber helps to fill the stomach and reduce hunger pains, allowing dieters to consume less. In addition to all the healthy appetite suppressing fiber in every 16oz. naturally flavored underWAY bottle, a series of B vitamins also help to boost energy. And just as important, the two all-natural flavors – Acai-Pomegranate and Grape - have consumers raving about the taste.  With a mere 10 (low glycemic) calories per serving, and no hidden sugars, sodium or caffeine, underWAY™ is truly the healthy way to put hunger on hold.

underWAY is affiliated with Smart for Life^® Cookie Diet which operates over 30 medical weight-loss centers in the United States and Canada, providing in-person counsel to diet consumers. This individualized service from Smart for Life staff, doctors and physicians is readily available to help Smart for Life and underWAY consumers reach their weight loss goals.

For more information, please visit www.under-way.com or contact

Jessica Lieberman or Roxanne Ierino of Behrman Communications at 212.986.7000

jlieberman@behrmanpr.com | rierino@behrmanpr.com

High resolution photos, TV spots and interviews are available upon request

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Smart for Life^® Releases Its First Clinical Study

Weight Loss Cookie Program proven to reduce significant weight.

April 5, 2010 – Boca Raton, FL – In a retrospective chart review study conducted on 46 subjects who visited the Boca Raton Smart for Life^® Weight Management Center and used a portion-controlled, protein-rich, low fat cookie with unique fiber technology, all subjects lost weight with the average being 13.1 pounds in 35 days.  Five subjects lost over 20 pounds in 35 days and 20 subjects lost over 15 pounds in the first 35 days.  The 46 participants lost a total of 601 pounds with one patient losing 38.7 pounds in 35 days.

This study is very significant because a loss of 5-10% has shown clinical improvement in people’s health which is far greater than the amount of weight they lost. 

The average client’s Body Mass Index (BMI) dropped by 2.5 points from 31.5 to 29.  Most people dropped more than 5% of their body weight and many lost 10%. “This is clinically significant because we know the health benefits from 5% to 10% weight loss are huge.  When individuals can achieve these results in a short 5 to 6 weeks with relative ease, I see this as a great way for people to start on a path to a healthier lifestyle,” says Dr. Sasson Moulavi, M.D. who conducted the study.

Subjects were instructed to eat 6 Smart for Life^® Diet Cookies (or Smart cupcakes, bagel chips, shakes, soups, crunch, cereals and more that are the equivalent of a cookie) specifically designed to suppress hunger and made with specific protein and HeroFiber^TM.   Each day, subjects drank at least 64 ounces of water and ate 6-12 ounces of lean protein with 5 servings of vegetables.  All clients were seen by a diet physician before starting, and then weighed weekly with a choice to check in with a counselor or physician.

The Smart for Life^® Cookie Diet has seen huge success with more and more people trying it every day.  The company understands the study’s importance in that it clinically documents what clients achieve each day. 

“This study proves what our clients already know – the weight loss is achievable.  We have proven that our program is easy and provides quick, safe weight loss.  I believe we are the only one of the “cookie diets” that has released such a study. We always knew we have the best products and this study goes a long way to support our thinking. We offer the widest variety and believe we have the healthiest products using all-natural and organic ingredients and pack our cookies with nitrogen to avoid preservatives,” says Dr. Sass Moulavi, Founder of Smart for Life.

Smart for Life^® Cookie Diet plans to schedule a longer study with a larger sample group in order to review how its results measure up to these recent findings.

ABOUT SMART FOR LIFE^®

Smart for Life^® cookie diet is a comprehensive weight management approach to health and wellness which utilizes natural, hunger-controlling foods to deliver visible results. The company was started by Sasson Moulavi, M.D., “Dr. Sass,” on the principle of improving people’s lives by providing a quick, safe, easy and affordable means of weight control. Smart for Life’s e-commerce program provides an accessible weight-loss management program to consumers across the country.  In addition, the over 30 weight-loss centers each staffed with a medical doctor and provide in-person counsel to consumers supporting the e-commerce program as well as the medical program.  Over the past 7 years, Smart for Life^® has helped hundreds of thousands of people lose millions of pounds - improving their health, appearance and happiness. Please visit www.smartforlife.com or call 1.877.701.SASS for more information.

CONTACT:

Lisa Goodman 1-561-394-5300 ext. 202, lgoodman@smartforlife.com.

We are pleased to share that Dr. Sass is featured in the March / April 2010 issue of Parade’s HealthyStyle

I love bringing information forward to my weight loss audience and sometimes the information surprises me. For some time now, I've considered Vitamin Water to be a good choice in my quest for proper nutrition. I mean heck, what could possibly sound better than 'Vitamin Water' - the name alone sounds so enriched and pure all in one. Well, I'm not saying that Vitamin Water is evil but upon discovering underWAY (yes, that's how they capitalize it), I learned some surprising truths.

underWAY has only 10 calories, no caffeine, and no carbs; in addition it also has heart-healthy vitamins and plenty of fiber to keep your energy up. Not only that, but they apparently signed up that hottie Brooke Burke so I guess that she digs it too.

So how does that compare to the Vitamin Water? Vitamin Water is sweetened with sugar and does not have any appetite suppressing ingredients. underWAY is low in calories, contains fiber, and delivers appetite suppression in addition to a vitamin boost. So in short, fewer calories, better taste and great hydration.

And compared to Meal Replacement Drinks or Protein Shakes? Typically, Meal Replacement Drinks have to be used as part of that company's own weight loss regime. underWAY is not designed to replace meals so it can work with any program. And Protein Shakes have a very high calorie count typically above 50 calories per 8 ounces; whereas underWAY claims only 10 calories per 8 ounces. So again, fewer calories, better taste and great hydration.

According to their website, the underWAY drink curbs hunger in two ways: "Its special formulation not only takes longer to be absorbed by the stomach, it also slows the absorption of what's already there - making you feel fuller, longer. What's more, its unique ingredients stimulate your stomach, telling your brain you've consumed more calories than you really have - which, with underWAY, is almost zero!"

I'm not a scientist but it sure sounds like they have developed a unique way to signal hunger to your brain. Other information on their site gets more technical discussing the various ways that your body can signal hunger - some are in the stomach and gastrointestinal track and some are in your brain.

This drink is designed to naturally control hunger in both ways. Apparently, by having a low glycemic index your brain never registers a sugar or insulin rush that leads to the hunger signal. And they've got a trademarked super fiber they call HeroFiber that increases the bulkiness in your stomach and slows down the digestion process so you feel full for a longer period of time.

Besides tasting better, you should notice appetite suppression with only 10 calories versus 50 or more calories with the other drinks. Really? Well, as we sometimes say in California - WAAAAYYYY.

Kevin Graham serves as the Managing Director at Empower Me Photo. Empower Me Photo provides tools to help those seeking to stay on their diet or exercise program over the long run - by showing how you are going to look AFTER you lose the weight.

You will be amazed at how you are going to look - and your empowering photo can be in your hand as quickly as tomorrow. And you will be inspired, motivated, and yes, EMPOWERED, to stay on your program over the long run.

You are welcome to download our free 7 Secrets to Visualize Your Future using the world's best weight loss tool.

Our Weight Loss Success Stories are impressive.

Let The Vision Empower You!

Article Source: http://ezinearticles.com/?expert=Kevin_E_Graham

The Healthy Way to Put Hunger on Hold^TM

Boca Raton, FL, February 22, 2010 – underWAY™, the new scientifically formulated, appetite suppressing line of great tasting beverages from the trailblazing company whose Smart for Life Cookie Diet products fueled the national cookie diet craze, has named “momtrepreneur” Brooke Burke as brand spokeswoman. Burke will also appear in underWAY’s televised and print advertising campaign that will begin running in early 2010.

“I am proud to align myself with a product that provides a real solution to a pervasive problem faced by everyone – hunger pangs,” said Brooke Burke. “As a busy mother of four children with a hectic work schedule, I try to eat healthy and maintain energy. underWAY gives me an easily portable solution to keep me going to my next healthy meal or snack.”

underWAY’s key ingredient, HeroFiber™ was developed by bariatric physician and food engineer, Dr. Sasson Moulavi (Dr. Sass). HeroFiber™ helps to fill the stomach and reduce hunger pains, allowing dieters to consume less. In addition to all the healthy appetite suppressing fiber in every 16 oz. naturally flavored underWAY bottle, a series of B vitamins also help to boost energy. And just as important, the three all-natural flavors – Acai-Pomegranate, Grape and Orange - have consumers raving about the taste.  With a mere 10 (low glycemic) calories per serving, and no hidden sugars or added salt, underWAY is truly the healthy way to put hunger on hold.

“Brooke is the ideal partner for us as she embodies health, balance and wellness – which is the cornerstone of the underWAY lifestyle,” said Richard Kayne, COO of underWAY’s parent company Better Health Beverage. 

Burke’s distinguished career as a model, actress, and entrepreneur has earned her worldwide recognition. She has graced numerous magazine covers, has top-selling swimsuit calendars and is regularly ranked in men’s magazines as one of the sexiest women in the world today. She won the 7th season of ABC's “Dancing with the Stars” in front of an estimated audience of 20 million people, establishing herself as one of America's favorite moms. She is also known for her roles as the host of “E! Wild On”, “RockStar INXS”, and “Rockstar Supernova”.  Burke, who currently has over 1.7 million Twitter followers, has established herself as an expert on “mommy” issues through a variety of platforms:  as co-CEO and a popular blogger at the interactive online community ModernMom.com; as founder of the online retail store babooshbaby.com which features Tauts, Burke’s post-pregnancy belly wraps; and as the new “Mommy Correspondent” on the nationally syndicated daytime talk show “The Doctors.”  Burke has most recently been named host for the third season of TV Land's original reality modeling show, "She's Got the Look," which will begin airing in June.

underWAY will make its international debut in March 2010 via club stores, drugstores, supermarkets and specialty nutritional retailers, Publix, GNC, Costco Canada, BJ’s Wholesale Club just to name a few.  Online retailers will include the underWAY website, Drugstore.com, Walgreens.com, Costco.com, Canadian Costco.ca, Amazon.com, BJs.com and more.  The Food, Drug and Mass channels of distribution expand on a weekly basis.

For more information about underWAY, America’s first all natural, healthy appetite suppressing beverage and thirst quencher, visit www.under-WAY.com.

To schedule an interview with Dr. Sass, Brooke Burke, Richard Kayne, or to sample the product, please contact Lisa Goodman at (561) 394-5300 ext. 202 or lgoodman@smartforlife.com.

Boca Raton, FL, (March 10, 2010) – The breakthrough beverage changing the weight-loss universe has landed a star.  The new co-host of ABC’s Dancing with the Stars, model/actress and “momtrepreneur” Brooke Burke was named brand spokesperson today by underWAY,™ the first appetite suppressing drink to enter the beverage industry.  Created by the trailblazing company whose Smart for Life Cookie Diet products fueled the national cookie diet craze, underWAY will revolutionize the beverage and weight loss industries by introducing this fresh alternative to consumer’s weight management programs.

“I am proud to align myself with a product that provides the first real solution to a common problem faced by everyone – hunger pangs,” said Brooke Burke. “As a busy mother of four with a hectic work schedule, I try to eat healthy and maintain energy, and underWAY gives me an easily portable solution that keeps me feeling full through to my next healthy meal.”

Brooke Burke, who won Dancing with the Stars in November 2008 and recently became the “Mommy Correspondent” on CBS’ hit talk show The Doctors, was a great fit for underWAY. 

“Brooke is the ideal partner for us as she embodies health, balance and wellness – characteristics of the underWAY lifestyle,” said Richard Kayne, COO of underWAY’s parent company Better Health Beverage.  

underWAY’s key ingredient HeroFiber™ was developed by bariatric physician and food engineer, Dr. Sasson Moulavi (Dr. Sass).  HeroFiber helps to fill the stomach and reduce hunger pains, allowing dieters to consume less and skip the pound-packing snacks.  In addition to all the healthy appetite suppressing fiber in every 16 oz. naturally flavored underWAY bottle, a series of B vitamins also help to boost energy.  And just as important, the three all-natural flavors – Acai- Pomegranate, Grape and Orange – have consumers raving about the taste.  With a mere 10 (low glycemic) calories per serving and no hidden sugars, sodium or caffeine, underWAY is truly the healthy way to put hunger on hold. 

underWAY is currently available at www.under-WAY.com and is gradually gaining attention with presence at Costco Canada, BJ’s, Publix and other major national retail chains as well as these sites:  Costco.com, BJs.com, Drugstore.com, Walgreens.com.  The product will have regional availability starting in April.

For more information about underWAY, America’s healthy appetite suppresser and thirst quencher, visit www.under-WAY.com and www.SmartforLife.com.  To schedule an interview with Dr. Sass, Brooke Burke or to sample the product, please contact Anne Breza or Jessica Lieberman of Behrman Communications at 212.986.7000 abreza@behrmanpr.com | jlieberman@behrmanpr.com.

Dr. Sasson Moulavi, M.D. Commends the First Lady And Puts The Blame On The Parents.

Boca Raton, FL – February 16, 2010 – First Lady Michelle Obama has announced her new campaign against childhood obesity -Let’s Move!  And that’s just what she wants children to do.  And just because she knows the big man in the White House, do not expect the government to fund this initiative.

Bariatric physician Dr. Sasson “Dr. Sass” Moulavi says, “I commend the First Lady for making people more aware of childhood obesity.  It’s an epidemic, an epidemic that was created by irresponsible food companies, parents and government.”

The first lady's campaign has four parts: helping parents make better food choices, serving healthier food in school, making healthy food more available and affordable, and encouraging children to exercise more.  Nowhere in her campaign does she mention that any government aide will be allocated for this initiative.

What parents need to realize is their child’s weight is their responsibility.  The first item on Mrs. Obama’s agenda is helping parents make better food choices.  This puts the problem right in the parents’ laps.  The government is not making these food choices for your child.  You are – the parent. 

Dr. Sass expresses his concern:  “My worry is some parents will sit back and wait for the government to come up with a magic plan.  It is not going to happen.  Although First Lady Michelle Obama may create awareness, parents need to realize they must take the initiative now.  They have to stop waiting for a solution to fall from the sky.  That’s just magical thinking.”

“Unfortunately it comes down to money.  We all understand that your local municipal, state and federal governments are all underwater financially when it comes to school lunch programs.  It is cheaper to provide an eight cent doughnut than a healthy meal.  This is a budgetary choice without your children’s health and nutritional needs in mind.  As for the parents providing healthy nutrition in the house, the same food choices confront them in the supermarket and unfortunately the unhealthy, artificial foods are less expensive than the healthy foods.”

As parents, you need to take the first step in helping your child to a strong and healthy future. 

ABOUT SMART FOR LIFE

Smart for Life^® cookie diet is a comprehensive weight management approach to health and wellness which utilizes natural, hunger-controlling foods to deliver visible results. The company was started by Sasson Moulavi, M.D., “Dr. Sass,” on the principle of improving people’s lives by providing a quick, safe, easy and affordable means of weight control. Smart for Life’s e-commerce program is the hallmark of the business, providing an accessible weight-loss management program to consumers across the country.  In addition, over 30 weight-loss centers provide in-person counsel to consumers supporting the e-commerce program as well as the in-center medical weight loss program.  Please visit www.smartforlife.com or call 1.877.701.SASS.

CONTACT:

Lisa Goodman 1-561-394-5300 ext. 202, lgoodman@smartforlife.com

January 25, 2010 – Boca Raton, FL – Dr. Sasson Moulavi, M.D., the creator of the Smart for Life^® Cookie Diet, urges all Americans to lose weight by skipping a meal, saving the money and in turn sending it to Haiti.

“We eat too much, they don’t eat enough. Let’s all start replacing some meals we probably don’t need with a Smart for Life^® healthy cookie.  That money you save can be donated to the Haiti Relief Efforts,” recommends Dr. Sass.

Smart for Life^® will be giving away thousands of their 105 calorie Smart for Life^® Cookie Meals to help people skip a meal without hunger.  The company will be distributing up to 10,000 cookies in the U.S. in Smart for Life^® Weight Management Centers, local business and shopping malls beginning January 25^th.  For every cookie eaten, people skip a meal and are then are able to donate the money that would have been spent (roughly $10).  We believe that this would raise approximately $100,000 in donations.  By saving the money spent on a meal, people will make a donation, without any cost to them and provide the opportunity to improve the health of both nations.

It is estimated that over 300,000 people die a year from obesity (http://www.cdc.gov/) – and obesity is quickly overtaking heart disease and cancer as the number one cause of death in the U.S.  If you add the millions who die from malnutrition (http://www.who.int/en/) around the world, that’s a real catastrophe.  According to the World Health Organization, more than 70% of children with protein-energy malnutrition live in Asia, 26% live in Africa, and 4% in Latin America and the Caribbean (WHO 2000).  By these standards, we Americans are gluttons.

