For those with flab

Ayurveda, beauty and slimming rolled into one: that is the Dhathri ABS Clinic at Trivandrum, Ernakulam and Kottayam. The centre has doctors, beauty therapists and dieticians to diagnose and treat health, skin and weight problems effectively.

If you walk into the clinic conscious of carrying too much flab, you will first be put through a Body Composition Analysis (BCA) test. It is a fully automated method whereby you are made to stand on the BCA machine, your height and age are punched in and out comes a neat slip denoting accurately your body mass index, your weight and among other things the number of kilos you need to shed. The slimming treatments can be classified broadly into two: weight loss programmes and spot reduction programmes.

Says , chief physiotherapist: “The weight loss programme uses muscle stimulators which enable muscle contractions that aid energy burnout from excess fat. Exercises and workouts are also prescribed, taking into account the activity levels of each individual.”

A session normally lasts for around 45 minutes to an hour and a half. It takes around seven to 10 days to lose a kilogram of fat. A programme to lose five kilograms is priced at Rs. 7,000. Spot reduction programmes concentrate on reducing fat that accumulates at a particular part of the body and for most of us it is the tummy.

Spot reduction programmes use the vacuum therapy that has a suctioning effect. A forty five-minute session priced at Rs. 1,600 could help one lose up to half an inch.
Both programmes use a mix of machines and massage treatments along with diet control. Says Geena, dietician, “Diets are all customised. We look at the normal diet of a person and modify it to make it wholesome and this is the reason a person is able to maintain the diet.” A counsellor holds sessions on diet control and also gives special attention to people with disorders such as depression. Dhathri recognises the fact that each person is unique and requires customized care. The tag line of Dhathri aptly says, “Get rid of excess weight and discover the beauty in you.” An irresistible tag line!