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Find out the best pace for weight loss.

By Justin Paprocki

Sometimes, slow and steady does win the race. In the case of weight loss, thats usually true.

According to the Mayo Clinic, a healthy decline in weight may not seem like that much; doctors typically recommend a gradual loss of 1-2 pounds per week. Thatll require patience, but in the long term, its the best pace for success. The fast and furious mentality for dropping pounds may see quicker results, but it could be setting you up for health complications down the road. It may also lead to a yo-yo diet, where the pounds tend to come off quickly but then be gained back just as fast.

Read Feel Good monthly in the magazine and Tuesdays and Thursdays online.

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The rest is here:
Don't Lose Weight Too Quickly - Gulfshore Life

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Julie, who is on TLC show My Extreme Excess Skin, also avoids sex with husband Mike

A MUM who shed nearly 13 stone after having gastric bypass surgery has told how she still hates her body because of the piles of excess skin and its driving a wedge between her and her family.

Self-confessed emotional eater Julie, from Menifee, California, once tipped the scales at 23st 9lb.

TLC UK

The mum-of-four had always been large, but her weight spiralled out of control as she struggled to shed her baby weight.

Julie has now shed12st 10lb with the help of weight loss surgery, but admits she is still unhappy with the way her body looks.

Speaking on TLC show My Extreme Excess Skin, Juliesaid she even tells her youngest child, son Jake, not to touch her because she still feels so uncomfortable with her body.

TLC UK

TLC UK

While Julie also avoids sex with husband Mike, despite him saying: Julie is the most beautiful person I know inside and out, and I just want to be affectionate with her.

Julie explains: Because of the skin, I feel like I cant be the wife that I want to be.

My husband knows that I come up with reasons to avoid intimacy until he goes to sleep.

I dont have that drive or that motivation to be intimate with my husband because I dont want him to see me naked. And that takes a toll on our relationship.

I also feel like I cant be the best mum that I want to be for my kids. I dont like it when my kids touch my skin.

My son for example, Jake, loves to rub and touch my arms and I have to shove him off and tell him no Jake dont touch mummy.

You dont ever want to tell your kids dont touch me. It just feels me with guilt.

The skin makes me feel distant from my whole family. Its a constant reminder that I was the fat girl, fat friend, fat wife, fat mum.

And as long as I have the skin, that will never change because I cant even hide it.

I just hate my body and no matter how hard I try there is no covering up this skin.

As long as its there, you can see it. And I gave up trying to hide it because I cant.

Its miserable and Ill never live the fulfilling life that I feel like I deserve. I need skin removal surgery, or Im never going to feel comfortable in my skin.

Julies is a common problem shared by many people who lose weight quickly.

Celebs including Lisa Riley and Big Brother star Josie Gibson also had operations to lose their excess skin.

TLC UK

TLC UK

Julie, who has surgery to remove her sagging skin in the TLC show, adds: "When I look in the mirror, all I can see is loose skin. It makes me feel kind of like a freak.

"Im desperate to have the skin removed because it just makes me feel really guilty and ashamed.

"I am happy that Ive lost massive amounts of weight, but Im not happy with the way that my body looks.

"I never thought that I would have this much skin after the weight loss. You get sweat underneath all of this right here, and it causes rashes.

"I try to deal with it by powdering but it doesnt matter how much you powder up, you feel unclean.

"Its just something that really holds me back because you have all this skin and you have to cover it constantly just to feel some semblance of normalcy.

"Whatever I try to hide it, its always there, its like a constant reminder of the abuse and neglect of my body."

My Extreme Excess Skin airs on Thursdays at 10pm on TLC.

Continued here:
Woman who lost almost 13 stone is left unable to hug her 4 kids because she can't stand them touching her excess skin - The Sun

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For some high school athletes, sports are all about the thrill of a win. For others, it is an extracurricular activity just to have fun.

But to Ellensburg High School senior Jake Gordon, it turned into a motivation to lose weight and get back in shape.

Gordons journey

Story continues below video

Gordon wrestled in middle school, then joined the high school wrestling team as a freshman and wrestled for a season and a half. He took a year off during his junior season to concentrate on his academics, but when he returned to the team, he was too heavy to participate in any weight class.

I started the season out weighing 330 and the highest weight class was 285, Gordon said. Ive always been known as Big Jake to my friends, but I wanted to wrestle again, so I worked my butt off.

Gordon attended practices and work-out sessions with the team, but he did not want to just watch and root on his teammates from the sidelines. He wanted to be out there, helping them win matches.

The first thing I did was go out and get a gym membership, Gordon said. I was practicing hard trying to get that weight off, but I knew I had to do more. Working out an hour and a half during practice wasnt going to cut it.

During the weight-loss process, on a match week, Gordon sat on the stationary bike and pedaled 10 miles after practice if he was close to making weight.

He also changed his eating habits by eating more salads, drinking fruit smoothies and controlling his hunger.

I just wouldnt eat lunch because I knew if I was going to go out, I was going to eat McDonalds or Taco Bell, Gordon said. Before I left the house in the morning Id eat breakfast and then go home and eat.

Another hurdle

A month and a half into the season, Gordon planned on wrestling in the Bulldogs home tournament, the Ray Westberg Invitational on Jan. 14. One hour before weigh-ins he was a single pound too heavy.

According to the Washington Interscholastic Athletic Association, high school wrestlers must not only pass the body weight portion where you must be at or under your desired weight class, but must also pass a hydration test reading from 1.000 to 1.025.

Instead of giving up, Gordon ran upstairs to the gym and jumped on the bike.

I rode 12 miles on the bike with a sweatshirt on and tightened the strings around my face, Gordon said. By the time of weigh-ins I was a half-pound under.

He lost his first-round match to Selahs Adrian Valdovinos but it was the first match in almost two years where his family and friends could watch and root him on.