“All of these extra calories can be skipped and the money sent over to Haiti to help these people who have nothing to eat, no electricity to cook, or refrigeration.  Skip the $4 espresso latte, the fatty steak sub with fries and send the cash to the people that need it most.  Cash donations work much better than food donations because with cash, you can improve the local economy,” said Dr. Sass “It sickens me to see already overweight people in malls lined up to spend money on garbage food that’s going to harm them.  Then we sit at home watching malnourished people lining up for a little ration of food. Please skip that next meal and send it to the hungry people in Haiti.”

The Smart for Life^® Cookie Meals will be distributed through Smart for Life^® Weight Management Centers free of charge (One per person).  Visit www.SmartforLife.com/Haiti for more information.

Skip a meal, lose the weight, save the money and send it to Haiti.

ABOUT SMART FOR LIFE^®

Smart for Life^® cookie diet is a comprehensive weight management approach to health and wellness which utilizes natural, hunger-controlling foods to deliver visible results. The company was started by Sasson Moulavi, M.D., “Dr. Sass,” on the principle of improving people’s lives by providing a quick, safe, easy and affordable means of weight control. Smart for Life’s e-commerce program provides an accessible weight-loss management program to consumers across the country.  In addition, the over 30 weight-loss centers each staffed with a medical doctor and provide in-person counsel to consumers supporting the e-commerce program as well as the medical program.  Over the past 7 years, Smart for Life^® has helped hundreds of thousands of people lose millions of pounds - improving their health, appearance and happiness. Please visit www.smartforlife.com or call 1.877.701.SASS for more information.

CONTACT:

Lisa Goodman 1-561-394-5300 ext. 202, lgoodman@smartforlife.com

Parents Need a Backbone If They Want Healthy Kids

January 21, 2010 – Boca Raton, FL – Many parents become passive when it comes to their children’s food choices.  The growing epidemic of obesity in America is a strong indicator of this lapse in parenting.  With the variety of resources available from the USDA My Pyramid program to local schools’ curriculum, Dr. Sasson (“Dr. Sass”) Moulavi, M.D., is surprised by parents’ neglect when it comes to allowing poor food choices for children.

“Recently in my office, concerned parents brought in their 12-year-old girl because she was 30 pounds overweight and complaining of fatigue. During the educational process, this child turned to her parents and told them that she will decide what to eat and what to buy, and they can’t do anything about it.  Then she left the center and her parents could not get her back in,” comments Dr. Sass who is Board Certified in Bariatric Medicine.

Dr. Sass has observed good intending parents hoping to improve kids’ weight issues with healthier foods become overpowered by kids’ aggressive, degrading speech.  Usually, the parents do not react with any significant or meaningful response. Instead, the child gets away with it.

Many parents find it difficult to refuse children’s poor choices when it comes to nutrition.  Frequently, shopping carts are filled with high fat, high sugar foods that are convenient and easy to give to children. 

Further recommendations from Dr. Sass listed below can start the conversation and introduce new “rules”.   On-going parenting is necessary to teach kids about good nutrition and choices to be made.

·         Explain food groups and ask where their favorite foods fall.

·         Show kids nutrition panels of foods to compare calories, fat, sugars, sodium – that alone may prompt them to make healthier choices.  Arm them with information for them to be in control.  Rarely will a kid seriously choose something unhealthy when given facts.  If they do…put your foot down and tell them that you will not allow it.

·         Allow occasional splurges kids can earn them track per day.  Cutting back on 1-2/day will be a start.

·         For young children, be the family’s “Healthy Hero” and challenge them to pick nutritious choices in a fun, light manner.

In addition, Dr. Sass is working on a FREE educational weight loss video that will be available for parents on youtube.com and at SmartforLife.com.

ABOUT SMART FOR LIFE^®

Smart for Life^® Cookie Diet is a comprehensive weight management approach to health and wellness utilizing natural, hunger-controlling foods to deliver results. The company was started by Sasson Moulavi, M.D., “Dr. Sass,” on the principle of improving people’s lives by providing a quick, safe, easy and affordable means of weight control. Visit www.smartforlife.com or call 1.877.701.SASS.

ABOUT THIN ADVENTURE™

THIN ADVENTURE^™ is a healthy lifestyle program for children developed by successful Smart for Life^®  Cookie Diet creator Sasson Moulavi, M.D.  Working to impact the nationwide obesity epidemic, the company followed the natural progression to fight childhood obesity with this new children’s program – the only one of its kind.  THIN ADVENTURE^™ was created to provide a tasty, quick, safe way for children to lose weight and lead healthy lives.  The program follows the U.S.D.A. Pyramid Guidelines for children and incorporates THIN ADVENTURE^™ foods with fresh fruit, vegetables, milk and protein.  Visit www.THINADVENTURE.com or call 1.877.799.SASS.

CONTACT:

Lisa Goodman 1-561-394-5300 ext. 202, lgoodman@smartforlife.com

Shelf Stable Food?  Not So Stable.

Dr. Sasson Moulavi, M.D. Warns Against Eating Irradiated Food.

Boca Raton, FL – January 7, 2010 – Many people do not realize the dangers of shelf stable foods.  A shelf stable food is one normally stored in the refrigerator which has been altered so that it can be stored at room temperature for a long shelf life.

Bariatric physician Dr. Sasson “Dr. Sass” Moulavi, M.D. asks the question, “Shelf stable food contains bacteria which do not eat the food.  If bacteria is not eating it, why are you?”  He explains that many weight loss companies use shelf stable food as part of their program.  It is easily shipped unrefrigerated, reduces costs and increases profits.  The consumers get all the risks and very few benefits.

The risks arise from the various food preservation techniques used to extend a food’s shelf life.  Decreasing the amount of water, increasing its acidity, or irradiating/sterilizing the food and then sealing in an air-tight container, can all extend a food’s shelf life.  Additives such as sodium phosphate are used to make food last a very long time unrefrigerated.  Many countries have banned some of the preservatives to produce shelf stable foods that are still allowed in the United States.

Another reason to increase shelf life revolves around common oils and fats that would become rancid quickly if not refrigerated.  Food manufacturers replaced these oils and fats with trans fats in order to delay the onset of rancidity thus increasing shelf life.  Would you eat an unrefrigerated chicken and pasta dish that is over a year old? Yet many weight loss companies want customers to do just that.

Dr. Sass advises consumers to stay away from shelf stable food altogether.  “If you think it should be refrigerated or frozen, you are probably right,” he says.  Instead use as much fresh, and preferably organic based diet foods.  Frozen entrees are usually not a problem but the label should be checked to be sure.  Dr. Sass also recommends eating fresh chicken, fish and seafood, explaining that frozen is good as well, especially if it is organic. 

“It pays to be educated about the food you eat,” Dr. Sass concludes.  “Once you know what goes into the foods you eat, you can better build your body to be as healthy as possible.”

ABOUT SMART FOR LIFE

Smart for Life^® cookie diet is a comprehensive weight management approach to health and wellness which utilizes natural, hunger-controlling foods to deliver visible results. The company was started by Sasson Moulavi, M.D., “Dr. Sass,” on the principle of improving people’s lives by providing a quick, safe, easy and affordable means of weight control. Smart for Life’s e-commerce program is the hallmark of the business, providing an accessible weight-loss management program to consumers across the country.  In addition, over 30 weight-loss centers provide in-person counsel to consumers supporting the e-commerce program as well as the in-center medical weight loss program.  Please visit www.smartforlife.com or call 1.877.701.SASS.

CONTACT:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Smart for Life^® Is Number One in Diet Category on IMS

January 18, 2010 – Boca Raton, FL – For the week ending January 8, 2010, Smart for Life^® Cookie Diet ranked number one in the diet category and number 2 overall on the Infomercial Monitoring Service Listing, well ahead of Nutrisystem^®, eDiets^®, Jillian Weight Loss and Jenny Craig^®.

“The popularity of Smart for Life^®, a scientifically-based weight loss regime delivers the results the public demands.  The Smart for Life^® Cookie Diet, products are 60% organic and natural, and deliver significantly reduced costs compared to other programs,” said Dr. Sass Moulavi, M.D., Medical Director for Smart for Life^®.

Infomercial Monitoring Service ranks the 50 most frequently seen direct response television commercials that air nationally.  These rankings are provided on a weekly basis and on average over the year, Smart for Life^® Cookie Diet has been in the Top 20.    

The Smart for Life^® Cookie Diet commercial includes 3 testimonials, from clients who combined, lost over 230 pounds. It also includes the nursery rhyme re-orchestrated “Who Stole the Cookies from the Cookie Jar” with a call-to-action to visit the website or contact the toll-free phone number.

“Working closely with our team from C Media, we have continued to improve our buys and spend to rise to the top of the IMS ranking in our category. This in turn has propelled Smart for Life^® Cookie Diet to be the fastest growing weight loss company in the USA,” said Richard Kayne, COO of Smart for Life^® Cookie Diet.

ABOUT SMART FOR LIFE^®

Smart for Life^® cookie diet is a comprehensive weight management approach to health and wellness which utilizes natural, hunger-controlling foods to deliver visible results. The company was started by Sasson Moulavi, M.D., “Dr. Sass,” on the principle of improving people’s lives by providing a quick, safe, easy and affordable means of weight control. Smart for Life’s e-commerce program and major retailers provide an accessible weight-loss management program to consumers across the country.  In addition, the over 30 weight-loss centers each staffed with a medical doctor and provide in-person counsel to consumers supporting the e-commerce program as well as the medical program.  Over the past 7 years, Smart for Life^® has helped hundreds of thousands of people lose millions of pounds - improving their health, appearance and happiness. Please visit www.smartforlife.com or call 1.877.701.SASS for more information.

CONTACT:

Lisa Goodman 1-561-394-5300 ext. 202, lgoodman@smartforlife.com

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Smart for Life^® Cookie Diet Products Launching in USA Drug

January 15, 2010 – Boca Raton, FL – Smart for Life^® Cookie Diet, the fastest growing weight loss company in North America, continues to expand and grow by adding additional bricks and mortar retailers in the distribution categories of Food, Drug and Mass. 

The Smart for Life^® weight loss products are now in 80 USA Drug locations in Arkansas, Missouri, Mississippi, Tennessee and Oklahoma.  Smart for Life^® 12 count boxes of individually wrapped cookies will be available in two delicious flavors, Chocolate Chip and Oatmeal Raisin. Instructions on how to use the cookies are included in each box along with a toll free customer service number for additional support.  Smart for Life^® Cookie Diet sister company, Better Health Beverage’s underWAY^TM will also be available in-store February 2010.

The success of Smart for Life^® Cookie Diet products is attributed to affordable pricing, quality products, all natural and 60% organic delicious foods.  USA Drug customers will now have the benefit of a safe, healthy weight loss regime. 

“Our partnership with USA Drug now provides more consumers the availability of the Smart for Life^® program,” states Dr. Sass Moulavi, M.D. and creator of the Smart for Life^® Cookie Diet.

Richard Kayne, COO of Smart for Life^® points out that Smart for Life^® Cookie Diet offers a minimum of 20% savings over competing weight loss products while offering a better program.  “This definitely contributes to our continued success!” he says.

Over the past 20 years, the USA Drug family, which includes USA Drug, Super D Drugs, May’s Drug Stores, Drug Warehouse, Med-X Drugs and Ike’s Discount stores, has grown to more than 170 stores.  USA Drug pharmacies were designed to handle large numbers of customers while providing a down home, friendly atmosphere. USA Drug strives to maintain a continuously evolving retail format to better provide customers the best products and services at the lowest prices.

ABOUT SMART FOR LIFE^®

Smart for Life^® cookie diet is a comprehensive weight management approach to health and wellness which utilizes natural, hunger-controlling foods to deliver visible results. The company was started by Sasson Moulavi, M.D., “Dr. Sass,” on the principle of improving people’s lives by providing a quick, safe, easy and affordable means of weight control. Smart for Life’s e-commerce program provides an accessible weight-loss management program to consumers across the country.  In addition, the over 30 weight-loss centers each staffed with a medical doctor and provide in-person counsel to consumers supporting the e-commerce program as well as the medical program.  Over the past 7 years, Smart for Life^® has helped hundreds of thousands of people lose millions of pounds - improving their health, appearance and happiness. Please visit www.smartforlife.com or call 1.877.701.SASS for more information.

CONTACT:

Lisa Goodman 1-561-394-5300 ext. 202, lgoodman@smartforlife.com

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Smart for Life^® Cookie Diet Products Launching at Kinney Drugs

January 14, 2010 – Boca Raton, FL – Smart for Life^® Cookie Diet, the fastest growing weight loss company in North America, continues to expand and grow by adding additional bricks and mortar retailers in the distribution categories of Food, Drug and Mass. 

The Smart for Life^® Cookie Diet weight loss products will be placed in 87 Kinney Drugs locations in New York and Vermont.  Smart for Life^® 6-pack to-go cookie trays in two delicious flavors, Chocolate Chip and Oatmeal Raisin are in store now.  Instructions are available with each pack as well as customer service representatives available for additional support.  Smart for Life^® Cookie Diet sister company, Better Health Beverage’s underWAY^TM will also be available in-store February 2010.

The success of Smart for Life^® products is attributed to affordable pricing, quality products, all natural and 60% organic delicious foods.  Kinney Drugs customers will now have the benefit of a safe, healthy weight loss regime.

“Our partnership with Kinney Drugs now provides more consumers the availability of the Smart for Life^® program,” states Dr. Sass Moulavi, M.D. and creator of the Smart for Life^® Cookie Diet.

Richard Kayne, COO of Smart for Life^® points out that Smart for Life^® Cookie Diet offers a minimum of 20% savings over competing weight loss products while offering a better program.  “This definitely contributes to our continued success!” he says.

For over 100 years, Kinney Drugs has been a leading pharmacy providing its customers with high quality products at competitive prices. 

ABOUT SMART FOR LIFE^®

Smart for Life^® cookie diet is a comprehensive weight management approach to health and wellness which utilizes natural, hunger-controlling foods to deliver visible results. The company was started by Sasson Moulavi, M.D., “Dr. Sass,” on the principle of improving people’s lives by providing a quick, safe, easy and affordable means of weight control. Smart for Life’s e-commerce program provides an accessible weight-loss management program to consumers across the country.  In addition, the over 30 weight-loss centers each staffed with a medical doctor and provide in-person counsel to consumers supporting the e-commerce program as well as the medical program.  Over the past 7 years, Smart for Life^® has helped hundreds of thousands of people lose millions of pounds - improving their health, appearance and happiness. Please visit www.smartforlife.com or call 1.877.701.SASS for more information.

CONTACT:

Lisa Goodman 1-561-394-5300 ext. 202, lgoodman@smartforlife.com

      Smart for Life^® Cookie Diet Available at Discount Drug Mart throughout Ohio

January 13, 2010 – Boca Raton, FL – Smart for Life^® Cookie Diet, the fastest growing weight loss company in North America, continues to expand and grow by adding additional bricks and mortar retailers in the distribution categories of Food, Drug and Mass.   

During an initial test in the fall 2009, the Smart for Life^® Cookie Diet weight loss products were placed in 10 Discount Drug Mart locations.  Subsequent to the resounding success of this test, Smart for Life^® 6-pack to-go cookie trays in two delicious flavors, Chocolate Chip and Oatmeal Raisin will now be offered in Discount Drug Mart locations.  Smart for Life^® Cookie Diet sister company, Better Health Beverage’s underWAY^TM appetite suppressing Beverage will also be available in February 2010.

The success of Smart for Life^® Cookie Diet products in Discount Drug Mart is attributed to affordable pricing, quality products, all natural and 60% organic delicious foods, and the quick results of the Smart for Life^® Cookie Diet program.

“Our partnership with Discount Drug Mart now provides more consumers the availability to purchase safe, healthy, all natural and 60% organic weight loss products at affordable prices,” explains Dr. Sass Moulavi, M.D. and creator of the Smart for Life^® Cookie Diet.

Richard Kayne, COO of Smart for Life^® points out that Smart for Life^® Cookie Diet offers a minimum of 20% savings over competing weight loss products while offering a better program.  “This definitely contributes to our continued success!” he says.

Discount Drug Mart, an Ohio-based drug store chain, opened its first store in 1969.  Currently operating 69 stores, the company expects to announce further expansion in 2010.  The Discount Drug Mart mission is to provide customers with a quality shopping experience by providing a wide selection of products and services, low prices and superior customer service, all with the convenience of one-stop shopping. 

