The Viva Mayr Diet: 14 days to a flatter stomach and a younger you. Dr Stossier Harald

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      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.