A 20 year history of the evolution of the HealthKeeper Performance Diet: Some people like to know the background and origin of a weight loss program before they start it. For those individuals, the following is a historical summary and opinions of the main events that led up to the creation of the current Performance Diet program. This is not critical reading to successfully launch into the Performance diet. The mention of names in this historical summary does not imply an endorsement by that individual or ongoing involvement in the Performance Diet.

My name is Lawrence Wollersheim. Many people know me by the pen name of Robert Lawrence, which I often used during the initial stages of our research in Aspen, Colorado. For almost 20 years, I have worked with a variety of dietary, medical, behavioral and business professionals and specialists as well as with several previous companies (which included the Natural Success Systems Ltd, The Aspen System and Universal Food Code Inc.) on the various components of what is now called the Performance Diet program currently being marketed and sold by HealthKeeper Inc.

The roots of the current program began in the early '80's in Aspen as a personal diet research project that evolved into a local diet clinic. For those unfamiliar with Aspen, it is one of the most appearance, health and sports performance conscious cities in the world. Aspen has served the evolving program as the critical initial testing point, an ongoing inspiration and renewal point and a continuos financing point for the final form of our evolving product, the Performance Diet.

The initial results of our diet research took the form of a dieting motivational and "mind power not will power" book called the Aspen Diet. In the mid '80's, another book on exercising for maximum fat loss was produced, called Body Tuning. At this same time, we obtained a patent for an ergonomic weight loss enhancing hand weight.

We continued our research, focusing on computerizing the program to better manage the diet and nutrition elements of a complete weight loss program. We believed then as we do now, that computers were the future of diet and wellness management and that some day, most individuals with a word processor or day planner on their computer would also some day a diet, health and wellness program.

For another decade, despite financing difficulties and personnel changes, we continued to solve the remaining education and client ease-of-use challenges in the nutrition and diet module of the program. Then we had a major breakthrough.

We developed what we now call the NutriCode. The NutriCode is a patent pending new tool for graphically viewing the nutritional composition of foods without having to add and/or subtract confusing numeric nutrient values. The NutriCode demystifies and makes it easy and convenient to compare foods and/or instantly identify nutritional amounts in foods. Most importantly, the NutriCode allows users to identify exactly how each food choice will affect daily dietary goals. Click on the following links for a graphic sample of NutriCode power. At http://www.health-runr2.com/nutricode/nutripower.htm , http://www.health-runr2.com/nutricode/nutricode.htm and http://www.health-runr2.com/basic/advanceref.htm .

After using the NutriCode to change the way people see food and their nutrition, we then put the NutriCode into a diet, nutrition and exercise software that finally brought all the necessary critical dieting elements to a state that made the overall program's effectiveness soar.

In the '90's, due in great part to finally meeting a wonderful woman, Karen Kent, my life's soul mate, the diet research took on a renewed life. With Karen as a program creative consultant, friend, inspiration and muse, I added new members to our team to take the total program to a level of completion and detail that I had only previously dreamed about.

During those 20 years of research in and through the Aspen community, many exciting and discouraging challenges surfaced. One of the more exciting revolved around our initial testing of the diet, motivational and visualization research on athletes and people who did not have weight problems. I remember a top biathalete who increased his shooting effectiveness by almost fifteen percent and several ski racers who also were achieving significant benefits from the non-diet components of our diet research. Some individuals experimented by applying aspects of this research very successfully to their careers, relationships and self-image issues. Witnessing some of the profound improvements from this group was in many ways, as satisfying than the diet successes we facilitated in the local community.

At another juncture, Richard Simmons, the popular TV diet Guru, visited Aspen to review our work for a possible collaboration. During a tour of facilities at the Ball State University department of physiology, he volunteered to participate in our exercising and maximum fat loss research by climbing on a treadmill and Vo2 max oxygen uptake testing machine revealing calorie use, aerobic fitness and lung capacity. Before we performed the test, Richard insisted I must never disclose his Vo2 max uptake results, and I am keeping my promise. Click here to view a photo of Richard Simmons at Ball State.

Richard's eyes also lit up when we showed him one of our earlier color-coded NutriCode-like prototypes that we designed to help our clinic clients learn about nutrition and track the calories in their meals and diet. We told him that although the prototype was more accurate and sophisticated than anything currently existing and would probably sell millions, we were still looking for a better design. We explained that this prototype was imperfect. It was not designed to support lasting behavioral change because it did not do enough to emotionalize the impact of the actual nutritional content of foods so they could build the habits to keep the weight off and stay healthy after they stopped dieting!