ABOUT SMART FOR LIFE^®

Smart for Life^® cookie diet is a comprehensive weight management approach to health and wellness which utilizes natural, hunger-controlling foods to deliver visible results. The company was started by Sasson Moulavi, M.D., “Dr. Sass,” on the principle of improving people’s lives by providing a quick, safe, easy and affordable means of weight control. Smart for Life’s e-commerce program provides an accessible weight-loss management program to consumers across the country.  In addition, the over 30 weight-loss centers each staffed with a medical doctor and provide in-person counsel to consumers supporting the e-commerce program as well as the medical program.  Over the past 7 years, Smart for Life^® has helped hundreds of thousands of people lose millions of pounds - improving their health, appearance and happiness. Please visit www.smartforlife.com or call 1.877.701.SASS for more information.

CONTACT:

Lisa Goodman 1-561-394-5300 ext. 202, lgoodman@smartforlife.com

Doctor Urges Media to Stop the Diet & Fitness Myth.

Dr. Sasson Moulavi, M.D. Suggests Media Focus on Methods that Actually Work to Lose Weight.

January 5, 2010 – Boca Raton, FL – Constantly linking exercise with weight loss is causing more people to fail at reaching their goals claims bariatric physician Dr. Sasson “Dr. Sass“ Moulavi, M.D.  Exercise is ideal for maintaining weight once goals are met, but is usually counterproductive in trying to lose weight.

“I’ve seen far better results from patients that strictly follow a lifestyle program than those that work to incorporate exercise into their weight loss regime,” Dr. Sass explains.  “When you exercise, your body certainly burns calories, but it also creates hunger and compensates with food.  Counterproductive to what you’re trying to achieve, I recommend patients get the weight off safely, quickly and then focus on toning and exercising as a tool to maintain.”

In the August 9, 2009 issue of Time Magazine, the cover story “Why Exercise Won’t Make You Thin” explains how that on the average, women in a study by Dr. Timothy Church lost weight, but those that exercised did not lose significantly more weight than the control subjects. The article also mentions the 2008 International Journal of Obesity published paper by Gortmaker and Sonneville of Children’s Hospital Boston noting that during their 18-month study of 538 students, “when the kids start to exercise, they end up eating more – not just a little more, but an average of 100 calories more than they had just burned.”

Dr. Sass identifies the problem being that when people exercise, they burn calories and feel justified in eating a little more here and there.  Unfortunately, instead, they are sabotaging their efforts usually by eating more calories than they burned.  He recommends eating healthy, nutritious foods, getting the weight off and then focusing on an exercise routine to keep it off. 

ABOUT SMART FOR LIFE^®

Smart for Life^® Cookie Diet is a comprehensive weight management approach to health and wellness which utilizes natural, hunger-controlling foods to deliver visible results. The company was started by Sasson Moulavi, M.D., “Dr. Sass,” on the principle of improving people’s lives by providing a quick, safe, easy and affordable means of weight control. Smart for Life’s e-commerce program provides an accessible weight-loss management program to consumers across the country.  In addition, the over 30 weight-loss centers each staffed with a medical doctor and provide in-person counsel to consumers supporting the e-commerce program as well as the medical weight loss program.  Over the past 7 years, Smart for Life^® has helped hundreds of thousands of people lose millions of pounds - improving their health, appearance and happiness. Please visit www.smartforlife.com or call 1.877.701.SASS for more information.

CONTACT:

Lisa Goodman 1-561-394-5300 ext. 202, lgoodman@smartforlife.com

Doctor Declares the Average Consumer has Zero Chance of Attaining Healthy Weight Unless Drastic Measures Are Taken.

Food Advertising has become a Meticulous Science Preying on Consumers’ Psychological Urges and Emotional Habits.

January 4, 2010 – Boca Raton, FL –  Dr. Sasson Moulavi, M.D., in a recent blog commented that food advertising is such a science that the average consumer does not have any chance of resisting when tempted by high sugar, high fat foods.  In 2008, food and beverage companies spent $13.44 billion on advertising according to Advertising Age (6/09) and WPP’s TNS Media Intelligence reporting.

Whether through television ads or walking the mall, food manufacturing companies have become experts at getting consumers to salivate over their food via tempting, hypnotic advertising.  Consumers often choose these products without understanding that not only do they cost more but do not use healthful ingredients. Ultimately, choosing high sugar, high fat, poor quality food, consumers develop weight issues, illness and health care expense.

“It really amazes me to see overweight adults and kids waiting in line to trade their hard-earned money and health for a bag of fried, high fat, low nutrient, poor quality food,” explains Dr. Sass, a bariatric physician.  “Most people are in a trance brought on by millions of television commercials and other advertising where we can’t say ‘no’.  What chance do parents have to refuse a burger and fries when kids have seen a meticulously crafted commercial enticing them to buy this food – not to mention the toy accompanying the purchase?”

Dr. Sass realizes that there is no easy solution to the destructive cycle this problem creates.  Instead he urges companies and organizations to create healthy foods to routinely advertise and educate. Consequently, if companies begin to produce food manufactured with healthy, good fats, low sugar, more fiber and nutrients, perhaps the public will become aware of the differences and wake up from the trance the unhealthy products and habits have created.

Ultimately the change will have to come from consumers; they have to decide if their health and weight are important and worth protecting.  Should consumers choose to spend hard-earned money on poor quality food, then the giant companies monopolizing the airwaves will continue manufacturing.  Dr. Sass encourages a change that will take longer to achieve:  Public education, awareness and better choices will lessen the demand for unhealthy food choices.  In turn, major companies will have to cater to what consumers want. 

“If we buy healthy products, that’s what they’ll make,” says Dr. Sass urging people to change their buying habits.  “Remember, what you buy ends up in your body!”

ABOUT SMART FOR LIFE^®

Smart for Life^® Cookie Diet is a comprehensive weight management approach to health and wellness which utilizes natural, hunger-controlling foods to deliver visible results. The company was started by Sasson Moulavi, M.D., on the principle of improving people’s lives by providing a quick, safe, easy and affordable means of weight control. Please visit www.smartforlife.com or call 1.877.701.SASS for more information.

CONTACT:

Lisa Goodman 1-561-394-5300 ext. 202, lgoodman@smartforlife.com 

2010 Weight Management Resolutions Can Be Kept.

Smart for Life^® Cookie Diet’s Variety of Products Are Ideal Solution to Keeping that Nagging Resolution.

December 31, 2009 – Boca Raton, FL – With the right weight loss tools, consumers will be able to keep their 2010 resolutions focused on losing and maintaining a healthy weight.  Dr. Sasson Moulavi, M.D. recommends the Smart for Life^® Cookie Diet for successfully achieving and maintaining an ideal weight.

“Patients always ask me "How can I make this year’s resolution stick?” Dr. Sass comments.  “I remind them that by eating our Smart for Life^® delicious foods as small, multiple meals throughout the day, enjoying a healthy, low fat dinner in the evening, and common sense behavior modification, this goal is certainly achievable!”

Each year 40-45% of adults make a resolution.  Research shows that 75% make it past the first week and 46% make it past 6 months (Source:  http://www.articlesbase.com/business-ideas-articles/what-are-some-statistics-on-new-years-resolutions-1489107.html). The Smart for Life^® team of experts are gearing up for a boost to those willing to commit to achieving these goals.  The company offers support group calls twice weekly as well as one-on-one support in participating centers in the U.S. and Canada.

“The Smart for Life^® Cookie Diet program provides a convenient, easy-to-follow, healthy way to lose weight and gain your health,” says Dr. Sass.  “Our Smart Foods are made with all natural ingredients, without preservatives and provide appetite suppression without any toxins, caffeine or drugs.  This enables clients to reach their weight loss goals more often than not.”

Typically, those following the Smart for Life^® Cookie Diet program will lose weight quickly, stay motivated and see the health benefits (e.g. lower cholesterol) in a matter of weeks.  The affordable program is available online at www.smartforlife.com, as well as other affiliate retailers.   

ABOUT SMART FOR LIFE^®

Smart for Life^® Cookie Diet is a comprehensive weight management approach to health and wellness which utilizes natural, hunger-controlling foods to deliver visible results. The company was started by Sasson Moulavi, M.D., “Dr. Sass,” on the principle of improving people’s lives by providing a quick, safe, easy and affordable means of weight control. Smart for Life’s e-commerce program provides an accessible weight-loss management program to consumers across the country.  In addition, the over 30 weight-loss centers each staffed with a medical doctor and provide in-person counsel to consumers supporting the e-commerce program as well as the medical program.  Over the past 7 years, Smart for Life^® has helped hundreds of thousands of people lose millions of pounds - improving their health, appearance and happiness. Please visit www.smartforlife.com or call 1.877.701.SASS for more information.

CONTACT:

Lisa Goodman 1-561-394-5300 ext. 202, lgoodman@smartforlife.com 

THIN ADVENTURE^™ Presents the First Children’s Do-It-Yourself Weight Loss Program.

Launching in January, New Program Is a ‘Win-Win’ for Children and Families.

December 28, 2009 – Boca Raton, FL – With many American children now overweight and obese, Smart for Life’s new THIN ADVENTURE^™ Children’s Weight Loss Program introduces an affordable 30-day weight loss program designed for children between the ages of 6 and 14.  It will be available at http://www.smartforlife.com and other affiliated retailers.

The program was designed by Dr. Sasson Moulavi (Dr. Sass), a bariatric physician with over 20 years experience. “The program took a long time to develop because we wanted to prepare healthy foods that will be accepted by kids as a tastier and cooler alternative to the junk food they are eating now.”

The program consists of a variety of choices including cupcakes, cookies, cereals, soups, shakes, hot chocolate and more. These are not the typical snacks parents think of when trying to feed children healthy foods.  Instead, they are higher in protein and fiber and lower in sugar and fats.  Because of the unique food technology and all natural ingredients, THIN ADVENTURE^™ products taste great while suppressing the appetite without drugs or stimulants longer than regular food.

In addition to THIN ADVENTURE^™ products, the program includes fresh foods from the recommended USDA Food Groups in age-appropriate servings.  Children will eat lean protein, fruits, and vegetables, and drink milk along with their nutrition packed THIN ADVENTURE^™ foods. 

To encourage and motivate kids to continue on their journey, THIN ADVENTURE^™ has created an interactive children’s website packed with information, nutrition-related games, recipes and much more. 

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the Department of Health and Human Services continue to urge food companies to develop products that are more nutritious as well as to review and revise their marketing practices.  According to the Center for Disease Control (CDC), 16% of American children – over 9 million – are obese.  THIN ADVENTURE^TM has stood up to the challenge with tools to aid in combating obesity in the U.S and Canada.

Smart for Life’s THIN ADVENTURE^™ is certain to make an impact on the Obesity Epidemic for both children and adults with this innovative and effective healthy lifestyle program.  

ABOUT THIN ADVENTURE™

THIN ADVENTURE^™ is a healthy lifestyle program for children developed by the successful Smart for Life^® Cookie Diet.  Taking on the nationwide obesity epidemic for adults, the company followed the natural progression to fight childhood obesity with its new children’s weight loss program.  Created by Sasson Moulavi, M.D., “Dr. Sass,” THIN ADVENTURE^™ is based on the principle of improving people’s lives by providing a quick, safe, easy and affordable means of weight control.  Smart for Life’s e-commerce program provides an accessible weight-loss management program to consumers across the country.  In addition, the over 30 weight-loss centers each staffed with a medical doctor and provide in-person counsel to consumers supporting the e-commerce program as well as the medical program.  Over the past 7 years, Smart for Life^® Cookie Diet has helped hundreds of thousands of people lose millions of pounds - improving their health, appearance and happiness. Please visit www.THINADVENTURE.com or call 1.877.799.SASS for more information.

CONTACT:

Lisa Goodman 1-561-394-5300 ext. 202, lgoodman@smartforlife.com

Doctor Declares Obesity a Disease to Monitor as Seriously as Cancer.

Dr. Moulavi, M.D. States that Sacrificing Dieting During the Holidays Is Like Stopping Chemotherapy for Cancer Patients.

December 2, 2009 – Boca Raton, FL – As Americans gear up for the holiday season this month, Dr. Sasson Moulavi, a Board Certified Bariatric Physician cautions that overweight and obese patients not give in to temptation and forget their dieting.  Rather, Dr. Sass, founder of the Smart for Life^® Cookie Diet, recommends alternative behavior for a positive outcome when it is time to ring in the New Year. 

“I was asked by an overweight patient if she could stop her Smart for Life^® Cookie Diet over the holidays.  I explained that many people do not realize that being overweight or obese is a serious medical issue with serious consequences,” Dr. Sass explains. 

According to Moulavi, 40 pounds of extra fat on your body does not just sit there.  It releases toxins and creates inflammation.  It also covers your heart and blocks blood vessels that supply your brain and heart. 

“My worry is that if we don’t begin treating Obesity as a serious disease, it will become out of control and a leading killer.  An example to my point:  If someone had a cancerous tumor that could eventually kill her, would she stop chemotherapy for the holidays?  Doctors most likely would advise otherwise.  If someone stopped cancer treatment for Thanksgiving, we physicians would consider them mentally unstable and hospitalize them.  Yet so many people stop their dieting or hold off on their current program like the Smart for Life^® Cookie Diet over the holidays in order to “participate” in the festivities – which is unfortunate.”

In a country where almost 50% of the population is obese or overweight, Moulavi notices more and more Americans stopping therapy for this killer disease that causes so much suffering.  Instead, he prescribes that those affected and those with family in these categories, begin a new tradition by taking the Obesity disease more seriously.  Dr. Sass suggests thinking of fat cells as a slow growing cancer that must be treated until it is controlled.

This holiday season, Dr. Moulavi recommends that if plans focus around overeating or overindulging, the result may become gorging the fat cells which in turn will increase the size of the “tumor”.  Ultimately, the answer is to continue on the plan.  Especially do not stop your Smart for Life^® Cookie Diet.  Continue to treat the illness so many more holidays are enjoyed for years to come.

ABOUT SMART FOR LIFE

Smart for Life  cookie diet is a comprehensive weight management approach to health and wellness which utilizes natural, hunger-controlling foods to deliver visible weight loss results. Please visit www.smartforlife.com or call 1.877.701.SASS.

CONTACT:  Lisa Goodman (561) 394-5300 ext. 202

Smart for Life^® Is Number One in Diet Category on IMS

January 18, 2010 – Boca Raton, FL – For the week ending January 8, 2010, Smart for Life^® Cookie Diet ranked number one in the diet category and number 2 overall on the Infomercial Monitoring Service Listing, well ahead of Nutrisystem^®, eDiets^®, Jillian Weight Loss and Jenny Craig^®.

“The popularity of Smart for Life^®, a scientifically-based weight loss regime delivers the results the public demands.  The Smart for Life^® Cookie Diet, products are 60% organic and natural, and deliver significantly reduced costs compared to other programs,” said Dr. Sass Moulavi, M.D., Medical Director for Smart for Life^®.

Infomercial Monitoring Service ranks the 50 most frequently seen direct response television commercials that air nationally.  These rankings are provided on a weekly basis and on average over the year, Smart for Life^® Cookie Diet has been in the Top 20.    

The Smart for Life^® Cookie Diet commercial includes 3 testimonials, from clients who combined, lost over 230 pounds. It also includes the nursery rhyme re-orchestrated “Who Stole the Cookies from the Cookie Jar” with a call-to-action to visit the website or contact the toll-free phone number.

“Working closely with our team from C Media, we have continued to improve our buys and spend to rise to the top of the IMS ranking in our category. This in turn has propelled Smart for Life^® Cookie Diet to be the fastest growing weight loss company in the USA,” said Richard Kayne, COO of Smart for Life^® Cookie Diet.

ABOUT SMART FOR LIFE^®

Smart for Life^® cookie diet is a comprehensive weight management approach to health and wellness which utilizes natural, hunger-controlling foods to deliver visible results. The company was started by Sasson Moulavi, M.D., “Dr. Sass,” on the principle of improving people’s lives by providing a quick, safe, easy and affordable means of weight control. Smart for Life’s e-commerce program provides an accessible weight-loss management program to consumers across the country.  In addition, the over 30 weight-loss centers each staffed with a medical doctor and provide in-person counsel to consumers supporting the e-commerce program as well as the medical program.  Over the past 7 years, Smart for Life^® has helped hundreds of thousands of people lose millions of pounds - improving their health, appearance and happiness. Please visit www.smartforlife.com or call 1.877.701.SASS for more information.

CONTACT:

Kim Kardashian and Alonzo Mourning to be Grand Marshals in the Seminole Hard Rock Winterfest Boat Parade aboard Smart For Life^®, underWAY^TM Showboat

November 20, 2009 – Boca Raton, FL – The Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino recently announced their choice of Grand Marshals – Kim Kardashian and Alonzo Mourning who will be aboard the Smart for Life^® and underWAY^TM Showboat during the Seminole Hard Rock Winterfest Boat Parade.

Smart For Life Cookie Diet products and underWAY hunger suppressing health drinks will be served on Grand Marshal Showboat, The Grand Floridian.  Rubbing shoulders with Kim and Alonzo will be the corporate team from Seminole Hard Rock, Smart For Life, underWAY and who’s who in South Florida.