I was so proud of him when he came to me and wanted to do that, said his mom, Alisha. I was actually shocked how quickly he did it, only because losing weight isnt easy.

Gordon kept off the weight and went on to finish eighth in the district tournament when he pinned Prossers Steve Garcia in 1:50.

He wanted to give up many times.

I thought a lot of times about just not showing up to practice and saying to myself, I dont need to wrestle but later in the season I realized how many people came out just to see me wrestle, Gordon said.

Now that wrestling is over, Gordon has hung up his singlet, but looks back on it as a lifestyle change. He lost 45 pounds over the course of the season and said he feels like he has much more energy.

I would have regretted it if I didnt wrestle, Gordon said. During the season and cutting all that weight was hard and I was negative about it, but now that it is over I wish the season was longer. It was awesome.

Read the original:
Ellensburg's Jake Gordon loses 45 pounds to wrestle his senior season - Daily Record-News

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Nutrisystem Inc (NASDAQ:NTRI)

Q4 2016 Earnings Conference Call

February 27, 2017 05:00 PM ET

Executives

John Mills - Managing Partner at ICR

Dawn Zier - President and CEO

Mike Monahan - CFO

Keira Krausz - Chief Marketing Officer

Analysts

Frank Camma - Sidoti & Company

Mitch Pinheiro - Wunderlich Securities

Linda Bolton-Weiser - B. Riley

Alex Fuhrman - Craig-Hallum Capital Group

Matthew Gall - Barrington

Chris Krueger - Lake Street Capital Markets

Mitch Pinheiro - Wunderlich Securities

Operator

Greetings, and welcome to the Nutrisystem Fourth Quarter and Full-Year 2016 Earnings Conference Call. At this time, all participants are in a listen-only mode. An interactive question-and-answer session will follow the formal presentation. [Operator Instructions] As a reminder, this conference is being recorded.

I would now like to turn the conference over to your host, Mr. John Mills of ICR. Thank you. You may begin.

John Mills

Thanks, Matt. Good afternoon everyone, and thank you for joining us to discuss Nutrisystems fourth quarter and full-year 2016 financial results. Today Dawn Zier, President and Chief Executive Officer, will provide an overview of the business and insight into the 2017 diet season. Mike Monahan, Chief Financial Officer, will review the fourth quarter results and provide first quarter and full-year 2017 financial guidance. And Keira Krausz, Chief Marketing Officer, will review and provide insight into the companys marketing initiatives. We will then open up the lines to take your questions. Please note, on todays call we would appreciate participants to limit themselves to two questions and rejoin the queue for any follow-up questions.

Before we begin, I would like to remind everyone that during this conference call, Nutrisystem management will make certain forward-looking statements about its outlook for 2017 and beyond that involve risk and uncertainties. Forward-looking statements are generally preceded by words such as believe, plan, intend, expect, anticipate, or similar expressions. Forward-looking statements are protected by the Safe Harbor contained in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Because forward-looking statements relate to the future, they are subject to inherent uncertainties, risk, and changes in circumstance that are difficult to predict, and many of which are outside of the companys control.

Factors that could cause actual results to differ from expectations include, but are not limited to, those factors set forth in Nutrisystems filings with the SEC. Nutrisystem is making these statements as of February 27, 2017, and assumes no obligation to publicly update or revise any of the forward-looking statements made during this call. In addition to the GAAP results, Nutrisystem will provide certain non-GAAP financial measures on this conference call. Nutrisystems earnings press release for the fourth quarter and full-year 2016 can be found under the News Release link on the Investor Relations page of the companys website at nutrisystem.com. The tables attached to the earnings release include reconciliations of the non-GAAP financial measures to the most direct comparable GAAP financial measures.

And with that, I will turn the call over to Dawn Zier.

Dawn Zier

Thank you, John, and thanks everyone who has joined. Today I'm pleased to report our third consecutive year of double digit revenue growth at 18%. We were also able to grow our earnings per share by 34% as our business continued to scale and we maintained a disciplined approach to cost management. These result exceeded our full-year revenue and earnings per share expectations. Based on our performance of the first two months of the diet season, Im pleased to share that we are on trajectory to deliver our fourth consecutive year of double digit revenue growth in 2017 led by the continuing strength of our core brand NutriSystem. We focus on several strategic areas in 2016 that just set up for success in 2017 and beyond. Let's start with product innovation. Turbo 10 resonated well with consumers in 2016 as did Uniquely Yours and our other flexible meal option. Our science based clinically supportive programs appeal to a broad set of consumers looking to safely and effectively lose weight. Lean 13 which we launched for diet season 2017 appears to be another home run resonating with new and existing customers.

Next, we had tremendous success this past year growing our shakes and a-la-carte sale. Our shakes are an important component of our program and are also available as an ala carte option. With now many customers adding ala carte products to their program and migrating to more flexible options as they continue on their weight loss journey. We expect continued growth of these products offerings throughout 2017. Third, NutriSystem continues to attract new customers and win back former ones. Our advertising messages resonate and we set a high bar for efficient and successful marketing campaigns in 2016 as our media team creatively capitalized on TV viewership space, while simultaneously testing across many new digital channels. Were seeing continued breakthroughs in 2017. Keira will go into greater details in her remark. Fourth, new customer growth achieved over the past three years feeds 2017 reactivation pool. Our pools continued to grow; we are offering more options and as a result have seen revenues increase due to both volume and rate. Reacs, as we refer to them, are very profitable since the majority of marketing costs are assigned to new customers.

