THIS TIME last year I couldn’t help but sit up and take notice when dowdy UK TV quiz show Countdown presenter Carol Vorderman achieved a total transformation and became top telly totty at an age when you would have thought her life’s path was already set.
Suddenly she was popping up on bookshelves, in health food ads and on red carpets everywhere. The secret of her miraculous metamorphosis? Detox.
Following a regime printed in a book à la Vorderman is not always that easy, particularly if a glass of wine and chocolate bar are your idea of heaven. So to ensure success I decided instead to put myself into the capable hands of Dr George J. Georgiou Ph.D., D. Sc., N.D. (www.naturaltherapycenter.com) for a four-week detox programme in which my progress would be closely monitored. (I also did this in the hope that I would be transformed into an absolute babe!)
Here is my personal four-week diary for those who may be interested in embarking on a detox diet (if I don’t put you off, that is …)
My pre-detox report
Weight: 11 stone (70kg).
Cellulite: lots of it, all over my butt.
Bad habits: sugar addiction — at least two bars of chocolate a day. Grabbing fast food instead of having a proper meal. Alcohol, salt.
Skin: tired looking, dark circles and blemishes.
General well-being: erratic energy levels.
Preparation
This is not the kind of diet you can start on a whim. It takes preparation unless you’re already some kind of freakishly healthy eater.
I give myself a week to consume all the ‘illegal substances’ in my cupboard — chocolate bars, processed food, anything containing wheat, dairy, added salt, sugar and preservatives and, of course, alcohol. This is no mean feat as I have amassed large reserves in case of dietary emergency. But I’m up to the challenge.
Of course I could just throw the stuff away, but I feel that to make a true comparison of life pre- and post-detox I should render myself as toxic as possible …
Rather expensively, my fridge and cupboards are restocked with soya milk, goat’s yoghurt, feta cheese, nuts, corn pasta, puffed rice cereal, vitamins, supplements, barley grass tablets and all things organic. I am now ready for the big sacrifice – physically, if not mentally.
Week One
This is a tough programme. I have to get up 15 minutes early to make a vegetable juice. I can’t have my usual chocolate croissant and cappuccino on the way to work (which luckily is downstairs!). All there is to look forward to is a bowl of puffed rice — without the sugary snap, crackle and pop — floating limply in soya milk, and a cup of herbal tea to wash it down.
Mid morning: I consume another juice which I’ve dutifully made and taken to work. Actually, I tell a lie here. I glug down a glass of organic vegetable juice bought from a health food shop in Kallipoleos Street. Apparently it’s a good substitute for the homemade variety.
Lunchtime: a jacket potato with salad. I’ve been told to do food combining so I can forget tuna (protein) with my potato (carbs). The tuna probably wouldn’t have tasted very nice anyway without the usual lashings of mayonnaise.
On some days I have a feta cheese salad which I would happily eat anyway, but I’m supposed to dowse it in pure organic olive oil (the essential fatty acids are great for the skin but not as tasty) and organic cider vinegar (no balsamic, unfortunately).
In the afternoon I’m supposed to have another juice, but I plump for the alternative — eight green magma barley grass tablets (great, now I’m having my snacks in pill form).
Finally, dinner. This is the hardest of all to get used to. No carbohydrates in the evening. So it’s grilled meat or fish with steamed vegetables and no sauce to speak of. I’m left wanting. How am I expected to survive like this?
Fortunately the Chromium tablets are staving off my hunger to a point and keeping my blood sugar on the level, but at the moment all the pleasure seems to have gone out of eating. Going out for dinner has been a pain in the posterior and my friend’s 30th birthday wasn’t the same with only two (guiltily drunk) glasses of wine.
Went to see Mikki, my beautician. She gave me some reflexology to pep up my sluggish lymph. But despite this encouragement the next three weeks seem like a daunting prospect.
There are no noticeable signs of results yet, apart from the fact that I’m sleeping like a baby. I blame malnourishment …
Week Two
Monday, and I’m suffering from my lowest energy levels so far. Miraculously though, on Tuesday and Wednesday I find I’m full of energy. It’s proving difficult to fit all the supplements and juices into my daily routine, and my social life is taking a bashing as a result of not being able to just grab a snack on the hoof. Alcohol abstinence is no fun at all.
The pounds are starting to come off, however. I never feel bloated and generally feel a lot lighter and healthier. Friends have been commenting on how great my skin looks and my eyes are looking ultra sparkly.
