At the beginning of Summer this year my friend Mariella Tandy and I were having lunch at Laduree outside Harrods when she told me about her nutritionist. At the merest hint of any diet/exercise/body/mood enhancing new trend I’m usually all ears….within seconds the number, and an appointment, was mine.
I’ve been on every diet you can imagine – usually from anywhere between 12 to 36 hours – but I liked the sound of Petronella and her Metabollic Balance. It sounded scientific and tailored, and it was. Here’s the gist:
- Petronella emails you a form to fill out which is pages long and consists of all sorts of questions about your personal and medical history from breast feeding (were you, not do you), to dry skin, hair lustre etc.
- Go and have a nice chat with Petronella who is the nicest woman you could ever meet. A mixture of a kind, understanding mother and sister.
- Pop to Harley Street for a blood test.
- Return to Petronella for results of blood test, and her diet plan for you.
This is where you need to dig deep and prepare for a long hard detox.
- It starts with 2 days of drinking watery soup (or eating loads of potatoes).
- Proceeded by 14 days of a strict eating plan with no oil or alcohol allowed. You can drink tea and coffee and add salt and pepper though. Yes!! Here’s what I ate pretty much solidly for 14 days:
- 95 grams of mushrooms and 1 egg. I made it into an omelette each morning.
- 125 grams of salad consisting of rocket, cherry toms, cucumber, radish, and 75g of goats cheese. 1 apple.
- 135 grams of salad again, with a burger made with 130gms of minced steak.
The type of salad and protein you can eat varies from person to person but everything must be weighed (it’s all about the portions!), There’s also a list of golden rules you must adhere to:
- Eat only three meals per day
- Leave at least 5 hours in between each meal
- Never snack
- Don’t eat after 9pm
- Have only one type of protein per day i.e. don’t have chicken for both lunch and dinner, have say chicken for lunch then beef for dinner.
- Drinks LOTS of water. The amount depends on your body weight and in my case I have to drink 2 litres per day.
- Eat an apple a day – it keeps the doctor away!
If you stick to the hideous 16 days and DON’T veer off it once your body will be set to the weight they tell you you will end up at. Seriously. Even if you have a whole day eating chocolate if you get back onto it the next day you’ll be fine.
If you have any yo-yo dieting issues go and see Petronella, I can highly recommend her. Her email is info@chelseanutrition.com . Tell her I sent you.
Twitter: @Petronella_Diet Website: http://www.chelseanutrition.com/