This parade entry will be following Santa Claus, hoping to curb his holiday appetite.  The Grand Marshal Showboat will lead about a hundred boats decorated with holiday flair, including lights and entries with the “That’s Entertainment” theme.  This is the 38^th boat parade and will sail down the New River as the 7^th largest one-day spectator event in the country!

Tribe councilman Max Osceola, Jr. is the Chairman of the Board of the 2009-2010 Winterfest Executive Committee.  Fort Lauderdale Mayor Jack Seiler and actor Leslie Nielsen will be parade judges.

“Smart for Life Cookie Diet has been helping people get healthier for years.  It’s our way of giving back to the community.  It’s all for a good cause,” said Dr. Sass Moulavi, founder of Smart For Life.

“This will be a great occasion for our affiliated company, Better Health Beverage, to provide an opportunity for people to taste our underWAY beverage.  Currently our sales and market studies have been off the charts.  underWAY provides up to a third of your daily fiber requirements without sodium, caffeine or sugar and is all naturally flavored with only 10 calories per serving.  We at Better Health Beverage LLC, the manufacturer of underWAY,  are very excited about this opportunity and intend to roll out underWAY throughout North America in 2010,” said Richard Kayne, COO of Better Health Beverage and Smart For Life.  For more information regarding underWAY, visit www.under-way.com.

ABOUT SMART FOR LIFE

Smart for Life  cookie diet is a comprehensive weight management approach to health and wellness which utilizes natural, hunger-controlling foods to deliver visible results. The company was started by Sasson Moulavi, M.D., “Dr. Sass,” on the principle of improving people’s lives by providing a quick, safe, easy and affordable means of weight control. Smart for Life’s e-commerce program is the hallmark of the business, providing an accessible weight-loss management program to consumers across the country.  In addition, over 30 weight-loss centers provide in-person counsel to consumers supporting the e-commerce program as well as the in Center program.  Please visit www.smartforlife.com or call 1.877.701.SASS.

Smart For Life™ Cookie Diet Provides Nutrients

Smart Foods Developed to Satisfy Nutritional Guidelines

October 16, 2009 – Boca Raton, FL – Certain cookie diets recently featured in the media have been criticized for lacking good nutrition and having no apparent health benefits.  Smart for Life Cookie Diet should not be grouped in this category as it is a healthy lifestyle featuring products that are all natural, 60% organic, filled with nutrients and healthful ingredients.

Smart for Life is a healthy lifestyle that has become much more than a simple cookie diet (i.e. Dr. Siegel’s Cookie Diet mentioned on Good Morning America this morning).  These cookie diets have been criticized on the GMA segment by Dr. Louis Aronne of NY Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center for lacking good nutrition and without any health benefits – not Smart for Life^TM Cookie Diet.

“I hate to be lumped in the same category as cookie diets!” exclaims Sasson Moulavi, M.D., Founder and Medical Director of Smart for Life as well as a board-certified bariatric physician.   “We have a serious lifestyle program that provides clients with 60% organic, all natural foods without preservatives and cutting-edge ingredients.  We go beyond the basic nutrients required and include many ingredients to lower cholesterol and improve health like HeroFiber^TM (a super fiber), plant sterols, Omega-3 fatty acids, inulin and much more.”

Many celebrities have been successful on the Smart for Life program, but due to HIPPA and privacy rules, the company refrains from boasting about its clients.  Instead, Smart for Life focuses on bringing variety and simplicity to consumers to lose weight and gain health.

This straight forward program enables clients to lose up to 15 lbs. a month eating 6 Smart Cookie Meal Replacements, soups, shakes, muffins, and more, in place of breakfast, lunch and any snacks.  Clients complete the day with a healthy dinner of low fat protein and vegetables.  The Lifestyle Program is effective in delivering results, as well as affordable by eliminating the need to purchase food for breakfast, lunch and any snacks.

“When I began Smart for Life™, my end goal was to improve the health and wellness of as many consumers as I possibly could,” commented Dr. Sass.  “Over the past 7 years, I’ve seen thousands of people lose the weight and keep it off!  Our Smart Products are ideal for maintaining the weight loss and promoting healthy snacking for all ages.”

The Smart for Life™ program consists of specially formulated foods made with all natural, 60 percent organic ingredients, triple filtered water and have functional FDA health claims.  The delicious Smart For Life Diet Cookies, Muffins, Shakes, Soups and more are made without preservatives and toxins, and contain the nutrients necessary for a balanced meal replacement that help consumers lose weight quickly and safely.

The company boasts its financial growth from the information it has on hand to be one of the fastest growing weight loss programs in North America.

ABOUT SMART FOR LIFE™

Smart for Life^™ cookie diet is a comprehensive weight management approach to health and wellness which utilizes natural, hunger-controlling foods to deliver visible results. The company was started by Sasson Moulavi, M.D., “Dr. Sass,” on the principle of improving people’s lives by providing a quick, safe, easy and affordable means of weight control. Smart for Life™’s e-commerce program is the hallmark of the business, providing an accessible weight-loss management program to consumers across the country.  In addition, over 30 weight-loss centers provide in-person counsel to consumers supporting the e-commerce program as well as the in Center program.  Over the past 7 years, Smart For Life™ has helped thousands of people lose thousands of pounds - improving their health, appearance and happiness. Please visit www.smartforlife.com or call 1.877.701.SASS for more information.

Smart For Life™ Center Opens in Ottawa

Family Loses Weight Together and Gains New Business Venture

October 15, 2009 – Ottawa, ON – Smart for Life™, the all natural weight management program, opened in Ottawa with the newest “Success Story” family running the show.  The Raimondo family began their weight loss journey on the Smart for Life^TM program and achieved great success losing a total of 235 lbs. for 6 family members.  As friends and relatives joined the program and achieved success, Anna and Gianni Raimondo envisioned an exciting business opportunity. 

“Smart for Life^TM is simple to do, very healthy and perfectly fits into our hectic lifestyles,” comments Gianni Raimondo, Ottawa Smart for Life^TM Weight Management Center owner.  “As a family, we were so impressed with Smart for Life^TM and believe in it 100%.  With my sister Anna working at a Center in Montreal, the next logical step for us was to open a center in Ottawa and help as many people as we could.”

This straight forward program enables clients to lose up to 15 lbs. a month eating 6 Smart Cookie Meal Replacements, soups, shakes, muffins, and more, in place of breakfast, lunch and any snacks.  Clients complete the day with a healthy dinner of low fat protein and vegetables.  Not only is the physician-supervised Center Program effective in delivering results, it is also affordable by eliminating the need to purchase food for breakfast, lunch and any snacks.

“When I began Smart for Life™, my end goal was to improve the health and wellness of as many consumers as I possibly could,” commented Sasson Moulavi, M.D., Founder and Medical Director of Smart for Life as well as a board-certified bariatric physician.  “I’m thrilled to have another Center in Ottawa to give more Canadians an opportunity to lose the weight and gain their health.”

The Smart for Life™ program consists of specially formulated foods made with all natural, 60 percent organic ingredients, triple filtered water and have functional FDA approved health claims.  The delicious Smart Diet Cookies, Muffins, Shakes, Soups and more are made without preservatives and toxins, and contain the nutrients necessary for a balanced meal replacement that help consumers lose weight quickly and safely.

The new Center is located at 117 Centrepoint Drive, Suite 124, Ottawa, ON  K2G 5X3 and can be reached at (613) 226-1010.

ABOUT SMART FOR LIFE™

Smart for Life^™ cookie diet is a comprehensive weight management approach to health and wellness which utilizes natural, hunger-controlling foods to deliver visible results. The company was started by Sasson Moulavi, M.D., “Dr. Sass,” on the principle of improving people’s lives by providing a quick, safe, easy and affordable means of weight control. Smart for Life™’s e-commerce program is the hallmark of the business, providing an accessible weight-loss management program to consumers across the country.  In addition, over 30 weight-loss centers provide in-person counsel to consumers supporting the e-commerce program as well as the in Center program.  Over the past 7 years, Smart For Life™ has helped thousands of people lose thousands of pounds - improving their health, appearance and happiness. Please visit www.smartforlife.com or call 1.877.701.SASS for more information.

Smart For Life™ Cookie Diet Succeeds in Maintaining Weight Loss

Brooke Webb Masten Keeps the Weight Off for 3 Years

October 23, 2009 – Boca Raton, FL – Brooke Webb Masten, featured in Smart for Life broadcast advertising, has maintained her 105 pound weight loss and reached her 3 year milestone.  She continues her success by eating Smart for Life cookies, shakes, soups and muffins as well as an exercise routine.

“Smart for Life has taught me to eat small, multiple meals in order to keep my metabolism at optimal levels,” Masten explains.  “I was a totally different person then.  Now I have gained so much – my health, a new wardrobe, and an exercise routine I never would have attempted back then.”

Smart for Life is a healthy lifestyle that has helped Masten and thousands of other clients keep the weight off and improve their health.  Whether it is to prepare for an upcoming event or vacation, or knock down a few pounds during the holidays, Smart Cookies are ideal for losing and maintaining the weight, and even healthy snacking.

“Brooke and many other clients have shown that by eating small, multiple meals coupled with regular exercise, weight maintenance is achievable with minimal effort,” states Dr. Sass (Sasson Moulavi, M.D.), Founder and Medical Director of Smart for Life as well as a board-certified bariatric physician.   “Our Smart Foods are not only for an immediate solution, but work well for long-term maintenance.  They are tools to achieve health and weight loss goals that people are always searching for.  One big problem is people gain back all the weight they lose.  Smart for Life teaches that small, multiple meals and an exercise routine will go a long way to prevent this.”

The Smart for Life™ Cookie Diet program consists of specially formulated foods made with all natural, 60 percent organic ingredients, triple filtered water and have functional FDA health claims.  The delicious Smart For Life Diet Cookies, Muffins, Shakes, Soups and more are made without preservatives and toxins, and contain the nutrients necessary for a balanced meal replacement that help consumers lose weight quickly and safely.

ABOUT SMART FOR LIFE™

Smart for Life^™ cookie diet is a comprehensive weight management approach to health and wellness which utilizes natural, hunger-controlling foods to deliver visible results. The company was started by Sasson Moulavi, M.D., “Dr. Sass,” on the principle of improving people’s lives by providing a quick, safe, easy and affordable means of weight control. Smart for Life™’s e-commerce program is the hallmark of the business, providing an accessible weight-loss management program to consumers across the country.  In addition, over 30 weight-loss centers provide in-person counsel to consumers supporting the e-commerce program as well as the in Center program.  Please visit www.smartforlife.com or call 1.877.701.SASS.

Smart For Life™ Makes Debut on BJs.com

The Exclusive Weight Management Program Available at BJ’s Wholesale Club

October 6, 2009 – Boca Raton, FL – Smart For Life™, the all natural weight management program, announces its launch today as the only weight loss program on BJ’s Wholesale Club’s e-commerce website (bjs.com).  Reaching out to a wider audience, Smart For Life™ partnered with BJ’s to provide convenience and value to BJ’s members searching for weight loss and healthy, lifestyle foods.

“When I began Smart For Life, my end goal was to improve the health and wellness of as many consumers as I possibly could,” commented Sasson Moulavi, M.D., Founder and Medical Director of Smart For Life as well as a board-certified bariatric physician, “BJs.com adds another audience to provide us the opportunity to change even more peoples’ lives and the way they approach food.”

For less than $8 per day, consumers can lose up to 15 pounds in one month – making Smart For Life™ one of the most affordable plans available.  The Smart For Life products replace the need to purchase breakfast, lunch and snacks.  For the average consumer dealing with increasingly uncertain economic times, Smart For Life™ can not only provide a means to reach weight loss goals, it can also be a cost-effective way for consumers to plan their meals while saving money. 

The Smart For Life™ program consists of specially formulated foods made with all natural, 60 percent organic ingredients, triple filtered water and have functional FDA approved health claims.  The Smart Diet Cookies, Muffins, Shakes, Soups and more are made without preservatives and toxins, and contain the nutrients necessary for a balanced meal replacement that help consumers lose weight quickly and safely.

BJ’s members will have online access to 3 packages on BJs.com:  44 Day, 28 Day and 18 day.  Each pack includes a variety of Smart Cookie Squares in 3 flavors, instructional folder, and with the 44 Day and 28 Day packs, shake and soup options are also included. 

ABOUT SMART FOR LIFE™

Smart for Life^™ cookie diet is a comprehensive weight management approach to health and wellness which utilizes natural, hunger-controlling foods to deliver visible results. The company was started by Sasson Moulavi, M.D., “Dr. Sass,” on the principle of improving people’s lives by providing a quick, safe, easy and affordable means of weight control. Smart for Life™’s e-commerce program is the hallmark of the business, providing an accessible weight-loss management program to consumers across the country.  In addition, over 30 weight-loss centers provide in-person counsel to consumers supporting the e-commerce program as well as the in Center program.  Over the past 7 years, Smart For Life™ has helped thousands of people lose thousands of pounds - improving their health, appearance and happiness. Please visit www.smartforlife.com or call 1.877.701.SASS for more information.

ABOUT BJ’S WHOLESALE CLUB

BJ’s Wholesale Club is dedicated to providing its members with high-quality, brand name merchandise at prices that are significantly lower than the prices found at supermarkets, super centers, department stores, drug stores and specialty retail stores. BJ’s offers low BJ’s Member Pricing on a huge selection of groceries, top-brand apparel and accessories, small appliances, consumer electronics, fine jewelry, and other quality merchandise.

Smart For Life™ Partnering with 4D Pharmacy

Providing 4D Members with a Healthy Weight Loss Tool.

August 24, 2009 – Boca Raton, FL – Smart for Life^TM, the company famous for its Smart for Life Cookie Diet^TM, has joined forces with 4D Pharmacy Management Systems, Inc., an independently owned prescription benefits manager servicing public and private groups nationwide with its network of more than 60,000 pharmacies.  Together, 4D Pharmacy members will have access to the Smart for Life^TM Cookies to use as a healthy meal replacement and weight loss tool.

“Smart for Life is pleased to have been chosen as the weight management company for 4D Pharmacy members,” says James A. Bartolomeo, Vice President of Business Development.  “The Smart for Life Companies provide a healthy, safe and affordable path to any one’s weight loss goals.”

The Smart for Life^TM weight loss program uses its all-natural, 60% organic meal-replacing cookies that are specially formulated to suppress hunger.  Whether clients need to lose weight to achieve better health, or simply as a healthy snack alternative, Smart Cookies are ideal for doing both with an affordable price. 

Now 4D Pharmacy members will join in the battle against obesity which also contributes to poor health and diseases like diabetes and heart disease. 4D members will have a healthy, all natural meal replacement or healthy snack alternative at their fingertips via their secure website.

ABOUT SMART FOR LIFE™

Smart for Life^™ cookie diet is a comprehensive weight management approach to health and wellness which utilizes natural, hunger-controlling foods to deliver visible results. The company was started by Sasson Moulavi, M.D., “Dr. Sass,” on the principle of improving people’s lives by providing a quick, safe, easy and affordable means of weight control. Smart for Life’s e-commerce program provides an accessible weight-loss management program to consumers across the country.  In addition, the over 30 weight-loss centers each staffed with a medical doctor and provide in-person counsel to consumers supporting the e-commerce program as well as the medical program.  Over the past 7 years, Smart For Life™ has helped hundreds of thousands of people lose millions of pounds - improving their health, appearance and happiness. Please visit www.smartforlife.com or call 1.877.701.SASS for more information.

ABOUT 4D Pharmacy Management Systems, Inc.

4D Pharmacy Management Systems, Inc. (www.4dpharmacy.com) is an independently owned prescription benefits manager servicing public and private groups nationwide with its network of more than 60,000 pharmacies. Started in 1988, the Michigan-based company provides a wide range of prescription benefits expertise including formulary development and maintenance, drug utilization review (DUR), rebate program evaluation and monitoring, clinical support and performance auditing.

CONTACT:

Lisa Goodman 1-561-394-5300 ext. 202, lgoodman@smartforlife.com

Smart For Life^TM and THINADVENTURE™ Sponsor Brandon Flowers Youth Sports Camp

Kids Hone Sports Skills and Learn About Healthy Snacking.

July 27, 2009 – Boca Raton, FL – Smart for Life^TM and ThinAdventure^TM sponsored the Brandon Flowers Youth Sports Camp on Saturday, July 11^th in Delray Beach at Plumosa Elementary School.  Kids aged 11-19 years old were given the opportunity to train with over a dozen athletes from NFL teams across the country.  Smart for Life‘s^TM THINADVENTURE^TM diet products were awarded to hard-working kids making an effort to better themselves physically, mentally and nutritionally.

“Being a part of such a spectacular event was really incredible!  Watching these athletes interact with the kids and knowing the positive influence they are bringing to these young adults is very moving,” comments Sasson Moulavi, M.D. (“Dr. Sass”).  “As we prepare to launch our new children’s healthy lifestyle program, it was just the perfect fit to share healthy snacks with the kids and educate them on nutrition.  Everyone enjoyed stopping by our booth for a taste!”