Week Three
Bad habits: still no caffeine, hardly any chocolate, salt, dairy or wheat.
Skin: better than pre-detox, a nd I’ve now got the routine down to a T. My tastebuds have acclimatised to a lack of salt and artificial flavours and I can really enjoy the taste of a piece of organic salmon with just a squeeze of lemon juice and a whole heap of veggies. I’ve also discovered the delights of Barbara Cousins’ book Cooking Without (available from Amazon at £9.99) which is proving inspirational. Nigel Slater’s juice book Thirst has also resulted in some strange but delicious combinations for my daily juices.
I’m becoming addicted to the juices and I’m now craving them more than chocolate (OK, not quite, but I am craving them — sort of) and I’ve been finding they give me a real energy boost without that slightly wired feeling you get from coffee.
Friends have continued to comment on how great my skin looks; my bags have disappeared and my general skin tone seems much improved. My cellulite also seems to be disappearing (maybe it’s just my bedroom mirror).
My energy levels are depleted, but the compliments are more than making up for that. I go for an aromatherapy massage lasting an hour and a half, which seems to alleviate the problem to some extent.
I never thought I’d see the day when someone would convince me that sticking a hosepipe up my bum and pumping 45 litres of water through me was a good idea, but in my weakened state I have also succumbed to colonic irrigation. When you get over the slightly alarming concept, the reality is really no more unpleasant than a bikini wax. It also feels good to know you’ve flushed out 30-something years of stored rubbish.
I’am beginning to feel my attitude to eating rubbishy food is changing. When I have fallen off the wagon and eaten something ‘bad’ I haven’t enjoyed it as much as I usually would. I now have fewer cravings as well.
Week Four
OK, so last week the scales dropped from my eyes and I could see how much healthy eating can do for the way you look and feel. But now I’m on the straight road I can’t wait to get stuck into some really bad food (or at least throw out the rule book).
I’m looking seriously trim, half-a-stone has been shed in the past four weeks, my cellulite is verging on the non-existent and my skin looks radiant. I can safely say I look the best I have done in years.
I feel as if I’ve given my body a full MOT — and it loves me for it.
My post-detox report
Weight: 10 1/2 stone (66.8kg)
Cellulite: practically gone
Bad habits: none in the food/ drink department
Skin: radiantly clear
General well-being: consistent yet slightly depleted energy levels
So, what’s next? Four weeks on, and rubbish
food just doesn’t taste as good any more, which at times I lament but generally I’m very pleased about. I’ve stuck with the juices. I still crave them and try to have at least one a day. I don’t really eat desserts any more and will only have chocolate once or twice a week.
The frenzied eating of whole packets of biscuits, chocolates etc is now over, and I can happily have a little of a good thing without needing to consume the entire lot. I try to eat one detox-type meal a day such as a salad for lunch, and I’m trying to stay away from wheat and dairy products whenever possible.
The figure still looks good and my cellulite is at bay. I’ve found ways of sticking to some of the principles of the detox without it encroaching on my life.
My four weeks later detox report
Weight: 10 stone (65.45kg)
Cellulite: practically gone (especially when you squint your eyes!)
General well-being: consistent energy levels, higher than during detox and yes, I do look more babe-like!
So what didn’t I eat? No wheat, rye, oats, barley.
Alternatives: bread, pasta and cereals made from rice, corn, millet, spelt, quinoa, gluten-free flour, buckwheat.
No cow dairy products. Alternatives: goat, sheep, soy, almond and rice products.
No yeasted, sugary foods, artificial sweeteners.
No animal fat i.e. any fat that comes from chickens, cows, pigs, ducks or sheep.
No cooked oils.
No diet drinks.
No salt or any other condiments.
No soft drinks or other drinks that are not just pure fruit and freshly squeezed.
No canned, packaged or frozen vegetables and fruits. Organic canned and frozen produce are OK at a push.
No jam, jellies, sweets, chocolate, crisps or ice-cream.
No coffee, tea, alcohol, or cocoa. Drink fruit/ herbal tea or hot water and lemon instead.
No sulphured dried fruits.
No packaged goods, or any food or drinks with preservatives, colourings and flavourings.
Before all my readers conclude that I have gone absolutely mad, I dare the sceptics to try it for just a few days. Anyone who survives will find it will have been well worth while!
More information on supplements and detoxification diets can be found on www.worldwidehealthcenter.net
[email protected]