Turning to retail. We remain stable at Wal-Mart and made continued progress in expanding into the grocery channel. We anticipate modest growth for retail in 2017 and although retail remain a small part of our total business, we believe it provides a halo effect to our direct business and it's an attractive opportunity for us as an alternative sales channel to some products. And last but certainly not least the South Beach Diet. It's hard to believe that we just acquired the brand a little over a year ago, just the brand, and have taken it from concept development to product actualization. I'm happy to report that in January we showed strong consumer interest in the South Beach Diet. We plan to build and capitalize on this brand equity as we fine tune key levers that drive length of stay such as pricing and product configuration. As with any new product launch, optimization continued iteration is expected and we're deploying that same disciplined and methodical approach that we use our NutriSystem to South Beach. Our early read is that we expect the South Beach Diet to drive 20 to 25 million in revenue for 2017 positioning the brand for meaningful growth in 2018 and beyond as we build out customer pools and increased marketing spend.

In short, heading into 2017, we believe our core NutriSystem brand is stronger than ever and its not one thing that is working right, its many things. We expect our direct to consumer business to continue to be the major driver of growth in 2017. Furthermore as I just mentioned, the steps we took to build on our multi-brand strategy have us well positioned for addictive growth through the South Beach Diet brand and more flexible options including ala carte coupled with state of the art marketing engagement tool will continue to extend our relationship with the customer and deliver additional lifetime value.

I will now turn the call over to Mike who will walk through our 2016 financial results and discuss our first quarter and full-year 2017 guidance. After that Keira will add more color to the success were seeing this diet season and at South Beach.

Mike Monahan

Thanks Dawn, and good afternoon everyone. 2016 finished strong, revenue for the full-year 2016 increased nearly 18% to 545.5 million compared to 462.6 million last year driven by new customer growth, improved reactivation and continued improvements of the customer experience in our economic. Adjusted EBITDA and earnings per share increased 31% and 34% year over year for the full year respectively. Gross margin for the year increased 140 basis points to 52.9%. Marketing spend increased 23% further expanding our customer reach profitably. And marketing as a percentage of revenue was 27.9%. Revenue in the fourth quarter was especially strong and came in at 108.9 million, up nearly 21% year over year. We continued to benefit from increased viewership surrounding the presidential election. Adjusted EBITDA in the fourth quarter was 18.7 million with earnings per share of $0.29 representing year-over-year increases of 54% and 123% respectively. We invested 14.8 million of capital expenditures into the business during 2016 and finished the year with 33 million of cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments on hand.

During 2016, we returned 21 million of cash to shareholders through our dividend. Driven by the continued success of NutriSystem brand, we are projecting 2017 to deliver our fourth year of double-digit revenue growth. For the full-year of 2017 we are projecting revenue to be in the range of 630 to 650 million, adjusted EBITDA of 95.8 to 100.3 million and consolidated earnings per share of $1.55 to $1.65. Capital expenditures are projected to be 12 to 14 million for the full year. For the first quarter of 2017 we're projecting revenue to be in the range of 202 to 207 million, adjusted EBITDA in the range of 11.6 to 13.6 million and earnings per share of $0.14 to $0.19. We expect of course the first quarter of 2017 to be particularly strong due to favorable television viewership and timing of retail shipments. The revenue contribution for quarter as a percentage of the full year consolidated revenue should follow a similar cadence to 2016. Due to the success of Lean 13, our model assumes incremental marketing spend in the second quarter of 2017 year over year. This spent helps to drive full year profit but impacts the cadence of EPS contribution in the year pushing some of the Q2 EPS contribution into the second half of the year.

As Dawn mentioned were pleased with the launch of the South Beach Diet. For 2017, we expect the brand to drive roughly 20 to 25 million. Were excited that the customer response to our advertisements has been favorable demonstrating that demand for the brand and product is there. Through customer feedback weve recently learned that customers are experiencing some storage issues due to the freezer space constraints which is leading to delays in second shipments and some early cancellation. Unlike NutriSystem, our South Beach Diet currently has very few grab and go or non-frozen items available. To resolve this, the product development team is focused on introducing more grab and go offerings in the upcoming month. As a result, 2017 guidance factors in modest solution for the brand primarily in the first half of the year. We believe the South Beach Diet is resonating with customers and we are confident in its future growth. We are continuing to deploy marketing dollars to build brand awareness and the customer database, this will position the brand for growth and profitability in 2018. With each of our brands we are focused on and investing behind four core principals to support long-term growth. One, attract more customers, revenue from customers in their initial diet cycle were up over 18% year-over-year in 2016 primarily driven by increased customer starts, improved pricing and increases in upsell and ala carte sales. Our marketing campaigns and product improvements have been effective.

For the full-year 2017 we are projecting continued increases in new customer revenues due to increased product demand and our ability to profitability deploy marketing dollars to reach new consumers. Reactivation revenue continues to strengthen as a result of increased customer count and improved reactivation yield. We delivered nearly 33 million and 142 million of reactivation revenue in the fourth quarter and full-year 2016 respectively. For the full year this represents approximately 26% of consolidated revenue and 20% growth year-over-year. We expect reactivation revenue to continue to be doubled to be double digit growth driver in 2017. Two, improve the overall satisfaction and economic contribution of each customer. The average customer profit contribution continues to expand as we introduce new product offerings and manage our cost of goods. Revenue per customer has improved due to pricing and product enhancement. This increase was also complemented by meaningful increases in upsell rates. Gross margins on an annual basis are improving due to increases in average selling price and effective management of food and distribution costs. For the full-year 2016 gross margins increased year-over-year by 140 basis points to 52.9%. 2017 guidance assumes additional improvement in gross margins as we continue to grow revenue per customer and manage cost of goods.