In addition to the main event, Smart for Life^TM also participated in a series of workshops during the week to educate disadvantaged children on the effects of drinking soda rather than water, eating healthy meals and snacks throughout the day, and incorporating foods from the My Pyramid Healthy Guidelines established by the USDA.

Partnering with XPE^R Sports, THINADVENTURE^TM includes an exercise program to get kids moving.  Tavarius Jackson serves as a consultant on the program and is helping to create exercises kids at all levels can use to get fit and healthy.

ABOUT SMART FOR LIFE™

Smart for Life^™ cookie diet is a comprehensive weight management approach to health and wellness which utilizes natural, hunger-controlling foods to deliver visible results. The company was started by Sasson Moulavi, M.D., “Dr. Sass,” on the principle of improving people’s lives by providing a quick, safe, easy and affordable means of weight control. Smart for Life’s e-commerce program provides an accessible weight-loss management program to consumers across the country.  In addition, the over 30 weight-loss centers each staffed with a medical doctor and provide in-person counsel to consumers supporting the e-commerce program as well as the medical program.  Over the past 7 years, Smart For Life™ has helped hundreds of thousands of people lose millions of pounds - improving their health, appearance and happiness. Please visit www.smartforlife.com or call 1.877.701.SASS for more information.

ABOUT Youth Ventures LLC

Youth Ventures LLC, which distributes ThinAdventure^TM products, was created by Sasson Moulavi, M.D. (“Dr. Sass”) on the principle of offering healthy food choices for the youth of today and ultimately impacting the obesity epidemic plaguing North America.  Its sister company Lavi Enterprises distributes Smart for Life^TM products.  Having children’s himself, he understand both as a parent and a doctor how difficult it is to get good tasting healthy food that’s quick, easy and inexpensive.

Please call 1.877.701.SASS for more information.

CONTACT:

Lisa Goodman (561) 394-5300 ext. 202, lgoodman@smartforlife.com

Smart For Life™ Featured in Woman’s World Magazine

Leora Garret of NJ Loses Weight and Gains Health.

July 14, 2009 – Boca Raton, FL – Smart for Life^TM is in the news again in the July 20, 2009 issue of Woman’s World Magazine.  In addition to being a full page article, the article is highlighted on the front cover.  The story includes a description of the Smart for Life^TM products and weight loss programs and features Smart for Life^TM client Leora Garret’s weight loss journey, where she shed 155 pounds.

Woman’s World Magazine has a readership of over 3 million and can be purchased nationwide at the checkout counter of all national major supermarket chains.

“As more and more people are reaching their weight loss goals and improving their health along the way, Smart for Life^TM has become a household name,” says Sasson Moulavi, M.D. (“Dr. Sass”).  “We couldn’t be happier with the increased exposure!”

Smart for Life^TM products are available in over 30 physician staffed centers and on line at www.smartforlife.com and via www.Costco.com.

ABOUT SMART FOR LIFE™

Smart for Life^™ cookie diet is a comprehensive weight management approach to health and wellness which utilizes natural, hunger-controlling foods to deliver visible results. The company was started by Sasson Moulavi, M.D., “Dr. Sass,” on the principle of improving people’s lives by providing a quick, safe, easy and affordable means of weight control. Smart for Life’s e-commerce program provides an accessible weight-loss management program to consumers across the country.  In addition, the over 30 weight-loss centers each staffed with a medical doctor and provide in-person counsel to consumers supporting the e-commerce program as well as the medical program.  Over the past 7 years, Smart For Life™ has helped hundreds of thousands of people lose millions of pounds - improving their health, appearance and happiness. Please visit www.smartforlife.com or call 1.877.701.SASS for more information.

CONTACT:

Lisa Goodman 1-561-394-5300 ext. 202, lgoodman@smartforlife.com

Smart For Life™ Introduces HeroFiber™ to Its Product Line

Powerful Ingredient Instrumental in Impacting Health.

July 6, 2009 – Boca Raton, FL – Smart for Life^TM, the company famous for its Smart for Life Cookie Diet^TM, has successfully introduced HeroFiber^TM into its products.  HeroFiber^TM is a blend of fibers including ForteFiber^TM (Made by The Dow Chemical Company) and has been proven to reduce insulin, glucose and cholesterol levels in healthy individuals.

“The clinical research I have seen for ForteFiber^TM was very impressive.  When this fiber gave comparable results to some medications, I knew we must add it to our products.  After many months of testing and development, we are happy to have succeeded!”  says Dr. Sass (Sasson Moulavi, M.D.).

HeroFiber^TM has been added to Smart for Life diet cookies, muffins and bagels. The health industry has been very critical in recent years of the food industry for over-processing food which removes fibers.  By adding these Super Fibers, Smart for Life now leads an innovative trend that is sure to increase.

“For those Americans who do not eat enough fiber, HeroFiber^TM will certainly add to the daily requirement.  The best part,” explains Dr. Sass, “is that just 1 gram of HeroFiber^TM will have the beneficial effects of ordinary fiber taken at much higher doses.”

ABOUT SMART FOR LIFE™

Smart for Life^™ cookie diet is a comprehensive weight management approach to health and wellness which utilizes natural, hunger-controlling foods to deliver visible results. The company was started by Sasson Moulavi, M.D., “Dr. Sass,” on the principle of improving people’s lives by providing a quick, safe, easy and affordable means of weight control. Smart for Life’s e-commerce program provides an accessible weight-loss management program to consumers across the country.  In addition, the over 30 weight-loss centers each staffed with a medical doctor and provide in-person counsel to consumers supporting the e-commerce program as well as the medical program.  Over the past 7 years, Smart For Life™ has helped hundreds of thousands of people lose millions of pounds - improving their health, appearance and happiness. Please visit www.smartforlife.com or call 1.877.701.SASS for more information.

CONTACT:

Lisa Goodman 1-561-394-5300 ext. 202, lgoodman@smartforlife.com

                              Smart For Life™ Impacts More Than Waistlines

The Company Is Committed to Doing Their Part for the Environment

DATE – Boca Raton, FL – Well-known for its popularity from clients across the U.S. and Canada, the Smart for Life^TM Cookie Diet is more than just a weight loss company.  It is committed to helping its clients lose weight, gain health and positively impact the environment along the way.  Celebrating Earth Day this week, Smart for Life^TM is focused on improving the environment year-round.

Founded by Dr. Sasson Moulavi, MD, a bariatric physician, Smart for Life^TM is based on his realizations of how food affects our health.

“The concept was developed while I worked as an emergency room doctor and saw the rise in heart attacks in 30 and 40 year old patients.  With this experience, I knew what had to be done,” explains Dr. Sass.  “Many other doctors and food scientist have helped to shape what Smart for Life^TM has become. I believe we have created a revolutionary way for people to eat.”

Smart For Life^TM recognizes that food should be free of chemicals such as pesticides and preservatives, and produces its food with triple-filtered water and pesticide-free Organic ingredients.  The equipment used in the Wellington, FL bakery and research facility is cleaned with eco-friendly products.

Smart For Life^TM also makes a concerted effort to protect the precious and damaged earth from further injury. To that end, the company uses boxes made from sustainable forests for packaging and minimal plastic inside to minimize landfill waste.  In addition, suppliers are often chosen based on their location in order to decrease fossil fuel waste.

In order to truly compete with the wide variety of unhealthy fast food and quick preparation meals available to the public, Smart for Life^TM realizes its food must be tastier, healthier and just as easy to make while keeping the cost the same. Smart For Life^TM is able to achieve this by instructing clients to eat their 60% organic Smart Food 6 times a day on the program at an affordable cost of under $10 a day.

Page 2/Smart for Life

Smart For Life^TM believes that food is medicine; that’s why many of its products include natural ingredients that have proven health benefits including reducing cholesterol, increase bone health, improving intestinal health and maintaining good sugar and insulin levels in normal individuals.  While losing weight by eating the variety of Smart Foods from Smart Cookies to Smart Soups, Muffins, Shakes and more, clients will also gain health along the way.

Run by a very innovative team of Doctors, Bakers and Food Scientists, the company always welcomes valuable input from its clients.  Its entrepreneurial spirit pushes the Smart for Life^TM Team to think outside the box to create delicious, health-filled foods people can eat on the revolutionary Smart For Life^TM program while doing its part to protect Mother Earth.

ABOUT SMART FOR LIFE™

Smart for Life^™ cookie diet is a comprehensive weight management approach to health and wellness which utilizes natural, hunger-controlling foods to deliver visible results. The company was started by Sasson Moulavi, M.D., “Dr. Sass,” on the principle of improving people’s lives by providing a quick, safe, easy and affordable means of weight control. Smart for Life’s e-commerce program is the hallmark of the business, providing an accessible weight-loss management program to consumers across the country.  In addition, the over 30 weight-loss centers provide in-person counsel to consumers supporting the e-commerce program as well as the medical program.  Over the past 7 years, Smart For Life™ has helped hundreds of thousands of people lose hundreds of thousands of pounds - improving their health, appearance and happiness. Please visit www.smartforlife.com or call 1.877.701.SASS for more information.

CONTACT:

Lisa Goodman 1-561-394-5300 ext. 202, lgoodman@smartforlife.com

From the Los Angeles Times

Cookie-diet cookies get a taste test

Reviewed: Dr. Siegal's Cookie Diet, Hollywood Cookie Diet, Smart For Life, Soypal Cookie Diet cookies

By Karen Ravn
January 19, 2009

Putting them to the taste test

Tempted to try a cookie diet? You have several to choose from, all designed to replace one -- or, more likely, two -- meals a day with cookies. Still, these aren't exactly cookie-cutter plans. Here are some vital statistics on each, plus comments on texture and taste from a panel of four unbiased cookie-loving consumers during an unscientific test of the cookie-eating experience. One caveat: None of our panelists was overweight and eagerly searching for a new diet to try.

 

SMART FOR LIFE

Daily plan: Instead of breakfast and lunch, eat six cookies and then have a balanced dinner. It's recommended to eat one cookie every two to three hours. With 60% of the ingredients organic, the cookies contain omega-3 fatty acids and no preservatives. A patent is pending on the company's blend of amino acids, fiber and complex sugars intended to curb hunger.

Flavors: chocolate chip, piña colada, Boca banana, Maine blueberry, cinnamon oatmeal raisin, garden pizza.

Nutrition: Per one 34-gram cookie: 105 calories, 1.5 grams of dietary fiber, 5 grams of protein and 2.5 grams of fat.

Comments: Texture: "Spongy." "More sponge-like than spongy." "Rubbery really." "Not rubbery, slightly crumbly."

Taste of nonchocolate chip cookies: "Sort of a chemical taste." "The taste isn't good, and it stays with you."

Taste of chocolate chip cookies: "This actually has real chocolate chips, or real-enough-for-me chocolate chips, and some sweet." "Pretty good."

 

DR. SIEGAL'S COOKIE DIET

Daily plan: Instead of breakfast and lunch, eat six cookies and then have a reasonable dinner. The cookies contain a secret blend of amino acids that are supposed to curb hunger.

Flavors: oatmeal raisin, chocolate, blueberry, banana and coconut.

Nutrition: Per one 24-gram cookie: 90 calories, 2 grams of dietary fiber, 5 grams of protein and 2.5 grams of fat.

Comments: Texture: "Moist and spongy." "Sort of like a scouring pad."

Taste of nonchocolate cookies: "No flavor whatsoever." "Sawdust comes to mind."

Taste of chocolate cookies: "This actually smells chocolaty." "I like this one."

HOLLYWOOD COOKIE DIET

Daily plan: Instead of breakfast and lunch, eat four cookies and then have a sensible dinner. It's recommended to space out the cookies -- breakfast, midmorning snack, lunch, mid afternoon snack. Suggestions for dinner recipes are given.

Flavors: chocolate chip, lemon, oatmeal raisin, variety pack.

Nutrition: Per one 40-gram cookie: 150 calories, 3 grams of dietary fiber, 5 grams of protein and 4.5 grams of fat.

Comments: Texture: "Chewy." "This has the texture of a Fig Newton."

Taste of chocolate chip cookies (the only ones provided for the test): "I like this best." "This could pass for a regular cookie!" "Hands down, this has the most flavor." "It's quite chocolaty. Nonetheless, it doesn't taste good."

SOYPAL COOKIE DIET

Daily plan: Replace one meal -- preferably your highest-calorie meal -- with a packet of seven cookies. Made in Japan, the cookies are hard-baked and contain no preservatives.

Flavors: original, sesame, chocolate.

Nutrition: Per one serving of seven cookies: 33 grams total: 150 calories, 6 grams of dietary fiber, 4 grams of protein and 4 grams of fat.

Texture: "Crisp." "Like a cracker."

Taste of nonchocolate cookies: "My overall impression is a total lack of flavor." "This tastes exactly like Zweiback, and I love Zweiback."

Taste of chocolate cookies: "I'm so grateful for the chocolate, albeit so faint." "This tastes like a chocolate Zweiback."

From the Los Angeles Times

The science behind those cookie diets

Research is sketchy, but protein and fiber in cookies might help curb appetites.

By Karen Ravn
January 19, 2009

Some diets just sound like they ought to work: the spinach diet, the grapefruit diet, the cabbage soup diet.

But the cookie diet? Not so much.

It would be sweet if they did, of course. Observes Judith Stern, obesity expert and professor of nutrition at UC Davis: "Wouldn't everybody like to go on a cookie diet?"

While scientific studies of cookie diets are notably lacking, research does offer limited support for some of their claims.

Proteins

Several promoters of cookie diets say their protein content helps to curb hunger, and two -- Smart for Life and Dr. Siegal's -- chalk this up, at least partly, to the particular amino acids they contain. A number of studies imply that this claim could be true. It has been shown that proteins can help suppress appetite and lead to weight loss, and that in some cases proteins can be more effective than either carbohydrates or fat in reducing the number of calories eaten at the next meal.

The exact mechanics of how proteins have these effects aren't always known. But proteins are formed by chains of amino acids, and some research suggests that certain amino acids may be involved. For instance, a 2006 study in the journal Science found that an amino acid called leucine, which is in meats, grains, nuts and cottage cheese, can have a dramatic effect in reducing appetite and consequent weight gain. Rats that received high doses of leucine ate about 83% as much food over the next day as those who didn't. And if they had fasted for 24 hours, those who received the leucine gained only a third as much weight back the next day as those who hadn't.

The leucine study is far from definitive with respect to cookie diets though. For one thing, it's not even known if leucine is contained in either Smart for Life or Dr. Siegal's cookies, because the companies do not make their amino acid formulas public. Besides, the rats had their leucine injected directly into their brains, near the hypothalamus, the center that regulates hunger and its satisfaction. They didn't just scarf it down in, say, an oatmeal-raisin confection.
Fiber

With some cookie diets, it's claimed their fiber content helps to curb hunger, and a good deal of research has shown that this is feasible. A 2001 article in the journal Nutrition Reviews summed up the results of studies to date on the effects of fiber on hunger. The authors found that when calorie consumption stays constant, eating more fiber makes people feel more satisfied after a meal and less hungry later. Also, when people can eat as much as they want, they eat 10% fewer calories and lose 4.2 pounds over about four months if they eat an extra 14 grams of fiber per day. And these effects are greater in people who are overweight than those who are not.

Still, none of these studies prove anything about cookie diets. There is no official recommended daily amount for fiber, but a number of health organizations recommend from 20 to 35 grams a day. The amount of fiber a person gets per day from cookie-diet cookies ranges from 6 grams a day to 12. Of course, cookie dieters should be eating fewer calories a day than most people, and they should be getting additional fiber in the one or two other meals they eat.

Small meals

Broad support also exists for the notion that small frequent meals can stifle hunger pangs more effectively than the standard big three. For example, two studies in 1999, one with obese men and one with non-obese men, found that such downsized dining took a large bite out of appetites. In both studies, the men were fed the same amount of food either in one big breakfast or divided into five small ones eaten at hourly intervals. Afterward, for lunch, they could have however much food they wanted. In both cases, the men who ate the big breakfast consumed 27% more calories than the men who ate the five small meals. Surprisingly, this difference was not reflected in hunger ratings.

When men ate the single big breakfast, their blood insulin levels spiked and then fell. Insulin levels rose for frequent eaters too, but not nearly so sharply, and they never dropped as low either.

One purpose insulin serves is to "open" cells and let in blood sugar to provide fuel. This lowers blood sugar levels, and that makes you hungry. But in the brain, insulin actually acts to curb appetite. Ideally, this would make you eat just the right amount, but it's easy for the balance to get out of kilter -- in the direction of eating too much. Many nutrition experts believe that the spiking and falling of insulin levels contribute to things running amok and that a steadier state of insulin levels keeps things in line.

