The Viva Mayr Diet. Helena Frith Powell

recipes at the back of the book (see here). Enjoy experimenting with things you may never have tried before. A shift in your eating habits is the ultimate goal, and you’ll soon find you are feeling better than you ever have before.

      In summary …

       • Eat less – we all eat much more than we need to.

       • Focus on eating more fats (choosing cold-pressed oils), and fewer carbohydrates, which will lead to healthier digestion, and overall good health.

       • Eat animal proteins – meat and fish – only every second day.

       • Remember that good eating begins in the supermarket – don’t think for even one second that if you buy a packet of jaffa cakes you won’t eat them.

       • Avoid ‘empty’ foods – there is no point in eating white bread and then taking a fibre supplement.

       • Only fry food in warm-pressed oils. Virgin or cold-pressed oils become toxic when heated at high temperatures.

       • Go organic whenever you can, but don’t get overly stressed about it.

       • Remember it only takes a few days to break bad habits forever.

       Case Study

      Rachel, 28, Stevenage

      I used to be a junk-food junkie. I couldn’t walk past a McDonald’s without salivating. I would start the day with breakfast on the run – either a doughnut or almond croissant or something similarly sweet. I always needed a sugar rush. And, of course, I would drink coffee to help wake me up, too. Lunch would normally be McDonald’s or Pizza Hut. By the end of the day I felt faintly sick, but I sort of got used to it, and then I would go out and have lots of wine after work. This way of eating and drinking started when I was 18 and a student. I guess at that age your body can almost handle it, but the older I got the more unhealthy I started to feel. I also, understandably, put on weight. I couldn’t face doing any exercise because I felt so dreadful.

      New Year’s last year was a turning point. I tried on every dress in my wardrobe but had the most awful VPL with every one. Then I realised it wasn’t the VPL that was the problem – it was my bum that was the problem. I went out and got drunk, but made one big resolution: to change my eating habits and do some exercise. A friend of mine had been to the Viva Mayr Clinic and told me about the diet, about eating a big breakfast, chewing well, eating organic and avoiding all the things I had been eating.

      The first week was the worst. I swear I was in withdrawal. I longed for some stodge, but I had promised myself to totally avoid anything like that. I started with muesli and thought I was going to throw up. I had to chew it about 40 times to be able to swallow it! I ate fruit in the morning, too, which tasted bitter to me, used as I was to sugar-coated doughnuts. For lunch I would buy a salad or something. By mid-afternoon on the second day I had headaches and felt faint, as well as hungry! I kept motivating myself by thinking about how I would soon fit into my clothes and start to feel better. In fact, I started to look better almost straight away. My skin became clearer almost overnight and my eyes sparkled.

      On the third day I woke up full of energy and almost (not quite!) looking forward to my muesli. I didn’t feel depressed at the thought of not eating a doughnut on my way to the office. I actually enjoyed eating rocket salad and parmesan with a piece of grilled chicken when I went out for lunch. Actually, I think day three was a turning point. I really was amazed at how quickly it had all happened – how ten years of bad eating had been changed almost overnight. OK, so I wasn’t totally off junk food – I still had enormous cravings for it – but the results I had seen already made me go on and made me strong. It’s true that when I went to the supermarket I practically had to shut my eyes when going past the Pringles, but I made it and was very proud of myself.

      Almost like a drug addict, I told myself I had to have a whole month off junk food to really clean out my system. At the end of that month I would allow myself a treat. During those first few days that treat was the only light in a dark tunnel. But, oddly enough, at the end of my month I had totally and utterly lost the craving for junk food. I even went to McDonald’s the day after my month was up and the smell, which used to get my gastric juices going, made me feel sick!

      I am not a saint and I am still not quite as healthy as I would like to be, but that excess weight fell off. This all happened four months ago and I am still going strong. I am happier, healthier, thinner and more determined than ever to keep eating the Viva Mayr way.