Three, extend our marketing reach. Marketing expense for the fourth quarter of 2016 was 23.9 million or 22% of revenue compared to 20.3 million for the fourth quarter of 2015. Our improved customer economics continue to enable us to deploy additional marketing dollars to attract more consumers. For fiscal year 2017, our Lean 3 campaign is strong. We are projecting increased media spend in both online and offline channels as we continue to profitably expand our customer reach. In 2017, year-over-year revenue growth is projected to be largest in the first quarter as we continue to see increased viewership as a result of the presidential inauguration. We are expecting viewership to return to more normal levels for the remainder of the year. Marketing as a percentage of revenue is expected to increase year-over-year due to two drivers. One media investments to support the South Beach Diet and two, improve lifetime value of NutriSystem customers enabling us to reinvest dollars to expand our media reach while still improving our operating margins. Retail continues to be an important channel for us. In addition to product sales, we believe having a presence in both direct to consumer and retail provides improved brand awareness. The retail channel is expected to grow in 2017 and reach approximately 35 million in revenue for the full year.

Four, invest in the business to support future growth. In early Q2 2017 we will be opening our fourth frozen warehouse to support increased volumes and reduce shipping time to the end consumer. We also continue to invest in our digital platform making improvements to our websites and enhancements to our tracking tools and content site. Finally, we are focused on the South Beach Diet brand and positioning it for top and bottom line growth into 2018 and beyond. During 2016, we returned 21 million of cash to shareholders through our dividend which has been consistently in place since mid-2008. Our business model remains capital efficient enabling us to both return capital to the shareholders and invest in strategic growth initiatives to drive shareholder value. The board of directors has declared a dividend of $0.175 per share payable March 20, 2017 to stockholders of record as of March 9, 2017.

I'll now turn the call over to Keira.

Keira Krausz

Thanks Mike, 2017 if off and running. We had an exciting January with the healthy rise in customer starts, continued growth in the popularity of our Uniquely Yours program and an increase in customer engagement via our digitally delivered content and apps which in turn enabled increases in incremental sales to existing customers. We expect to grow revenues from new customers by double digits in the first quarter. In addition, our ramp up of the South Beach Diet is going well and we are pleased to have two well known differentiated brands in the weight loss space. The keys to our continued success are many, but can be grouped into two main themes. First, we embrace trends in the larger consumer environment and adjust our offerings accordingly to serve consumers better in order to help more of them lose weight and improve their health in ways that are simple, effective and easy to follow. Let me share some observations about our world and then mention quickly how we seek to meet consumer needs.

The world is increasingly complex. We keep things simple to make it easier for people to take control. People want healthier food options at an affordable price, NutriSystem and South Beach food has no artificial colors, sweeteners or flavors; most of our South Beach food is gluten and our frozen food is as fresh as home delivery gets at a price accessible for millions. There is no such thing as a one size fits all loss approach. We now have two distinct approaches NutriSystem which allows people to eat favorite foods made healthy and the South Beach Diet which makes following to low sugar, low carb, high protein light snack. Everyone uses their mobile devices 24/7, we've invested to make our sites responsive, are optimizing for every device and have apps that support our customers and keep them connective, expect everything on demand, our counseling group is the most accessible in the industry, customers can email, chat online or call us seven days a week, 17 hours per day. Buying online and home delivery are now the norm. So we have a simple shopping experience and a supply chain ready to pick and pack each customized order of hundreds of items and deliver quickly. A second theme being that underlies our success in our team. We fight hard for every next inch of progress, employ rigorous analytics on our never ending quest to uncover problem, bring forward solutions, identify the next big opportunity and better serve our customers.

With those overarching themes in mind, we've had some specific breakthroughs that are making this diet season a success. Our Lean 13 program with clinically support results is quite strong and is attracting more new customers and reactivations alike. We've been able to expand our television reach. Were on more stations, more network, more shows in more dayparts. We've expanded our digital reach. We're able to use digital channels like display, social media, email and content marketing to introduce ourselves to new consumers. Our television channel is healthy and we're growing our digital channels so that we meet consumers wherever they are. Our Uniquely Yours program which allows customers to select from over 150 frozen grab and go items continues to grow. Last January, we shared that just over 50% of our customers choose Uniquely Yours. Now that percentage has jumped to 60% and we expect that it will continue to climb. We're happy that our freshest nutritious great tasting frozen food has become such a customer favorite. Our add-ons like ala carte items and shakes which we sell primarily to existing customers also continue to expand. More people are adding them to their orders and average spend per annum order is increasing.

Engagement with our digitally delivered content and apps is way up this year. NuMi users are up to 50% in January and we had over 26 million page views in one month. We had over a 1.5 page views on the [indiscernible] content site. This level of engagement demonstrates how much are customers look to us for simple credible advice. We are building what we hope are strong and lasting relationships. These high used platforms are also on their way to generating significant revenue as we have more ways of communicating with our customers throughout their weight loss journeys which means more opportunities to offer appropriate products. In addition to having a great start to 2017 for NutriSystems Lean 13 campaigns, we are equally excited to have launched the South Beach Diet. The programs nutritional approach with the focus on lean protein, healthy flats and low sugar with groundbreaking when Dr. Agatston first introduced it and we believe it is even more relevant and on trend today. We had a solid start to acquisition in January and spend in order to build brand awareness and start testing expansion opportunities. Going forward well be disciplined and methodical about balancing our desire to grow reach with a need to achieve a profitable acquisition costs for customers.

Now that we have the basic South Beach Diet customer acquisition engine up and running, we will employ the same quick and highly iterated approach to maximizing revenue per customer as we have used with NutriSystem. As a reminder its this approach that allowed us to grow the percentage of customers taking NutriSystems highest price program option from about 30% to over 60% over the past few years. It also led to success of price increases on our basic, core and Uniquely Yours program without lowering demand and motivated NutriSystem customers to add ala carte and shakes to their program. Frankly, maximizing our RPC and customer lifetime value is where our team excels. We hypothesize that having two strong brands in the market will allow us to expand more quickly and so far we are encouraged by our ability to attract new non-NutriSystem customers with South Beach. Perhaps because of the differentiation in die tapproaches, food portfolios and branding the vast majority of South Beach customers are not on the NutriSystem database and the overlap in new leads is low. This is a good sign that our multimedia strategy should generate long-term incremental revenue and EBITDA.