Others believe just the opposite. They argue that frequent smaller meals lead to frequent releases of smaller amounts of insulin, and those in turn lead to frequent releases of leptin, a hormone thought to send messages to the brain that the body is full. This means the leptin is hanging around almost all the time, which might sound like a good thing, but unfortunately, the theory goes, it's not. The leptin receptors get so used to it that they no longer feel inspired to tell the brain to tell the mouth to stop eating.

That view would seem to support the rather maverick-y position Dr. Eric R. Braverman takes in his book "Younger You: Unlock the Hidden Power of Your Brain to Look and Feel 15 Years Younger." He says frequent small meals aren't all they're cracked up to be and recommends "eating large breakfasts and dinners with little else in between."

A middle course might be best, says Susan B. Roberts, a professor of nutrition at Tufts University and a leading nutrition researcher. Three meals and up to two snacks a day are a good routine for dieters, she says, and the routine part is actually important. "If you eat at regular times, your body learns not to expect food at other times," she writes in her book "The Instinct Diet."

Related research

Although there's a dearth of cookie-diet research, a 2004 study asked 108 participants to rate their hunger and stomach fullness after eating a meal-replacement bar designed for overweight people. Hunger ratings remained significantly below a previously established baseline for five hours, while fullness ratings remained significantly above the baseline.

The authors compared these results to an earlier study finding similar changes for liquid meal replacements, but only for three hours. They noted that the bar had 30 more calories than the liquid but believed that the increased hunger-suppression time was more related to the difference between solids versus liquids.

The bar in their study had 250 calories, with 4 grams of dietary fiber, 14 grams of protein and 8 grams of fat. In terms of nutrient content per calorie, cookie-diet cookies don't have an extremely different profile for the most part. But in absolute terms, the differences in nutrient content between the bar and the cookies may be significant. For instance, the cookies have just 4 or 5 grams of protein, instead of 14.

Besides, the difference in calorie content itself is major -- with the bar providing two-thirds more than even the highest-calorie cookies, Soypal and Hollywood Cookies. (For Soypal, that's for a packet of seven cookies meant to be eaten as one meal.)

So the bar had a big advantage over all the cookies to the extent that hunger satisfaction is related to calorie consumption.

And -- alas -- that's one theory no one really doubts.

From the Los Angeles Times

The cookie diet

Trade meals for cookies, and lose weight -- it's a dieter's fantasy.

The lesson here is portion control. But will results stick?

By Karen Ravn

4:38 PM PST, January 16, 2009

So you ate a few more cookies over the holidays than you should have, and now you're weighing in at a few more pounds than you'd like. What to do?

Perhaps you should eat more cookies.

Purveyors of several all-the-rage "cookie diets" say you can lose as much as 15 pounds a month on their programs, and they boast of a sizable batch of already sized-down cookie dieters -- reportedly including Jennifer Hudson, Mandy Moore, Howard Stern, Kelly Clarkson and former Madonna husband Guy Ritchie.

But before visions of sugar cookies (or rum balls, pfeffernuesse, gingerbread men . . .) start dancing in your head, be warned: On a cookie diet, you can't eat just any cookies. You have to eat special cookie-diet cookies.

These cookies have been the toast of fan magazines and TV talk shows; on Friday, the granddaddy of them all -- Dr. Siegal's Cookie Diet -- is opening its first full-fledged store in Beverly Hills.

"That's where all our customers are," says Dr. Sanford Siegal, who invented the original cookie diet more than 30 years ago. "That's why it's there, for their convenience."

The basic notion of these diets -- Smart for Life, Hollywood Cookie and Soypal, as well as Dr. Siegal's -- is to replace one or two meals a day with cookies that are much lower in calories than the meals would have been. Although the regimens vary, they are often very low-calorie diets designed to lead to rapid weight loss.

Because all the cookies are standardized in size and calorie content -- and dieters are usually told how many to eat and when -- the diets eliminate the problem of out-sized portions, generally considered a major culprit in weight gain.

James Pacella of Boston adhered to the Smart for Life diet for seven months, and the 23-year-old engineer for Procter & Gamble, lost about a third of himself -- scaling down to 225 pounds from 335.

He thought the cookie diet was as easy as pie. "It's hard to explain," he says, "because it just happened . . . I can't say enough about it. I really believe in it."

But others think the whole concept is nuttier than a fruitcake.

"It's a classic fad diet," says Judith Stern, a UC Davis nutrition professor and diet expert who co-directs the Collaborative Obesity Research Evaluation Team, an international board that reviews published obesity papers. "If it weren't serious, I would just laugh. But people spend money on these things."

Diet's origins

In 1975, Siegal was an obesity doctor in South Florida, and his goal in devising the first cookie diet was to make his patients' poundage plummet. He believed patients did best when their results were fast and obvious. "You go to the doctor's office and see the weight coming off every week," he says. "That's a tremendous motivating factor."

Siegal settled on 800 calories a day as the optimum number for weight loss. And he came up with a plan in which dieters got those 800 calories by eating his cookies for breakfast and lunch and then lean meat and vegetables for dinner.

He says it's safe, under supervision -- "I've never seen a problem with too low a calorie diet. Staying obese, that's the danger." And he says it's very effective: "No one fails on 800 calories a day, believe me."

The trick with any diet is sticking to it, and proponents say cookie diets are highly stick-to-it-able. After all, cookies are convenient, portable and, hey, they're cookies.

But the main reason people manage to stay on the diets, manufacturers believe, is because the cookies keep them from getting ravenous.

Hunger suppression is crucial, Siegal says. "Any diet will work if people can follow it, but they can't follow it if they're too hungry."

It's no problem to curb hunger by eating a lot of calories. It's a lot harder if you get only 800 calories a day (or even a few hundred more as some plans allow). Manufacturers say cookie diets pull this off by using special ingredients -- including certain amino acids and soy byproducts -- or by prescribing small, frequent meals instead of three big ones, or by doing both.

A secret blend of amino acids -- known only to him and his wife -- is supposed to do the trick in Dr. Siegal's Cookie Diet. Dr. Sasson Moulavi, founder and medical director of Smart for Life, says a patent is pending on his appetite-suppressing blend of amino acids, fiber and complex sugars. And Larry Turner, president of the Hollywood Cookie Diet, says the protein and fiber in his cookies make them so satisfying that people often don't even eat as many as the diet allows.

Taking a very different tack, Soypal Cookies -- said to be the most popular diet in their native Japan -- are designed simply and literally to fill you up. Their crucial ingredient is okara, the soy pulp left after soybeans are processed into soy milk and tofu. Dieters are instructed to drink plenty of liquids with the cookies because, according to Winnie Shepardson, customer service support representative for Soypal, "When okara absorbs water, it expands two to three times its original size."

Some of the diets also rely on the notion that it's not just what you eat, but when you eat that matters. "Primitive man used to eat small meals many times a day -- find some berries here, go on, find some more there," says Moulavi, who recommends that dieters eat one of his cookies every two to three hours. "The intestine was designed for small meals throughout the day."

Turner, of the Hollywood Cookie Diet, believes cookie dieters can learn valuable eating habits. "We're teaching people to maintain calorie balance and portion control," he says.

Pacella says that happened for him. "It empowered me to learn how to portion out my day to have smaller meals," he says. "Now I can stay on the same schedule, but instead of cookies, I make smart choices, like fruit." After dieting for seven months, starting last February, Pacella has maintained his weight loss the past four months and is still using the cookies.

The facts

Nutrition experts agree that very low-calorie cookie diets, when used as directed, can make the weight evaporate. But they say research has shown that most people won't stick with a very low-calorie diet for very long.

"People go on a rapid weight loss diet and find they get tired of it and then go back to eating the way they did before," says James Hill, director of the Center for Human Nutrition at the University of Colorado Denver, nationally known for its research on obesity prevention and treatment. "The key . . . is finding a way to eat and exercise that you can do forever."

Hill also doubts that cookie diets give most people any useful practice in portion control. They're too low in calories, he says. That is, over the long term, it's unrealistic to expect people to control their portions that much.

"It is not a portion-control message, but rather a quick-fix message, that comes from these diets," Hill says.

And how do the cookies taste? Four unbiased (albeit nondieting) cookie-lovers performed an unscientific taste test of four brands of diet cookies: Dr. Siegal's Cookie Diet, Hollywood Cookie Diet, Smart for Life and Soypal Cookie Diet. None of the cookies won raves, but some were deemed not bad. Comments ranged from "Sawdust comes to mind" and "Sort of a chemical taste" to "Pretty good" and "This could pass for a regular cookie!" (See related online story for the complete taste test results.)

Cookie diet inventors have tried their products out in various settings -- on friends or patients, in diet clinics, etc. And they experimented till they were satisfied the cookies lived up to their claims.

But no one has conducted -- let alone published -- any randomized controlled trials to test these claims in a valid way. (See related story.) That's the kind of evidence scientists such as Hill and Stern crave -- to prove whether cookie diets really are a recipe for success or just another half-baked diet scheme.

Let's face it. You promised yourself you would be good over the holidays (so did we) and somehow, it just backfired. And now, you realize you have that wedding dress to fit into. Take it easy. Have a cookie. Or six.

The Smart For Life weight loss program is one of the most manageable and easy diets we have tried in a long time. Here's the deal. You eat six of their scientifically formulated cookies ( with organic ingredients!) as meal replacements throughout the day and hae a sensible dinner at night. You can do it yourself by ordering them online, or go to one of their weight loss centers weekly. Either way, you lose up to 3-4 pounds a week. Seriously.

Across America Teenage Boys Are Encouraged to Engage in Extreme Eating So They Can Become Giants on the Field. But This Behavior Comes at a Price—Especially When They Stop Playing
By AMY ELISA KEITH
People Magazine
November 10, 2008 Vol. 70 No. 19

Like many kids who grow up in rough urban neighborhoods, Lysander Amado spent his childhood looking for a way out. But it wasn't until age 14, when the 5'7" freshman hit 190 lbs., that he found it. Showing up for football tryouts at Somerville High School outside Boston, Amado walked into the locker room and caused a stir. "The coaches saw me," he recalls, "and said, 'Oh—you look big!'"

There was just one problem: Amado—who saw football as his ticket to a college scholarship—wasn't quite big enough. Never mind that according to the government's body-mass index (BMI) he was already overweight. Today the average NFL lineman is nearly 30 lbs. heavier than 20 years ago. And as this bigger-is-better mentality has trickled down to youth leagues, the average lineman in a top high school program now weighs in at a hefty 232 lbs.—with coaches and parents encouraging teenage boys to engage in extreme eating so they can adapt to this new body standard (see box).

Across the country, weekly "carbfests"—enormous buffet dinners piled high with seemingly unlimited quantities of fried chicken, pasta and mashed potatoes—have become commonplace for teams before game day. "If you see it, eat it," was one coach's mantra at Monrovia High outside of Los Angeles, says former player Brian Salazar, while James Pacella, who starred at Longmeadow High in Longmeadow, Mass., recalls participating in frequent burger-eating contests with his fellow linemen. "It was very animal kingdom," he says, describing the scene. "We took pride in being big guys."

Over the past year or so, however, obesity researchers and doctors have begun sounding the alarm about this practice of overfeeding high school football players. In January '07 a study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) that looked at more than 3,600 high school linemen found that 45 percent were overweight (only 16 percent of the national teen population is overweight). Another 9 percent had "adult severe obesity," a condition rarely seen in teens and one that places them—at the age of 18 or younger—at high risk for developing high blood pressure and diabetes.

And those risks grow even higher once these teen athletes stop playing. "It's alarming; we see these guys become sedentary after high school but still eating the same foods," says Dr. Tom Peterson, a childhood obesity expert. "And then because they're so big, it's very difficult for them to stay active." Adds Joe Vilaine, Amado's former coach at Somerville High: "Being big is encouraged, because you need that weight on the field. But we as coaches don't look at the ramifications of gaining 70 lbs. in four years on the health of a teenager."

If they did, the picture would not be a pretty one. Take Amado, who says he followed his coaches' advice that he "get bigger" by downing two steak-and-cheese sandwiches for lunch and adding a pre-practice snack of either three slices of pizza or a couple of burgers and fries. His high-calorie eating plan paid off in one respect: By the start of his senior year, Amado stood 5'11" and weighed 265 lbs.—a 75-lb. gain in only three years. "I told him, 'That's a lot of weight,'" recalls Amado's father, Greg, who works as a hospital attendant at Boston Medical Center. "He said, 'Dad, I know—but it's for football.' I didn't see it as a problem."

It quickly became one: After colleges failed to recruit Amado, he stopped playing and packed on another 20 lbs. His doctor recently told him he is at risk for diabetes. "I'm only 21," he says, "so that scares me."

Pacella, too, faced health problems from the weight he gained to play football. At Longmeadow High, "feeling that we needed to be bigger was an unspoken code," he says, and thanks in large part to those burger-eating contests, by the end of his senior year in 2003, the 6-ft. Pacella weighed in at 300 lbs.—100 lbs. heavier than when he was a freshman. "Weight never really came up," he says. "If you could move, the coaches didn't care."

But weight started to matter a lot after Pacella hung up his shoulder pads while a student at Cambridge's Massachusetts Institute of Technology. "I went from being muscular to being fat," he says. At a routine doctor's visit in November 2007, Pacella, who by then had gained another 35 lbs. from inactivity, learned that he was at risk for high blood pressure. "My doctor told me I had to lose weight," says Pacella, 23, who has since shed 110 lbs. on the Smart for Life diet plan. "I thought I was going to die by the age of 50."

Roger Shultz says that the poor eating habits he learned as a football star at the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa stayed with him for so long that it's part of the reason why he ended up on the fifth season of NBC's weight-loss reality show Biggest Loser. "There aren't a lot of sports where you have to put on weight," points out Shultz, who estimates that to gain weight in high school he typically ate about 12,000 calories a day. "Not with basketball or soccer, but with football you have to."

Now a motivational speaker, Shultz, 41, is talking to the NCAA about providing information to college players about keeping the weight off when football is finished. "I was with some guys I played with, and we talked about how we'd eat snacks at 10 o'clock at night, like a large pizza," Shultz says. "You think 300 lbs. is a sign of strength—but you're just fat."

In fact, many high school coaches insist their players can be healthy even when their BMIs classify them as overweight or obese. Over at top-ranked Long Beach Polytechnic High School in Long Beach, Calif., Coach Raul Lara says that his linemen "usually are already big guys. We try to train them to be quick and agile." Take his star player Tyller Robinson who at 6'4" and 305 lbs. has a BMI of 37. That puts the high school senior in the high end of the obesity range—but Lara doesn't see a problem. "He's the most athletic offensive lineman we've had in a very long time—which tells you that the kid is not fat, he's just a big kid," Lara says. "In fact, we think that he should put on more weight."

Experts like Dr. Peterson dismiss that attitude: "Putting on weight is seen as a positive," he says, "when really it's [just] fat." And with that degree of fat comes health risks ranging from sleep apnea to high cholesterol to early-onset diabetes. John "Big Boo" Eatman was already obese as a 5'5" lineman at Dorsey High School in L.A., where he tipped the scales at 300 lbs. as a senior. But in the three years since graduation, he has packed on another 75 lbs. and suffers from chronic asthma so severe that his mother wanted him to undergo gastric-bypass surgery to slim down.

Trouble is, his doctor thinks the 21-year-old is too unfit for any surgery. "To have Boo sit next to me and hear him breathing like that—it's really scary," says Eatman's mother, Terri Gaines, 43, a homemaker. Explains Dr. Kelly Laurson, the head researcher for the JAMA study on high school linemen: "At the levels of BMI we're talking about, there's an important impact on quality of life."

Amado knows that firsthand. In a desperate attempt to try and regain his health, he is, ironically, back to playing football. "The sport keeps me big," he admits, "but it also keeps me in the gym"—something he found difficult to do without game day as incentive. "I thought I would just lose the weight, but it wasn't that easy," says Amado, who's a senior at Becker College. "I tried to work out, but cutting my food was difficult."

So difficult in fact that Amado is seriously thinking about enrolling in Army boot camp, viewing it as his last best chance to shed the pounds. "If I lose the weight, I'll be a new person," says Amado, who dreams of getting down to 200 lbs. "I could start over."

Lose Weight and Save on Gas

SEPTEMBER 9, 2008,

Boca Raton, FL - Smart For Life™, the all natural weight management program, is challenging 50,000 people to use their smarts and lose 20 pounds by the end of 2008. Smart For Life is meeting this challenge “pound per mile” with an accompanying offer that could earn consumers up to $300 in free gasoline in a year. If the challenge is met, consumers will be contributing to reducing gas consumption by $500,0001 and taking one million pounds off the road.

“Our philosophy at Smart For Life is to help people lead a healthier lifestyle everyday – and that means, not only losing weight and learning to eat right, but also being considerate of the environment we live in,” stated Dr. Sasson Moulavi, Founder and Medical Director of Smart For Life™ as well as a board-certified bariatric physician.