We did not establish a partnership with Richard, but he submitted a press release endorsement of our hand weights. Not long after our Aspen meetings, he marketed a "Deal a Meal" color-coded diet tracking system that, in our opinion, was based on our nutritional color coding research. Some of our investors were disappointed and wanted to pursue legal action against Richard.

While I was also disappointed, I discouraged legal action because I felt Richard was an important motivational support for many of his morbidly obese viewers. I also knew that the "Deal a Meal" product appeared to be based on our incomplete and discarded research and would therefore not provide his consumers with real long term success.

Over the years, we have had several unauthorized companies attempt to use our local promotion Aspen Diet tradename for products they were promoting nationally. After a few successful but arduous legal battles, we paradoxically decided that when all the pieces of the program were in fact ready for mass marketing, we would not use the Aspen Diet name.

Besides feeling the Performance Diet name was more appropriately descriptive of the results of the program, we didn't want using the name nationally to create another Beverly Hills Diet fad diet impression. We also felt that while it was appropriate to use the Aspen name while we had run or would continue running a local clinic at one of the health clubs, it would be both crass and an irritation to our friends, former clinic attendees and other businesses in the local Aspen community to continue using the Aspen Diet name in national promotion after we had closed almost all of our local research as well as the local Aspen Diet clinic.

In the current Performance Diet materials, you will read about the history of our Aspen clinic, including my own and other personal stories of our relentless and passionate 20 year quest for the "Holy Grail" of dieting ---- an effective and complete program for lasting weight loss. It is amazing to reflect that our original design focus of 20 years ago involving a "computer assisted diet that is in reality nothing more than a highly effective lifelong wellness program maximizing the user's potentials and performance" has stood the test of all this time. This original design statement has sustained our focus and permitted us to create a product that provides lasting, safe weight loss, performance improvement and positive results in areas of personal wellness.

After 20 years of patient research, development and testing we long ago let go of any compelling need to quickly become a media popular diet program or to make a fast profit. Our investors share our vision, one that insists our sole focus must remain exclusively on customer health and success, in partnership with their diligent efforts and commitment.

We believe that if our focus remains exclusively on keeping our word and delivering lasting weight loss and a lasting and meaningful improvement in our client's lives in partnership with their diligent efforts our clients would become our 24 hour walking billboard and their word-of mouth will slowly build our company. Then, instead of riding the quick rise and fall diet waves of so many popular diets over the last 20 years, our program will experience a manageable, steady and continuous growth.

At this point in our 20 year history the only endorsement that really means anything to us is that of each individual client after they have successfully kept at their desired weight for at least five years. This is the only endorsement that truly tells us we have succeeded in what we dreamed and hoped we could do some 20 years ago when this all began in Aspen.

We hope you will let us know about your successes when you know for certain the Performance Diet has improved your appearance, life and health in more ways than you ever dreamed was possible from a diet program.

Our Passion and Purpose today!

I was recently asked by a friend from South Africa "why I have stayed with this project for so many years." What was it that "I was really trying to do besides build a healthy dietary program?" What he really wanted to know was, "what was sustaining me?" When I told him, he as well as everyone else listening to the conversation insisted that I immediately post this information on our web site. He believed that some of our clients would be of a like mind and would appreciate the greater mission behind our diet work. So here it is:

"I believe that if people are properly nourished and reduce their stress with exercise or other stress management techniques many of the ailments they are suffering from would either be dramatically improved or be eliminated altogether. From this improved personal bio-chemistry their energy levels would rise. Their cyclical up and down and often troublesome moods would significantly lessen and their general attitudes would improve. When all this happens they would be bio-chemically better supported to make more spiritually enlightened choices. Then their own worlds would improve and everyone else's world would improve a little too. I passionately believe that proper bio-chemical balance is essential to supporting better spiritual choices and that better spiritual choices are the most effective and powerful levers to improve and sustain our world."

For the current and past HealthKeeper team and all the contributing staff, professionals and affiliated organizations over the last 20 years. Eat well, look good, be healthy.

Sincerely,

Lawrence Wollersheim

p.s. If you would like to review local news stories about the early stages of our research, or to review some of our early promotions, visit http://www.performancediet.com/20yrimages.htm. If you would like to learn more about our socially responsible company, please visit http://www.performancediet.com/mission&ideals.htm.