The addressable market segment is large and growing and the South Beach Diet should allow us to get a larger portion of the $10 billion to $15 billion opportunity. We believe every woman and every man has the power. The power to dream of improving one's body and health, the power to take control. Our job is to help by developing simple easy to follow effective programs and to communicate with customers anywhere they are anytime they need us. We look forward to the rest of 2017 in which NutriSystem and the South Beach Diet, two great weight loss brands expand side by side.

Now Ill turn the call back over to Dawn for some closing remarks.

Dawn Zier

Thanks Keira and to everyone on the call today for your interest in NutriSystem. As we head into 2017 we believe the NutriSystem brand is as strong as ever and our multi-brand strategy is taking hold. Based on our diet season performance during the past two months, we're well on our way to achieving our fourth consecutive year of double-digit revenue growth fueled by our continued focus on our key initiatives, proven business model and analytical rigor that drives continuous improvement. As we look to the future we are operating from a position of strength having not one but two powerhouse brands to help us extend our reach to new customers and capture more of the large addressable weight loss market. Our priorities are to, one, continue to grow the NutriSystem brand in a financial meaningful way. Two, continue to build our multiband strategy making us well positioned to achieve 20 to 25 million on revenues from the South Beach Diet in 2017 positioning the brand for meaningful growth in 2018 and beyond; and three, run a very disciplined business that is focused on topline growth through price and marketing innovation while not taking our eyes off cost. Im really proud of all that the NutriSystem team has been able to accomplish. The engagement across every level of the organization and the private eye employees take in helping people become healthier versions as themselves are extraordinary. The strategy and vision that the leadership team has said, outlines the path forward but it's the exceptional companywide execution that runs gold into results. So big thank you to the entire NutriSystem team for 2016 that delivered results beyond our expectations and for a great start to 2017.

With that Id like to open up the lines for questions. Operator?

Question-and-Answer Session

Operator

[Operator Instructions] Our first question comes from Frank Camma from Sidoti & Company. Please go ahead.

Frank Camma

Just with respect to Mikes comments on the cadence of the guidance, because obviously that kind of sticks out, I mean so it's a nice jump in Q1 and granted I mean I understand you don't want to be too aggressive here and also you did get obviously the bump from the inauguration. But is there any reason to believe that the average customer for example wouldnt be as sticky later in the year. I mean I know you get a lot of visibility in Q1 but I wonder if you can just talk about that a little bit.

Mike Monahan

Frank, its Mike. As I mentioned on the call we expect the quarterly revenue as a percent of annual revenue to be reasonably similar to last year. On a year over year basis there's two reasons why the growth is a bit heavier in the front half of the year. First is timing of retailing QVC revenues, in 2017 the revenues from retail and QVC are a little bit more front loaded due to timing and shipments in the shows. And the second really has to do with the fourth quarter of 2016 similar to new customer acquisitions and reactivation revenue we're able to deploy a higher percentage of media dollars to attract customers in that quarter due to increased viewership as a result of the presidential election. So for this year in 2017 we modeled in more seasonal growth.

Frank Camma

Ill go back to my model. I was just looking as you're coming up against pretty difficult comp in Q1 and obviously youre going up against that even higher, so that was unusual. My other question was related to the gross margins since you talked about the expansion. Is there any reason to believe that the South Beach Diet, do you get a similar margin profile on that product or is it lower in the beginning since your scaling up? And thats all I have.

Mike Monahan

So we're still early on with the South Beach Diet, but we've modeled gross margins to be a little bit less than NutriSystem for the year but we continue to adjust the program and expect them to rise over the long term. But for 2017 the South Beach Diet isn't having a material impact on our consolidated gross margin.

Operator

Our next question comes from Mitch Pinheiro of Wunderlich Securities. Please go ahead.

Mitch Pinheiro

Yeah. Hey, good afternoon. That was a heck of a quarter and even probably better guidance, which I want to ask about. So when I try to sort of back in to new customer revenue growth for 2017. And if I take the bottom end of your guidance range and subtract the 35 million of reactivation revenue and call it, 25 five million of South Beach, I get to a number that somewhere, it looks like new customer revenue growth -- somewhere in the mid -- maybe mid to high teens. Is that about right?

Mike Monahan

Yes. And new customer revenue and reactivation revenue are kind of within the guidance ranges that we gave. So you're not far off. That's in the general direction of where it should be.

Mitch Pinheiro

And that feels like -- I mean so that's a continuation against, I think Mike you said 18% new customer revenue growth for 2016.

Mike Monahan

A little more than 18%. Correct.

Mitch Pinheiro

A little more than 18%. So that's also strong growth. I mean how do you see the components. Is it like an equal parts new customers, average pricing like the mix and want to stay, I mean how do we look at the components of that generally?

Mike Monahan

Yeah. So -- I'm sorry, go ahead.

Mitch Pinheiro

Well, generally speaking. I mean I know you don't get out exact, but just need to understand if it's weighed to more average pricing or mix or how do you look at it?

Mike Monahan

And so a large portion of our growth factored into the guidance comes from overall customers, the combination of new customers and reactivated customers that are driving it. Were also getting a good percentage from an increase in upsell rates. So these are things like our shakes and a-la-carte items that have been improving. And the next piece of it is the revenues were collecting from the South Beach Diet. So those three things are modeled into 2017 growth. We are getting a small benefit from pricing and length of stay, but those are a little bit less of the drivers we've factored into the guidance for 2017.

