News Releases

In Memory of Tim Russert

Heart Patients Offered $1 Weight-Loss Coach

DANBURY, Conn. (Friday, June 13)—Terry Dunkle, founder and CEO of DietPower, Inc. (www.dietpower.com), today announced that his company has begun offering its $50 weight-loss software to cardio patients for just $1. The company extended the offer in memory of "Meet the Press" host Tim Russert, who died of a heart attack this afternoon.

"No strings are attached," Dunkle said. "My company's business is saving lives, and Russert's untimely death is a powerful reminder that weight and nutrition are major factors in cardiovascular disease. For me, it's also personal: Tim and I practiced the same profession."

Dunkle, a fellow journalist of the same blue-collar upbringing as Russert, has battled his weight and cholesterol for years. He invented DietPower in 1988 when he was a Reader's Digest editor looking to count calories and balance his diet with his computer. Today his tiny company sells the "weight-loss coach on your PC" worldwide. Backed by a blue-ribbon scientific panel, the program has won top ratings from health publications and helped millions drop as much as 200 pounds without giving up their favorite foods. The company's motto is Eat With Your Eyes Open™.

DietPower works by "learning" a user's calorie needs from his or her weight, meal and exercise logs. The program continually adjusts the user's calorie budget to guarantee reaching a goal weight on a target date. Meanwhile, its Real-Time Eating Coach™ shows which foods will improve the user's balance of carbohydrate, fat, protein and 30 other nutrients.Users can also analyze recipes, look up nutrition facts in a 21,000-entry Food Dictionary, and get free daily health news. The program works by itself or with Atkins, South Beach, Weight Watchers, American Heart Association or any other diet plan.

The company’s scientific advisors include Ann Coulston, past president of the American Dietetic Association; Robert Epstein, founder of the Cambridge Center for Behavioral Studies, and Barry Franklin, former president of the American College of Sports Medicine.

Anyone with a Windows PC can begin using DietPower immediately by downloading a free 15-day trial from www.dietpower.com. To make the program work permanently, customers normally pay $49.99 for an electronic "key" or $59.99 to receive a CD-ROM in the mail. As a result of today's announcement, however, any U.S. or Canadian heart patient can get the key for only $1 or the CD at a $48.99 discount.

To claim the offer, patients must fax to 360-323-0061 a note from their physician, written on an official prescription pad or stationery, certifying that they have a heart disease and need to lose weight or improve their nutrition. The fax must also include the names, phone numbers, e-mail and mailing addresses of both doctor and patient. In response, DietPower will e-mail the patient a discount code for use in the company's shopping cart at http://cart.dietpower.com.

"There is no obligation for requesting the discount, and all inquiries remain confidential in accordance with DietPower's privacy policy," Dunkle said. "In addition, our software continually reminds users that it is only a monitoring tool, not a medical adviser, and urges them to see their doctor before embarking on any weight-loss regimen."

The company has yet to announce an expiration date for the offer. "We'll continue this as long as we can afford it," Dunkle said. "I wish we could make it absolutely free, but we need at least a dollar to help cover the registration and tech-support costs."

For details, visit www.dietpower.com/russert_heart_disease_offer.php, e-mail info@dietpower.com, or phone 203-743-0061.