FORT KENT – A local family flew across the country Wednesday to be part of an infomercial and tell the world about the 180 pounds that the four of them lost as a family.

Gail Devaney said she found a program about three years ago called 45 Pounds to help her two youngest children, Amanda, now 10, and Caleb, 14, lose weight.

“They were quite overweight and I had found a diet program that had been started by a husband and wife team that were just out to help their daughter,” Devaney said Tuesday. “We decided to do it as a family.”

She said they all did well, and the children’s growth spurts also helped them thin out to a more healthful weight.

“My husband and I didn’t do it necessarily for ourselves, we did it because the kids really needed to be healthy,” Devaney said. “The kids were transformed the most.”

A few months ago, the family was contacted to see if they’d be interested in filming an infomercial in Los Angeles to advertise the diet program. Originally started by a husband and wife duo, 45 Pounds has been bought by another company that wants to publicize the program even more.

“They’re pretty much paying our complete trip out there and back,” said Devaney, who’s excited because she has never been to the West Coast. “It’s an exciting adventure. My daughter’s hoping to see all kinds of famous people walking down the street.”

When they started the diet program, Devaney said Caleb was 11 years old, a little more than 5 feet tall, and weighed 205 pounds.

“By the end of that year he went down to 144 pounds,” she said.

Amanda Devaney has lost more than 30 pounds.

“It’s really a way of life,” she said. “It’s about learning to eat healthy.”

45 Pounds isn’t a crash diet, Devaney said. The program allows for custom meal plans including foods that the family already eats.

“They didn’t take anything away,” she said.

It also encourages exercise and offers support to families using the program.

“It’s been three years now, but we still follow the program because it’s a healthy way of living,” Devaney said.

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