About Smart For Life’s Challenge In order to take advantage of this opportunity, consumers simply have to sign up for Smart for Life™’s 5-week lifestyle changing program either online or in one of the participating centers. Once enrolled, consumers are eligible to participate in a gas rebate program, which offers savings on gas of up to $300 a year. The five week program (at a cost of $279) includes high-quality, all natural, 60 percent organic food.

“We’ve worked hard to ensure that all of the ingredients that make up our Smart Products are of the highest-quality and are 60 percent organic,” stated Dr. Sass. “In order to eat like this each day, consumers would be spending much more time and money to assemble the all-natural ingredients, triple filtered water and preservative free meals that we provide.”

ABOUT SMART FOR LIFE™

Smart For Lifei's a comprehensive weight management approach to health and wellness which utilizes natural, hunger-controlling foods to deliver visible results. The company was started by Sasson Moulavi, M.D., “Dr. Sass,” on the principle of improving people’s lives by providing a quick, safe, easy and affordable means of weight control. Since Smart For Life's creation in 2002, the company has grown from 2 to 48 centers in , each with a dedicated physician. Over the past 6 years, the program has helped hundreds of people lose millions of pounds - improving their health, appearance and happiness. To sign up go to www.SmartforLife.com or call 1.866.821.THIN.

Smart for Life™ Programs Further Demonstrates Commitment to High Standards

September 16, 2008 – Boca Raton, FL – The weight management program, Smart For Life™ Eat Cookies. Lose Weight. It’s that Simple™, received the highest level of kosher certification, Orthodox Union (OU) certified for its at-home Smart Products. The Smart for Life™ Weight Management Centers, the medical cookies, maintain its Kosher Diary certification. The “U” enclosed in a circle printed on Smart for Life™ Eat Cookies. Lose Weight. It’s that Simple™ packaging indicates the company’s production facilities have been reviewed by a mashgiach, a supervisor from one of the oldest Orthodox Jewish organizations in the U.S., and has been deemed compliant with halacha, Jewish Law.

The combined Smart for Life™ companies sought the highest level of kosher certification to make the program accessible to people strictly following Jewish dietary laws. The United States is home to one of the largest Jewish populations in the world with a total of 5.3 million self-identifying Jewish citizens. Smart for Life™ companies’ kosher efforts illustrates its commitment to creating weight management programs that are accessible to a variety of religions and cultures, and produced with the highest standards possible.

Dr. Sasson Moulavi, Founder and Medical Director of the Smart For Life™ programs as well as a board-certified bariatric physician, commented, “The Smart for Life™ companies continue in its commitment to create the most natural weight management program. The food is all natural, 60% organic, Kosher, contains only triple filtered water and has no toxins or preservatives.”

Smart For Life™ Eat Cookies. Lose Weight. It’s that Simple™ is one of few OU Kosher certified diets available to consumers, with a higher kosher rating than both Weight Watchers and Jenny Craig. Diet plans with kosher certification ensure the highest level of quality assurance and alleviate consumer concerns around health and safety of the products. Smart For Life™ Eat Cookies. Lose Weight. It’s that Simple.™ has the highest rating among other cookie diets.

ABOUT SMART FOR LIFE™

The Smart For Life™ programs utilize a comprehensive weight management approach to health and wellness which uses natural, hunger-controlling foods to deliver visible results. The companies were started by Sasson Moulavi, M.D., “Dr. Sass,” on the principle of improving people’s lives by providing a quick, safe, easy and affordable means of weight control. Since Smart For Life™ Weight Management Centers creation in 2002, the company has grown from 2 to 46 centers in North America, each with a dedicated physician. Due to the success of the program, the company has increased its offerings to include an at-home program, Smart for Life ™ Eat Cookies. Lose Weight. It's That Simple™

July 24, 2008 – Boca Raton, FL - Smart For Life™, the all natural weight management program, announced today the opening of a new office next to the family practice office of Dr. Howard Shapiro, author and medical professional for over thirty years. The office will be located on next to Madison Avenue.

Dr. Howard Shapiro is the author of NY Times bestseller “Dr. Shapiro’s Picture Perfect Weight Loss: The Visual Program for Permanent Weight Loss” as well as “Dr. Shapiro’s Picture Perfect Weight Loss 20 Day Plan” and “Dr. Shapiro’s Picture Perfect Weight Loss Cookbook” and “Dr. Shapiro’s Picture Perfect Weight Loss Shopper’s Guide: Supermarket Choices for Permanent Weight Loss.” In 1998, he created a weight-loss program for the New York City Police Department. Following the success of the program, Dr. Shapiro was asked to develop an additional program for the New York City Fire Department in which participants lost between 22-45 pounds.

“Smart For Life is an easy and convenient way of eating the foods I recommend,” stated Dr. Shapiro. “The fact that the program is 60 percent organic is an added benefit to the weight loss results.”

Smart For Life has two programs for individuals to choose from: a Medically Supervised Program and a Home Program. Each program features the use of unique Smart Products. The hunger-controlling foods work as a natural appetite suppressant and include Smart Cookie Squares, muffins, shakes, soups and desserts. The Smart Cookie Squares, available in six flavors, are made with all natural, 60 percent organic ingredients which are scientifically formulated to be a perfect balance of fiber, protein and amino acids - absolutely no drugs or toxic preservatives are included. Eaten six times a day with a sensible dinner, participants lose approximately 10-15 pounds a month. Regardless of what program consumers choose, they receive ongoing support and information from either the center or online/phone sessions.

Dr. Sasson Moulavi, Medical Director of Smart for Life™ Weight Management Centers, stated, “I have always found Dr. Shapiro’s books to be excellent and a great resource for people aiming to lose weight.”

ABOUT SMART FOR LIFE™

Smart For Life is a comprehensive weight management approach to health and wellness which utilizes natural, hunger-controlling foods to deliver visible results. The company was started by Sasson Moulavi, M.D., “Dr. Sass,” on the principle of improving people’s lives by providing a quick, safe, easy and affordable means of weight control. Since Smart For Life's creation in 2002, the company has grown from 2 to 48 centers in North America, each with a dedicated physician. Over the past 6 years, the program has helped hundreds of thousands of people lose millions of pounds - improving their health, appearance and happiness. Please visit www.smartforlife.com for more information.

BOCA RATON, FL (July 7, 2008) – In keeping with the Smart for Life commitment to the environment, all boxes and bags used throughout the company will be environmentally friendly starting this summer.

By August 1, recyclable small and large shopping bags and mini Rx bags will be available on the web cart. These will replace our current plastic bags. Made with Kraft paper with our logo in white, these shopping bags will be used and re-used by clients. Remember that they will also serve as a brand builder to get the Smart for Life name out there.

Another change you will notice is that the new product boxes are going to have the Sustained Forestry Initiative (SFI) logo and certification stamp! This symbol represents that we are buying our boxes from a source that only uses SFI certified paper when manufacturing our corrugated products. The SFI symbol is awarded to companies that meet their environmental standards: 100% replanting and managing forests in a way that ensures abundant, healthy, diverse forests in the future, long-term protection of wildlife, their habitat, and threatened and endangered species, water quality, plants and soil. Eventually, the boxes will have a logo displaying the Smart for Life, Smart for the World messaging.

As you know, people care about protecting the environment and they want the companies and brands they do business with to care also. Please join us in our commitment to the environment and doing our part for generations to come.

MAY 8, 2008 – Smart for Life™ Weight Management announced today it has entered into an exclusive strategic sponsorship with Indy Health & Fitness of Indianapolis, IN, a mobile on-site provider of health-related services to IndyCar Series events worldwide. Smart for Life will offer a wide variety of services to the participants and followers of the IndyCar Series through the 2009 season.

Contracted with the Indy Racing League, the Indianapolis-based sanctioning body for the Indycar Series and Firestone Indy Lights Series, Indy Health & Fitness is a full service unit that travels to each IndyCar Series event providing drivers and support crews with a state-of-the-art strength and conditioning facility, physical and massage therapy as well as a chiropractic office. Sasson Moulavi, Chief Medical Director of Smart for Life™, stated, “This sponsorship provides an ideal opportunity for Smart for Life™, as health and overall wellness are at the center of the program’s core philosophy. Indy drivers are fast and so is weight loss with Smart for Life™. It’s a great way for fans to get slim and healthy just like the drivers”.

IndyCar Series drivers are considered some of the leanest, fittest and best conditioned athletes in professional sports as a whole and remaining at optimum driving weight is key to their continued success, on the track and off. It goes without saying that these world-class athletes don’t trust just anybody with their equipment or with their health and Smart for Life™ has proven itself to be not only a great weight loss vehicle but an ideal way to keep the weight off. Dr. Rob Schroeder, president and founder of Indy Health and Fitness states “Smart for Life is a natural extension of the values and services that we provide to the IndyCar Series teams and drivers. We are always looking for healthy ways to stay fit and maintain peak performance for our athletes and clients.” Throughout the season, Smart for Life™ will have the opportunity to get its brand presence in front of millions of viewers, in home and at events, allowing the company introductions into markets it previously had little to no exposure to.

ABOUT SMART FOR LIFE™ – Today, Smart for Life™ is ideally positioned to become a household name – and the weight management program of choice. They have helped thousands of people to lose weight quickly, safely and affordably through the use of their proprietary all natural Smart products. Clients can choose the convenience of the online program or visit any one of our 42 locations. With today’s high-pressured, fast-paced lifestyles, the online approach is an ideal way to undertake the program. Perfect for the self-starter, one receives the resources and support of the “in-center” experience but on a timeframe that works for them. For even more personalized, one-on-one support, dieters can take advantage of our medical center program.

Strictly adhering to American Society of Bariatric Physicians (ASBP) Guidelines, the skilled physicians and staff of each Center guide patients through the life-transforming weight loss experience quickly, safely, inexpensively – and all without hunger. Our Smart Cookies and foods are all natural and made with 60% organic ingredients and provide maximum appetite suppression. The cookies are manufactured in two locations: AIB-certified Harlan Bakeries, one of the largest privately held baked good manufacturers in the U.S. and a South Florida operation. For more information, please visit: www.SmartForLife.com.

Hungry for growth, bagel maker tiptoes into healthy food segment

Sam Stall Special to IBJ

INDIANAPOLIS, IN (MAY 5, 2008) - Since its founding 17 years ago, Indianapolis-based Harlan Bakeries LLC has built its reputation, and its fortune, on making bagels. Untold millions of bagels. The four production lines at the company's flagship Avon facility, where 600 of the firm's 1,800 employees work, churn out everything from full-sized bagels to mini-bagels to partially cooked bagels to raw bagel dough. Those legions of savory rings are used to supply grocery store chain bakeries, private-label brands (including numerous Einstein Bros. stores), and fulfill contract manufacturing arrangements for clients worldwide.

Considering the number of conventional treats Harlan turns out, it might be easy to overlook the company's newest project: producing a non-medical "diet cookie" for Boca Raton, Fla.-based Smart For Life Weight Management Centers. Yet the work could be a key step in the firm's drive to diversify out of the well-worn traditional baked goods category into the less familiar (but potentially highly profitable) "good for you" niche. "Strategically, this is a channel that we want to grow in," said Dennis Daniels, chief operating officer of Harlan Bakeries. "It's a relatively fast-growing channel. And in a grain-based business, fast growing is not something you hear very often."

Not that bagels haven't been very, very good to the company. The firm began in August 1991 as a lone retail establishment run by brothers Hugh and Doug Harlan and their father, Hal. Their timing was impeccable, because they opened their doors just as the craze for bagels took off. "In Indianapolis at the time, I used to try to explain bagels to people, and they'd say, 'Do you mean beagle?'" recalled Executive Vice President Doug H. Harlan. "We started with a focus on bagels, but we didn't call the company Harlan Bagels because we always knew we wanted to get into other products."

And so they did. Bagels were popular, but selling them retail soon became a competitive nightmare. Though the company still offers a handful of grocery store products (including Harlan Giant Gourmet Bagels), it phased out most such efforts to concentrate on the more profitable wholesale baking niche. The firm grew by baking products for a range of clients, from groceries to restaurant chains like Steak n Shake. Harlan now ranks among the largest privately held baking firms in the country. Robust profits allowed the firm to attract financing for expansion without going public-a situation that won't change anytime soon. "

At this point in time, we like having it as a private company," Doug Harlan said. "I think there are certain times when you may need that, but at this point we don't."

A series of acquisitions transformed it from a simple bagel baker (albeit a large one) into a multifaceted producer offering everything from cream pies to angel food cake. The company has production facilities scattered across the country from Hope, Ark., to Denver. Harlan declined to reveal revenue, though Snack Food & Wholesale Bakery, a trade magazine, estimates it topped $300 million last year.

"We've diversified so that we can be more stable as economic times change and different trends come and go," Harlan said. "There are lots of trends out there. Some last a long time and others go away rather quickly."

Healthy growth

Diet cookies could be their first step into the dieting and healthy eating niche-a market segment Harlan values at $60 billion a year.

"Getting a small percentage of that offers some very large potential," he said. "I think that's what we're looking at and what we're excited about."

The cookies are sold in packages of six, all of them packed in nitrogen to avoid the use of conventional preservatives. The Smart For Life company is all about avoiding preservatives. Each cookie contains 105 calories, with one package (a day's worth) designed to substitute for breakfast, lunch and snacks.

"You feel like you're eating 300 to 400 calories [per cookie]," said Smart For Life's medical director, Dr. Sasson Moulavi. "The reason we've been able to do this is because of the unique amino acid combinations we use in the cookies, which is patent-pending."

All those trace elements also make it a much bigger headache to manufacture than the typical poppy seed bagel or coconut cream pie. Which is part of the reason Harlan got the job. "It's a very complicated project," Moulavi said. "We had six or seven vendors look at it, and they had no idea even where to start. The Harlans were the only ones who actually sent one of their experts down here to spend a couple of days with us. They invested in some pretty sophisticated equipment in order to get the bakery ready to produce the product."

Harlan currently makes three of the six cookie flavors (chocolate chip, oatmeal raisin and Maine blueberry) and will make all six as soon as production is up to speed. The packs, available at the Smart for Life's 42 diet centers (none of which is in Indiana) and online, cost about $8 each. "That replaces your breakfast, lunch, and snacks, so it's actually more economical than what most people spend in one day on breakfast and lunch," Moulavi maintained. "Plus, it's 60 percent organic. I don't have to tell you how expensive organic food is." Bagels are king.

It may be expensive, but it's also one of the hottest categories in baking right now-and one of the reasons Harlan is interested in exploring the niche. Not that it will dethrone the company's bagel business anytime soon. The cookies roll off the Avon assembly line to the tune of about 100,000 a day-an impressive number, until one considers that the same plant churns out about 250,000 dozen bagels a day.

"That's 3 million versus 100,000," Daniels said.

However the category, variously called the "good for you" or "healthy eating" niche, could get a lot bigger. It's been gaining traction since the carb-eschewing Atkins Diet craze fizzled, an episode bakers remember with the same horror that Londoners recall the Blitz.

"It's kind of like the Atkins Diet gave birth to the nutritional whole grains movement," said Dan Malovany, editor of Snack Food & Wholesale Bakery magazine. "I think now people are thinking, instead of taking something out of the product, maybe if they added something to it, they might get some benefits. Even if they're eating a cookie."

Perhaps not surprisingly, this isn't Harlan's first foray into the health market. During the Atkins' heyday, it rolled out a low-carb bagel, a stumble that didn't discourage the company from trying again.

"Our overall business strategy is to grow into the weight loss category and the better-for-you category," Daniels said.

While skyrocketing commodities prices have played havoc with Harlan's costs, the slowing economy hasn't affected sales for its bagel and pie lines one bit. Daniels said slowdowns never do.

"Recessions for most kinds of pantry staple companies [are] a good thing," he said. "When the dollars start tightening up, people tend to eat out less. People tend to spend less money on the higher ticket items, like a new LCD TV. But they will still spend money on groceries." That includes healthful foods-as long as they don't taste that way. "The worst thing we can say at our office about a new product is, 'Wow, this tastes healthy,'" Malovany said. "It shouldn't. It should taste delicious and have some health benefits."

NEW YORK, NY (April 21, 2008) – Madonna was recently interviewed by Johnjay, KISS-FM 104.7 Arizona radio personality, and mentioned that her husband, writer/director Guy Ritchie, had been on a cookie diet. Although the Today Show and other media are reporting Ritchie was on a cookie diet, Madonna never specified the diet her husband was actually using.

But are these diets just fads or is there medical benefit? Johnjay, who was on the Smart for Life cookie diet program and lost over 85 pounds, swears by Smart for Life’s cookie diet program (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ApZVbxNiDmI). He was attracted to the Smart for Life cookie diet program because the cookies are 60 percent organic and contain all-natural ingredients, setting these meal replacements apart from other cookie weight loss products in the marketplace today.