Mitch Pinheiro

And just follow-up on that, on like -- you talk about upsell, I mean how significant is the upsell component of the new customer revenue growth?

Mike Monahan

So we don't get the exact dollars for it, but where we're seeing an upsell is were able -- for new customers coming in, were able to sell about a third of those new customers, some sort of an upsell on their initial order and then we're also able to keep them a little bit more sticky after they're done with the program by selling them a-la-carte items in more of a transition sense.

Mitch Pinheiro

Okay. And then just so second question just around South Beach is when you look at just your initial feedback, the initial economics that you're getting, is there any material difference in the way South Beach is behaving on those metrics compared to Nutrisystem, core Nutrisystem. Is there anything fundamentally different that you've learned that is, that changes the way your longer term look at South Beach?

Mike Monahan

Initially, I can speak to initially what were seeing. So we launched South Beach as we said in the script, we launched the South Beach Diet with primarily frozen offerings. So after watching customer behavior, we're seeing slightly higher delay rates and second order cancellation due to storage. So people receive the product and they -- it's a little bit more difficult to Nutrisystem to set it in your freezer space. So this is the one issue that is impacting length of stay in the near term for South Beach that makes it different than Nutrisystem. But what we're working on right now and the product development team is going to be launching in the upcoming months are more Grab `n Go items. So these are things that you can put in your pantry that don't take up freezer space where it would look a little bit more like the product configuration Nutrisystem and we expect that to address the length of stay and have it come up closer to where Nutrisystem is.

Operator

Our next question comes from Linda Bolton-Weiser from B. Riley. Please go ahead.

Linda Bolton-Weiser

Hi. Congratulations on the strong growth. So when you look at the sales growth projections for 2017, it looks like it's about 16% to 19% sales growth, but then if you add back the $0.14 of investment in 2016 and the $0.03 from the [indiscernible], I mean really the EPS growth is like 14% to 21% is what I calculated. So it's kind of in line-ish with the top line growth. So am I thinking of that the right way? So I mean on a base level business, you're not really getting really a lot of margin expansion or am I thinking of that the right way for 2017?

Mike Monahan

Well if you're looking on an adjusted basis, I would say just looking at the revenue and taking out the South Beach revenue component that we've talked about because thats not really contributing in year one to the bottom line. That's going to be more of a long term into 2018 contributor. So if you look at the growth there, you're going to notice you should see that there is scale in the business where on an adjusted basis, the EPS is growing at a faster pace than the top line revenue.

Linda Bolton-Weiser

Right. I got you. So is South Beach like around break even in 2017 or is it actually a little bit loss making on the operating profit?

Mike Monahan

So we mentioned that there would be some dilution this year, primarily in the first half of the year for South Beach as we build the database.

Linda Bolton-Weiser

Okay. And then so I know you're probably still testing and whatnot, but I guess one of the things I always understood was the frozen food leads to higher customer satisfaction and longer lengths of stay. So I'm wondering if you [indiscernible] into the South Beach, do you think theyre going to have a compromise on the satisfaction or length of stay that you might otherwise achieve?

Dawn Zier

No. This is Dawn. No, we don't actually -- as Mike had said, the issue that were having right now is the freezer space issue where they cant fit all the frozen into the freezer and what we know from feedback from the customer is that it depends on what meal occasion you're talking about. So for breakfast and lunch, people do like to have some ready to go actions and for dinner, it's more the frozen. So we're looking for -- we're going to get some more of a mix where people can do Grab `n Go. We think it will be -- and even as we about Uniquely Yours, which is our premium option, remember that's not all frozen, it does have a longer length of stay, but that is a mix of frozen and ready to go item.

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Nutrisystem's (NTRI) CEO Dawn Zier on Q4 2016 Results - Earnings Call Transcript - Seeking Alpha

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Science Daily

New evidence on the diet of the 'Homo antecessor' from Atapuerca Science Daily This new research, which reveals for the first time the evidence on the diet of these hominines with the study of the microscopic traces left by food in the dental enamel, counts with the participation of the researchers Alejandro Prez-Prez and his ... and more »

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In a small clinical trial, researchers at Johns Hopkins and elsewhere found that the high-fat, low-carbohydrate ketogenic diet was a safe and effective treatment option for the majority of adults experiencing a relatively rare, often fatal, and always severe form of epilepsy marked by prolonged seizures that require medically induced comas to prevent them from further damaging the body and the brain.

In a report on the trials, published online Feb. 8 in Neurology, the investigators conclude that the diet is a feasible option for people with so-called super-refractory status epilepticus, or SRSE, the most severe seizure classification. Up to an estimated 60 percent of patients die once they develop this type of seizure.

Mackenzie C. Cervenka

Associate professor of neurology

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than 5 million people in the U.S. have a seizure disorder. More than 150,000 people in the U.S. each year will develop refractory status epilepticus and, according to published studies, about half of those will develop super-refractory seizures.

From our past research, we know the ketogenic diet is effective in approximately one-third of adults with epilepsy who are resistant to traditional anti-seizure drugs, says Mackenzie C. Cervenka, associate professor of neurology and director of the Adult Epilepsy Diet Center at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. Because there isnt a standard treatment for super-refractory status epilepticus and those patients diagnosed have such a high death and disability rate, we decided we had to try something different to treat them and test its safety and value.

For the study, the research team recruited 15 patients hospitalized with SRSE at The Johns Hopkins Hospital, Mayo Clinic, the Queens Medical Center in Honolulu, and Thomas Jefferson University Hospital in Philadelphia. The patients ranged in age from 18 to 82. Five were men, and six had a previous history of some form of epilepsy prior to developing super-refractory seizures.

