Award-winning team is helping residents slim down

Is losing weight one of your New Year’s resolutions? Well, residents of White River are lucky enough to have an award-winning Slender Wonder doctor in town to help. Dr Hendrik Toerien medically supervises the programme, based at Face & Body Medi Spa at Divine Junction.

Toerien received two prestigious awards at the 2014 Slender Wonder national conference. One was for best Slender Wonder company in South Africa for 2014, and the second for being the only Slender Wonder company in the country which increased turnover each month. He was also recognised for achieving the highest percentage growth for the year (2013/14).

This is the second time Toerien has received the award for top doctor running the weight-loss programme. He competes against 300 others across the country. Some of the medical practices in the big cities have anything up to six doctors in a unit. Not bad for a one-doctor show operating in a small town.

Toerien has been involved with the programme for over 25 years and, flipping through the photo album of before-and-after photos, the success stories speak for themselves. He accredits part of their success to the fact that many of his patients are from Mozambique. He employs a Portuguese-speaking interpreter specifically for them.

So what is the secret to success of this weight-loss programme? “A lot of diets don’t have a maintenance plan or they are not sustainable. On our programme, once you have stabilised your weight, you can be on it forever. The maintenance plan is easily adapted to your lifestyle,” says Toerien. “I’d also like to pay tribute to my team. They are committed to the programme and dedicated to helping my patients succeed.”

Enquiries: 013-750-1406.