“Smart for Life is a medically-supervised program, for real, that makes all the difference,” says Johnjay. “You take off weight; you learn healthy eating habits.”

More and more, stars have admitted to using cookie diets. Counting Crows lead singer Adam Duritz recently announced on the “Howard Stern Show” that Smart for Life’s cookie diet, a doctor-monitored diet regimen helped him shed sixty pounds.

Unlike other fad diets, Smart for Life’s cookies do not contain preservatives and instead consist of organic fruits, vegetables and dairy products. The Smart for Life Cookie Diet (www.TheCookieDiet.com) has two programs to fit clients’ needs for safe and effective weight loss: A 1200 calorie per day Self-Help program supported by the 42 Smart for Life Centers nationwide; and the 800-calorie per day Medically Supervised program that is strictly dispensed by these 42 Smart for Life Centers.

“The real problem is that dieters hear ‘cookie diet’ and think that they’re all the same,” says Smart for Life founder Dr. Sass (Dr. Sasson Moulavi, M.D.). “People using Smart for Life’s cookie diet (www.TheCookieDiet.com) are legitimately trying to lose weight; they aren’t just jumping on the bandwagon. This is a proven system. And in my opinion, our cookies are delicious!”

About Smart for Life™

With 42 clinics in North America, each with a physician dedicated to patients, Smart for Life™ is poised to become a household name. The Smart for Life™ program uses the American Society of Bariatric Physicians (ASBP) Guidelines. The ASBP is a 50-year old organization teaching physicians the fundamentals of weight loss.

The dedicated physicians and staff in each Center will guide you through our life-transforming experience quickly, safely, easily and inexpensively – all without hunger. You receive one-on-one physician support throughout your weight loss program, utilizing our proven and highly successful, natural, hunger-controlling foods. These include the Smart Cookie squares, muffins, soups, shakes and desserts. The cookies are manufactured in two locations that are both AIB certified: Harlan Bakeries, one of the largest privately held baked good manufacturers in the U.S. and a small South Florida operation. We are not just a do-it-yourself diet with a gimmick, but rather, a national chain of serious, professional, medically supervised Weight Loss Centers. For more information, please visit: www.TheCookieDiet.com or www.SmartForLife.com

It’s not just about one day, it’s how you make a difference every day! In celebration of Earth Day, let me share some of the environmental choices Smart for Life is proud to make on a daily basis.

Plastic wraps and bottles, like all forms of plastic, create significant environmental and economic burdens. They consume growing amounts of energy and other natural resources thereby destroying the environment. Plastic products create litter, hurt marine life, and threaten life on Earth. We are producing over 25 million tons of plastics per year; a trivial fraction of which is recycled.

Plastic packaging does not decompose, straining landfills. When burned, it emits harmful chemicals. In October, became the first jurisdiction to ban use of foam packaging by fast-food restaurants. We need more of this legislature passed.

Many weight loss companies use large amounts of plastics to wrap and ship their products. At Smart for Life, our goal is to reduce this waste. When you use our Smart Products, you will use up to 50 times less plastic then if you ate Nutrisystem or Jenny Craig foods. Your cookies are packed for one day and wrapped in one light re-sealable pack. Our wrapping per Smart Cookie meal is about 2 gm. Many other companies wrap per meal and exceed 50 gm. Quite a difference!

We all know that drinking water has many health and weight loss benefits. But instead of drinking from plastic bottles, drink your water from a glass or reusable container. If you choose to use a plastic bottle, use it multiple times by filling with filtered tap water. Always drink at least 64 ounces of water with your Smart Cookies for optimal weight loss.

At Smart for Life Weight Management Centers, you’ll become thin and healthy. Plus, you’ll help to save our Earth.

Get Cookie Thin, and Recycle!

Dr. Sass

AVON, IN (March 6, 2008) — Harlan Bakeries, one of the largest privately held baked goods manufacturers in the U.S., announced today that it has been selected to manufacture the new non-medical cookie line recently introduced by Smart for Life™ Weight Management Centers. Smart for Life offers a weight loss program based on all-natural meal-replacing cookies that are specially formulated to suppress hunger.

Harlan will produce three flavors of the new Smart for Life Diet Cookies. Manufacturing will take place at Harlan’s Georgetown Road production facility in Indianapolis.

The all-natural 60% organic cookies, available in Chocolate Chip, Oatmeal Raisin and Maine Blueberry flavors, contain a blend of protein, fiber and amino acids that help naturally suppress a consumer’s appetite. Each six-cookie package provides a one-day supply intended to replace and eliminate the need for breakfast, lunch and snacks with just 105 calories per cookie.

“Smart for Life has developed an innovative product that will have broad appeal to the millions of consumers who need to lose weight. They expect strong demand for the product, and so do we,” said Doug H. Harlan, Executive Vice President, Harlan Bakeries. “This agreement is a validation of our capabilities, an important expansion of our contract business, and a diversification into the weight loss space with strong potential for growth.”

About Harlan Bakeries

Harlan Bakeries, LLC, founded in 1991, is an international wholesale supplier and distributor of products for in-store bakeries and private label baked goods, and manufacturer of Harlan Bigger Better Bagelsâ and Harlan Giant Gourmet Bagelsâ brands. Harlan supplies customers with bagels, pies (meringue, crème, fruit and specialty), cakes, cookies, muffins, granola and breads. In addition, Harlan is a contract manufacturer for some of the most well-known and trusted names in the baking and food service industries. Harlan operates seven facilities comprising more than 1,000,000 square feet of production, warehousing and distribution space, including its production facility and corporate office in Avon, Ind. Other production facilities are located in Indianapolis, Ind.; Effingham, Ill.; Denver, Colo.; Hope, Ark.; Wichita, Kan.; and Kentville, Nova Scotia, Canada.

BOCA RATON, FL – (February, 2008) – Smart for For Life™, the Weight Management Centers, today announced it has hired SS|PR, a top 20 U.S. independent public relations firm, to handle its system wide media relations. SS|PR, with offices in seven cities, will generate coverage for the fast-growing company at both the national and local levels.

Founded in 1978 and based in Chicago, SS|PR has served hundreds of clients over its history. The company’s uniquely targeted approach, combined with its extensive media relationships, has made it successful at creating high-level exposure in broadcast, print, and online outlets. In addition to its franchise industry clients, SS|PR specializes in PR for the high-tech, consumer goods, food, financial and healthcare firms industries.

“SS|PR is a seasoned and savvy PR firm with proven success in our field. It also became clear to us, as we reviewed different PR firms, that SS|PR could clearly communicate the goals and direction which make Smart For Life™ totally unique,” said Dr. Sasson Moulavi, spokesperson for Smart for Life. “Working closely with SS|PR, we intend to aggressively broaden the awareness of our Medical and Non-Medical weight loss programs.

“Smart for Life™ is an ideal brand from a PR perspective—it’s unique, healthy, and is based on an all natural meal replacement.” said Steve Simon, CEO.

“ About Smart for Life™

Smart for Life™ Weight Management Centers, offer a Medical and Non-Medical weight loss programs based on all-natural meal-replacing replacement cookies that are specially formulated to suppress hunger naturally. These programs are based on eating six Smart Cookies a day plus a low fat, high protein dinner like chicken and vegetables. For more information, please visit www.smartforlife.com.

Boca Raton, FL, January 30, 2007 - Smart for Life™ Weight Management Centers warns parents against giving high-sugar energy drinks to children as these supercharged drinks are adding extra pounds to the continually growing obesity rate among children and adolescents in the United States.

Dr. Sasson Moulavi, Chief Medical Director of the Boca Raton based weight loss company explains, the number of overweight children coming to our centers continue to grow. When I review the child's current diet, I am finding an alarming trend - energy drinks. Not only are these drinks loaded with extra caffeine, which is not healthy for children, but also packed with empty calories.

With more than 500 different drinks on the market, the 3.4 billion dollar energy drink industry is willing and able to target young people with a barrage of marketing messages which includes using these drinks as a weight loss tool. This message can be misleading as just two cans can contain as much as 14 teaspoons of sugar.

In addition to gaining excess pounds, continual use of these drinks can lead to other health issues such as diabetes. Dr. Moulavi warns that parents, teachers and public officials should be aware of this growing, and very dangerous trend among our young people. Many current and future health related issues can be avoided if we teach our children to make healthy choices now, such as reaching for bottled water.

Smart for Life™ Weight Management Centers specialize in medically supervised weight loss programs and has 32 locations throughout the United States and Canada. The Smart for Life™ Weight Management program helps clients make positive changes in their lives by helping them reach and maintain their weight loss goals.

BOCA RATON, FL (July 30, 2007) – After 8 years of heart-wrenching attempts, Laurie and Steve Brasner are now expecting their first child due to Smart for Life™ Weight Management Center’s thorough exam and treatment by its on-staff physician.

In October 2006, the Brasners received a wake-up call as they watched Laurie’s brother being rushed into surgery for a triple coronary bypass operation. Only 39 years old, her brother was mildly overweight with no signs of heart disease. While visiting the hospital, Steve thought, “We must do something about our weight; we love life and family too much to jeopardize our health.” With approximately 200 pounds to lose between them, Steve and Laurie realized that to get to their optimal health and weight, Smart for Life™ in was their best option.

The couple felt confident and comfortable on the program under Dr. Naveed Shafi’s supervision. On their first visit to the center, Laurie and Steve received a complete medical evaluation including a physical exam, EKG, body mass composition analysis, and comprehensive lab work to assess metabolic and health status.

“We always perform a complete and thorough exam to ensure the safety of our patients and to assess any metabolic factors that may affect the weight loss process. If present, we treat the metabolic abnormalities as the patient loses weight to maximize the effectiveness of the diet. Our evaluation includes assessment of cholesterol, triglycerides, thyroid function, electrolytes, liver enzymes, and kidney functions,” said Dr. Shafi.

And that was the case for Laurie who had an undiagnosed thyroid condition affecting her health. For years, Steve and Laurie tried and were unable to conceive a baby. It is well known in medicine that obesity alone or in combination with thyroid abnormalities can affect fertility. “By identifying and correcting Mrs. Brasner’s thyroid condition, her weight loss efforts became much more effective, and most likely the combination of the two contributed significantly to their successful pregnancy,” said Dr. Shafi.

Starting the program the next day, the Brasners were amazed at how easy it was to follow, and were impressed by the constant attention from the Center staff.

“I liked the way the diet gave me a structured, manageable routine to follow that worked well with my personal and hectic business schedule. I had no problem dining out and loved the way I could take my Smart for Life™ Cookies with me everywhere without worrying about finding a refrigerator or microwave,” raves Steve.

The revolutionary Smart for Life™ Weight Management Program is a science-based program for safe, rapid weight loss. The delicious, proprietary cookies suppress hunger without drugs, and are baked with natural, organic ingredients. The one-on-one physician supervised weight-loss program empowers clients with the knowledge, guidance, and motivation they need to lose weight. The experienced staff monitors and encourages the client’s progress until the goal weight is achieved, and then follows the client on a long term maintenance plan. Smart for Life™ physicians address metabolic and health-related problems such as diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and under-active thyroid. The combination of smart foods and professional supervision enables the Smart for Life™ client to safely and quickly lose 12 to 15 pounds every month.*

Steve’s confidence grew over the months as he shocked friends and family with his own dramatic transformation. According to Mr. Brasner, Smart for Life™ has really changed his life. “I am now active and healthy; two words that could never describe me just 6 months ago. I’m in the life insurance business, and am embarrassed to say, I could not qualify for life insurance last year. Today, I am considered a preferred risk.”

Laurie adds, “Once my thyroid condition was treated at the Smart for Life™ Center, I was able to lose 70 pounds and qualify for In Vitro Fertilization (IVF) treatments. Now we are expecting our first child in January. Thank you Smart for Life™ for changing our lives.”

About Smart for Life™ Weight Management Centers: Smart for Life™ Weight Management Centers, with corporate headquarters in Boca Raton, Florida, is an international company with 36 locations in and an additional 15 slated to open in 2007. The company has helped hundreds of thousands of people make positive changes in their lives by helping them reach and maintain their weight loss goals.

* Results may vary.

MARPLE — Jack Lawler of Drexel Hill was used to being the heavy guy. As a fourth grader, he played on the football team filled with eighth graders because of his size. At 220 pounds, he learned to live with pained knees, borderline blood pressure and the inability to run. Then, he started to eat cookies. Lots of them. And, he shaved more than 60 pounds, having gone past his original goal. “I know,” he said. “It’s hard to believe".

But, his snack of choice isn’t any old cookie. It’s the treat being offered by the Smart for Life™ Weight Management Center, which just opened its first Delaware County location at 1974 Sproul Road.

“It’s basically a blend of amino acids, protein and fiber,” Dr. Allan Magaziner, the Cherry Hill, N.J., doctor and Philadelphia-area franchise owner, said about the cookie. He added the 2½-inch square treat is made of organic ingredients with no added sugar and no chemicals.


He was drawn to the program after seeing a friend lose a significant amount on it. Then, based in Florida, he flew down to see how it worked.

There, he was inspired to open his first office in Cherry Hill two and a half years ago. Magaziner described what he liked about it: “safe, effective, healthy, changing behavior, medically supervised, moderately priced, with a track record.”

Clients come to the center and are administered a physical exam by a doctor, an EKG and a body composition analysis. Vitamins and medications are administered, if needed.

Then, clients meet weekly with a nurse and meet with a support group once a month, although there are also long distance programs. They can also meet with a doctor as often as they like. The initial cost of the program is $250 and there is a $100 monthly fee. The cookies cost $6 per day. The medical support is integral to the program’s success. “There’s a lot more to it,” Magaziner said. “It’s not just about the cookie.” He said the cookie does help to curb the appetite, but clients are encouraged to learn the difference between hunger and feeling stuffed. Lawler said his favorite is the chocolate flavored one, although there’s also “Maine Blueberry,” “Boca Banana” and “Garden Pizza.”

His inspiration came a year ago after he injured his arm and he found himself at a rehabilitation center. There, he saw himself in the mirror. “I’m looking around saying, ‘That can’t be me,’” Lawler said. After hearing about the diet on the radio, he thought he’d give it a try, planning to lose 40 pounds. He started his program Nov. 1 and by last Thursday, had lost 64 pounds, reaching his maintenance phase.

Lawler admitted there were challenging times, as when co-workers would offer him a slice of pizza or when ice cream beckoned. “Inside, you’re dying for a piece of pizza,” he said, adding, “When you see results, it’s easier to say, ‘Thank you very much, but I’ll pass.’”

Besides buying more clothes, he finds he’s more energetic and he’s more attentive to his work and his family, having abandoned the couch crashing.

“You feel better about yourself,” he said. “Other than getting married and having my kids, it’s probably the best thing I ever did.” Magaziner said he plans to add another seven stores in the Delaware Valley over the next 18 months. “My goal, number one, is to cut down on some of the illnesses that we’re seeing,” he said, adding that he wants to get people to feel optimally healthy as well.

The Smart for Life™ Weight Management Center at 1974 Sproul Road in Broomall, across from the Lawrence Park Shopping Center, is open Monday and Thursday from 8 a.m.-7 p.m., Tuesday and Wednesday from 8 a.m.-4 p.m., and Friday from 8 a.m.-noon. The phone number is (610) 359-0333. Cookies can only be purchased by program participants.

Boca Raton, FL - Innovation pays off! In its May special edition devoted to Innovation, Baking & Snack Magazine, the premier trade publication in the Baking industry named Smart For Life™ Weight Management and its supplier, Doctors Nutrition™ as innovators in both product development and packaging in the weight loss industry.

“In the crowded, competitive, weight loss industry, you have to be creative and use continual innovation to separate yourself from the competition” said Dr. Sasson Moulavi, CMO of Smart For Life™ Weight Management Centers.

One “giant step” taken by Smart for Life™ was to create broadly flavored appetite suppressing cookies using natural and organic ingredients. As an integral component in their weight management system, the company worked diligently to create healthy and socially-conscious products using all natural ingredients and no additives.

Next, in order to provide their clients a convenient way to carry the 6 cookies that must be eaten during the day as part of Smart For Life™ Weight Managements Centers' program, the company went to a new, convenient, re-sealable package unique in the U.S.

“The packaging machine, equipment and film used by our bakery operation is the first of its kind in the U.S.” said Antony Ciotti, Plant Manager for Doctors Nutrition. “There may be less costly ways of packaging our cookies; however, none that offers the notoriety and edge over our competition that will keep us in an industry leadership role”.

The article goes on to further discuss Smart For Life™ Weight Management’s explosive growth in franchises across the U.S., adding…”If you haven’t heard of Smart For Life™ Weight Management Centers yet...you will soon.”

Smart For Life™ Weight Management Centers now has 37 locations open in upscale communities across the U.S. and Canada, with ma