In general, after a patient has experienced 24 hours in a seizure and there have been multiple failed attempts to stop it with drugs, physicians will use general anesthetics to put a patient in a coma to protect the muscles, kidneys, and brain from damagecommon side effects of prolonged seizure episodes. After 24 hours, the patient is awakened to see if the seizures return. If so, then the seizures are considered super-refractory. Then, the physician will put the patient back in a coma and continue to try other medications, but there is no standard treatment protocol at this point.

Patients in the research population had taken an average of eight anti-seizure medications before physicians introduced a commercially prepared ketogenic diet.

The diet contained a nutrient liquid composed of four parts fat to one part carbohydrates and protein combined in grams. Each patient received the diet through a feeding tube over 72 hours, with their calorie needs calculated based on weight, while in a medically induced coma.

After 72 hours on the diet, the physicians tapered off their anesthesia to see if the seizures had stopped. If the seizures did not return at this point, patients continued with the diet for several days until they could eat on their own, at which time they were switched to a modified Atkins diet, which is high in fat and low in carbohydrates as well.

If a patients seizures continued, he or she was kept on the feeding tube ketogenic diet, but additional anti-seizure medications were given as well.

The rationale for the high-fat ketogenic diet, popularized by neurologists at Johns Hopkins over the past 30 years, is based on the fact that it accelerates the bodys metabolism of fats, similar to fasting, which appears to alter the excitability of nerve cells in the brain. When most of a persons calories or energy come from fat, the body accumulates metabolic breakdown products known as ketone bodies. Ketones are easily measured in the blood and urine.

After two days, all patients had detectible levels of ketones, showing that they were metabolizing fatrather than carbohydrates or proteinsfor cellular energy.

One patient among the 15 was taken off the diet when family members requested to withdraw care and died. In 11 of the remaining 14 (or 79 percent) who completed the full course of the ketogenic diet, super-refractory seizures stopped, with eight recovering within a week after the episode started.

Five patients in the study died, including the one taken off the diet when the family requested withdrawal of care. Three of those who died werent helped by the ketogenic diet, and the diet was stopped when they developed dangerous acid levels despite treatment with bicarbonate, the standard and best therapy for acidosis in this situation. The fifth patient improved with the ketogenic diet while hospitalized, but the diet was discontinued during rehabilitation in another facility. The super-refractory status epilepticus recurred and was treated anew with the ketogenic diet, but the patient succumbed to a heart attack not likely related to the diet, according to an independent panel.

Ten of the 15 patients experienced adverse effects of the diet, which included constipation, weight loss, low blood sugar, high cholesterol in the blood, and low sodium levels in the blood.

The researchers caution that much further research will be need to support the idea that the ketogenic diet should be widely used in those with this severe form of epilepsy.

What we can say is that the ketogenic diet is promising for at least a subset of patients, Cervenka says. Any safe means we have of getting patients off of anesthesia and out of a coma quickly will be welcome.

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Forbes

Hold The Second Serving: Fight Aging With A Calorie-restricting Diet Forbes Recent reports indicate life expectancy in the U.S. is declining for the first time in over two decades. The National Center for Health Statistics cites rising incidence of heart disease, stroke and diabetes as the culprits. While consistent exercise ...

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Home Heart Health Cholesterol The best diet to help lower your cholesterol

High cholesterol is a growing problem in the U.S., affecting roughly 73.5 million Americans. Worse yet, less than one out of every three adults have their condition under control. High cholesterol is described as having elevated levels of LDL cholesterol levels, commonly referred to as the bad one due to the fact that it can narrow and clog arteries.

Statins are often prescribed as a means to lower cholesterol, but less than half of American adults are being treated with statins, and those who are often miss dosages and dont fully adhere to their treatment plan. (Amazing miracle molecule doubles blood circulation.)

Doctors often recommend dietary changes as a way to lower cholesterol. And one diet has ranked supreme as it has been found to actually remove cholesterol from the body.

You may have been hearing more and more about the Mediterranean diet its health benefits have been making headlines as of late. The American Heart Association (AHA) has now recommended this diet for cholesterol reduction.

In the study, participants who were at high risk of heart disease followed one of three diets: Mediterranean diet with four tablespoons of olive oil, Mediterranean diet with a handful of nuts each day, and a control diet that focused on lowering intake of unhealthy foods. The Mediterranean diet stresses the consumption of fruits and vegetables, lean proteins and fish, nuts, olive oil, legumes, and whole grains.

Both groups on the Mediterranean diet saw improvements in their cholesterol levels, but the benefits were greater in the olive oil group. More specifically, those who consumed extra olive oil experienced a process known as reverse cholesterol transport, meaning that cholesterol was actually removed from the plaque in the arteries and transported to the liver. (Avoid these seven dangerous signs of a toxic liver.)

The researchers speculate that the olive oil-based diet is more effective than the nut-based diet due to the antioxidants in the oil.

So, if youre looking for a natural way to improve your cholesterol and reduce your risk of heart disease, then adhering to the Mediterranean style of eating is a good place to start. If changing your diet completely is a bit difficult at first, you may want to begin incorporating more olive oil into your diet.

Related: Natural cholesterol reducers: Alternative foods and therapies to lower cholesterol

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Heres another worry to add to parents long list: a new study published in Molecular Psychiatry suggests that a high-fat diet could lead to cognitive problems in developing brains, including impaired memory and loss of key cells in parts of the brain.

The research was co-directed by researchers from ETH Zurich in Switzerland and the INMED Institute in France, and looked at populations of mice fed one of two diets, a high-fat diet where 63 percent of calories came from fat, or a control diet where about 5-10 percent of calories came from fat.

To put those numbers into perspective, the recommended fat intake for adult humans is around 20-35 percent, Marie Labouesse, first author of the study and a Ph.D. student in Behavioral Neuroscience at ETH Zurich, told Paste, and slightly higherabout 25 percent-35 percentfor adolescents. A regular size Big Breakfast at McDonalds, she added, is made up of about 58 percent fat, says Labouesse.

