VLCC (Vandana Luthra's Curls and Curves), a slimming and beauty network catering to both women and men, which has branches all over India, functions with the corporate motto of `Look Good, Feel Wonderful'. Deploying the world class formulae of "Scientific Body Solutions", incorporated from Germany, VLCC guarantees loss of weight of up to five kilograms a month.

The no crash-diet weight loss technique with zero side-effects, which VLCC propounds, is the healthiest way to lose weight, according to Luthra. The VLCC technique is simple. It just increases the basal metabolic rate (BMR) of the body, which, in turn, eliminates cellulite and excess body fat. In the process, the body muscles are toned up, giving a trimmer and youthful look to the person, irrespective of his/her age, she says. This increase in BMR is achievedthrough the use of various machines such as the fat disintegration system, neuromuscle stimulator and body toners.

Since this is more of a thermo treatment of excess fat in the body, there are no tiring exercises or aerobics lessons involved.

VLCC, which has about 23 centres all over India currently, caters to people of all ages. ``Our motto is make people look healthier, younger and beautiful, irrespective of their age. Special care is taken with respect to people having acute medical problems such as cardiac or spinal ailments,'' says Luthra.

Beauticians and technical experts apart, each VLCC slimming centre has about a dozen specialist doctors on a visiting basis, a full-time resident doctor and a set of dieticians to look after the needs of each client, explains Luthra. ``Every client is assigned a personal instructor and a team of doctors right from the day they walk in to the centre,'' she says. ``And it is the responsibility of the instructor to ensure that the clients loses weight at the rate offive kilos per month,'' she says, revealing the secret of her success.

VLCC centres employ a four-pronged strategy. The first and foremost is technology. Each centre has seen investment worth Rs 60 lakh in procuring modern equipment for slimming and beauty treatments. Most of these machines are imported from Germany as the principle followed by the VLCC centres, "Scientific Body Solutions", is of German origin.

The second factor in the VLCC strategy is counselling. Each client is given extensive counselling with regard to his/her eating habits. Each one is given a food calorie chart with prescribed levels of intake. It is up to the client to draw up a menu for himself/herself depending on this prescription. This gives the client a lot of freedom and motivates him/her to restrict calorie intake and stick to calorie limits.

The third strategic factor is activity. The client is encouraged to undertake simple activities such as short walks before dinner and in between work to enhance his/her BMR. Activityis not any hard-core exercise, but just an extension of the regular chores, says Luthra.

Another important aspect of the VLCC centres is the life-long support that they render. Any client can walk in at anytime even after the programme is complete, seeking beauty and slimming tips. The idea of opening beauty salons along with the slimming centres was a part of this strategy. Since people make trips to beauty centres at regular intervals, this helps them to interact with their instructors on a regular basis.

With more innovative ideas such as the release of the Saffron brand of cosmetics, starting VLCC training centres called Academies of Beauty and Health, etc, in her repertoire, Vandana Luthra seems to have a single point strategy: "Making a Brand New YOU".