Weight loss company superfastdiet.com representatives Victoria Black and Genevieve Davidson have paired up with a national gym chain and our mayor to try and encourage overweight people to lose weight.

They have started a useful conversation about obesity in our town, but that conversation has not been without controversy.

What do you think of the backlash against the mayor for his breakfast TV show appearance on Friday?

The mayor has a great sense of humour, and when we have spoken to him, he mentioned he was surprised with the figures we have quoted saying that 80 per cent of Dubbo residents are overweight. He has admitted his weight problems, and he has said what he has said in a loving, friendly humorous way and we are sure he meant no offence to anyone at all when he said "if Dubbo is known as a town of fatties let's change it", he is passionate about this cause, and he is just trying to help his community.

Is the mayor being paid to be the face of the campaign?

No not at all, he is doing this voluntarily.

Where did the 80 per cent overweight statistic come from?

It's really hard to get accurate statistics and reports vary widely but we have used media reports and the latest government report. ( the latest general Australian report https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/overweight-obesity/a-picture-of-overweight-and-obesity-in-australia/contents/table-of-contents)

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Is the eight-week challenge the beginning of a longer journey, or are you saying you can lose all the weight you need to in eight weeks?

What we want to see is long term results for people so of course, the eight weeks challenge is to get people started, that's the idea of it. But you can still achieve significant results in eight weeks.

Are you promoting a food and diet program?

Yes, we work on a personalised program, so it suits an individual's lifestyle, we focus on food and diet and exercise, recipes, food plans and lifestyle, fitness and mindset and motivation.

Some say this program sends a message that people who have tried to lose weight in the past are fat and lazy because it only takes eight weeks to lose weight, and it is simple. Does the challenge take into account people's mental well-being?

Most definitely. This is not a quick fix. We are passionate about that part of the program. We have a mindset program and trained psychologists on staff to help people with the mental challenge of weight-loss. When people get the program, they will see it is step by step.

The program goes for 36 weeks, eight weeks of it is free, our story is the same as many others, we tried all of our lives to lose weight, and until we found what we believe is the way for us, we were unsuccessful too.

At the end of the eight weeks, you are going to ask people to pay, correct?

If people want to continue in the program after the eight weeks, they will be asked to pay. The program will cost $5.40 per week after the eight weeks for as long as they want to stay on it.

The gym membership is extra, of course, because they are a separate business. The $5.40 includes meal plans, recipes, mindset motivation support and the weekly program.

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