Each diet was fed to an adolescent population of mice and an adult population of mice to determine the different effects the diet had on their brains. Researchers then tested the mices memory and cognitive skills using a series of tasks, including the navigation of mazes.

The results of the experiment were stark: Adolescent mice fed the high-fat diet showed cognitive impairments such as poorer memory and a reduced ability to switch tasks. Crucially, the brains of the adolescent mice also showed a 35 percent reduction of a key type of brain cell, called reelin neurons, in the prefrontal cortex. The prefrontal cortex is a brain region responsible for important tasks such as decision-making and self-control.

Strangely, though, adult mice showed no such impairments, suggesting that adolescent brains are particularly vulnerable to these dietary changes. In fact, the prefrontal cortex is the last brain region to reach full maturity in both humans and rodents.

More research is needed to determine whether the results would apply in humans, and not just in mice. In the meantime, here are a few tips for making sure that high-fat diet doesnt affect you or your loved ones developing brain:

Lower Fat Intake

Labouesse notes that more research is needed to determine the precise level of fat per day that is healthy for growing humans. However, in the meantime, it couldnt hurt to pay attention to cutting back on fatty foods like french fries and pizza.

Watch Overall Calories

Total calories consumed is important, too. Its possible, Labouesse says, that the negative effects of the high-fat diet might have been because mice on that dietfinding the diet tastier than the low-fat control dietate more than the other mice. Additional studies would need to tease apart the relationship between fat consumed, calories consumed, and effects on the brain.

Overeating can cause not only weight gain, but health problems including fatigue, joint pain and heart disease. Therefore, make sure to watch not only overall fat intake, but overall calories as well.

Avoid Processed Foods

Labouesse noted in her study that weve moved, in modern times, toward a more high-calorie, highly processed diet. This diet include elevated levels of saturated fatty acids, which can have negative health effects.

The solution? Try to look for healthy, whole foods, such as fresh fruits and vegetables and whole grains, and skip the processed takeout.

Stand up to Peer Pressure

Teens, Labouesse says, are particularly vulnerable to unhealthy diets, given many are just starting to make diet decisions for themselves. They may be influenced by peer pressure and media advertisements pointing them toward less-healthy options.

To combat this, parents and teens should educate themselves about healthy food options, so teens can make informed decisions as they take more responsibility for their diet and their health.

Remember That Fat Type Matters

Not all fats are created equal. The type of fat matters with respect to how it effects the brain, Labouesse acknowledges, noting that high levels of saturated fatty acids (found in foods such as butter, fatty meat and salami) are generally associated with cognitive impairment. However, polyunsaturated fatty acids, especially omega-3 fatty acids (found in foods such as flaxseed, fatty fish and walnuts), are associated with a lower risk of cognitive decline in humans and improved memory in mice.

Labouesses study featured a diet with a mix of fats, including a high amount of unhealthy saturated fats. Its possible, she noted, that a diet featuring a higher amount of healthier fats may have led to different results.

So, when choosing a brain-healthy meal, even one higher in fat, reach for foods low in saturated fatty acids and high in polyunsatured fatty acidssuch baked salmon and veggies versus pepperoni pizza.

Stephanie has a degree in the History of Science from Harvard University, and has written for publications including Quanta, Live Science, and NY Mag. In her spare time, she also writes childrens books.

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Mallory King, a fitness blogger based in Florida, has documented her fitness journey by posting photos of herself in scant clothing on Instagram for several months. Her aim: to normalize real bodies, and inspire self-love and acceptance among her followers.

5 POSSIBLE REASONS YOUR WEIGHT LOSS HAS PLATEAUED

Thats why she was surprised when Instagram recently removed a photo of her showing off her cellulite, she wrote in a post last week. The womens advocacy group Sunday Morning View had regrammed the image, increasing its visibility and causing it to rack up more than 20,000 likes.

This upsets me for two reasons, King wrote in the post. 1) Why do thousands of posts go unremoved that show butts and boobs in WAY more vulgar ways than mine? Is it because my cellulite is offensive? Is it because I'm not trying to be sexy? Is it because I don't have the body type that is continuously shared on here?

2) Why are people so threatened by a woman unafraid of showing her body and speaking her mind? she continued. People used the excuse that their kid could see the photo. Don't let your kid on social media! No, that's not it. It's either people feel threatened by my fierceness or people are so brainwashed by media that a perfect pair of tits or butt is fine to flash but a body that's outside of the norm is offensive.

BLOGGER'S SIDE-BY-SIDE TRANSFORMATION PIC SHOWS HOW IMAGES CAN BE DECEIVING

In the viral side-by-side photo, on the left side King is pictured in a bra and underwear giving a thumbs up, with her husband, Thomas, also giving two thumbs up, and on the right side she is pictured alone flicking off the camera.

Some have speculated the image was removed because King is shown giving the finger, but, as Cosmopolitan.com pointed out, thousands of #MiddleFinger posts appear on Instagram, so that likely wasnt the reason for its removal.

THIS FIT MOM DROPPED 6 DRESS SIZES BY LOSING ONLY 2 POUNDS

Instagram does prohibit "close-ups of fully-nude buttocks," "content that contains credible threats or hate speech," and "serious threats of harm to public and personal safety, but Kings post also doesnt appear to violate those rules, Cosmopolitan.com reported.

Whatever the reason, King isnt letting Instagram stop her, she suggested on Instagram.

Y'all can report my photos as much as you want, I'm gonna keep sharing them because the world needs more women unashamed of their bodies and unafraid to share their voice, she wrote.

SEE THE PICS: MODEL'S AMAZING JOURNEY FROM PREGNANT TO 6-PACK

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