The 24 Hour Diet: Lose up to 4lbs in a Day

Both these teas support the cleansing process of the body.

Please note: Laxative teas are not recommended if you have or develop diarrhoea or abdominal pain. Consult your doctor before taking them if you suffer from frequent diarrhoea, are pregnant, breast-feeding, taking medication or have a medical condition.

TIME-SAVING TIPS

1 It sounds obvious but read the whole plan before you start – I’ve tried to address all the little problem areas you may have, so a little prior reading will help a great deal.

2 The Vitality Soup and Sanity Snacks can be made in advance. You can freeze the Vitality Soup in convenient individual serving sizes, and the Sanity Snacks last up to a week in a container in the fridge.

3 To save mess as well as time, freeze nut butters in ice cube trays. They easily come out of the trays and two cubes are the equivalent of a dessertspoon. You can put the frozen cubes straight into the Nutty Evening Energizer, but they will need to thaw a little before making a fresh batch of Sanity Snacks.

4 The Body Blender Breakfast can be partly prepared the night before. Soak the oats, wheat germ, lecithin and nutmeg in 200ml (7fl oz) cold water. Cover and leave overnight in the fridge. In the morning, just pour it into your blender with the remaining ingredients.

5 Your Good Morning Body Juice is best prepared fresh from scratch by peeling the vegetables and fruit when you need them. Cutting up the fruit and vegetables beforehand can reduce the vitamin content due to oxidation. However, if you are really short of time you can wash and cut them up, leaving them ready to use in the morning. Alternatively, you can make up a batch of juice and freeze it immediately in convenient individual serving sizes. This preserves the nutrient content and does little to reduce its powerful qualities.

6 The night before your 24 Hour Diet, put your blender and juicer out on the sideboard, all ready to go.

7 Taking your Vitality Soup to work in a flask can be convenient when doing your Three-day Cleanse.

8 Do your 24 Hour Diet with a friend and turn it into a spa day. Doing it together means you can share the preparation. It also makes it a Lot more fun, especially if you have a sleepover the night before and combine it with some pampering.

ENERGIZING YOGA POSES

LYING TWIST

When: First thing in the morning with your Body Cleanse Elixir.

Why: Doing twists massages and helps to detoxify the internal organs, encouraging sound digestion and improving circulation.

What you do: Lie on your back with your arms stretched out to the sides in line with your shoulders. Bring your knees to your chest. Slowly let both knees fall to your left side; turn your neck and look to the right. Breathe for a few moments then return your knees to the centre and repeat on the opposite side.

COBRA

When: First thing in the morning and during the afternoon.

Why: Puts pressure on the abdomen, assisting elimination.

What you do: Lie on your stomach with legs outstretched. Place your palms on the floor near your ribcage. Inhale as you press your hands into the floor and lift your chest, keeping your hips anchored on the floor and pressing down with your pubic bone. Hold for three to five smooth breaths, then lower to the floor. Repeat three times.

CORPSE POSE

When: In the evening, before you go to bed.

Why: A lovely, relaxing body-awareness exercise. Releasing mental and emotional stress is of utmost importance when we cleanse.

What you do: Lie on your back, feet and arms extended and comfortably relaxed. Let your weight sink into the floor and relax everywhere. Keep bringing your attention back to the sensations of the body so you start to get glimpses of where you are holding tension. Try to release these areas of tension with deep breaths, allowing your body to fall into the mat.

TAKING YOUR MEASUREMENTS

You need to take your measurements three times: the night before you start; first thing on the morning of the diet; and first thing the morning after.

The measurements I suggest you take are:

• your weight

• your waist: the smallest part of your middle

• your belly button: the measurement around your middle level with your belly button. For some people this can be the same point as their waist measurement while others may have a Lower or higher belly button measurement.

• your hips: standing with your feet together, measure a level circumference at the top of your buttock cheeks

• your thighs: standing with your feet together, take a circumference measurement 20cm (8 inches) up from the top of your kneecap

Record these measurements in the following table.

SHOPPING LIST

All these items can be bought from an organic shop such as Fresh and Wild (www.freshandwild.com) or Planet Organic (www.planetorganic.com). Dry goods can be found in Holland and Barrett or any good high-street health-food shop.

FRUIT AND VEGETABLES

Ideally, try to buy organic or local produce – see the ‘Eat Ethically’ rule on page 130 for more information.

• 2 lemons or bottled lemon juice

• 2 apples

• 1 pear

• 1 banana

• 200ml carton of orange juice

• 1 avocado

• 1 small red onion

• Garlic clove or garlic purée

• 1 small red pepper

• Small cucumber

• 1 fresh chilli or Tabasco sauce

• 1 small bulb of fennel

• Fresh ginger

• 1 packet each of fresh basil, parsley and mint

NUTS, SEEDS, DRIED FRUIT

• Small packet of walnut halves or almonds

• Flaxseeds or linseeds (grind with a pestle and mortar or in a coffee grinder for speed)

• Small packet of dried figs

• Small packet of dried dates

• Small packet of semi-dried pitted prunes

• Small packet of pumpkin seeds

DRY GOODS (BOTTLES AND JARS)

• Jar of almond butter (white almond butter is my favourite)

• Small container of pure fruit spread (I use Sunwheel pear and prune)

• Small packet of organic 70 per cent cocoa powder (I use Green and Blacks)

• Small tin of lecithin granules (I use Optima brand)

• 1 large tin of chopped organic tomatoes

• Olive oil

• Sugar

• Ground black pepper

• Porridge oats

• Small packet of wheat germ

• Whole or powdered nutmeg

• 1 bottle of living green food (I used Pure Synergy brand – expensive but worth it!)

• Honey

• Neem tinture

• Detox tea

• Lax tea (I use the Dr Stuart’s brand)

EQUIPMENT LIST

You will need the following equipment:

• Blender

• Magimix or good kitchen mixer

• Tape measure

• Kitchen scales

RECIPES

All recipes make one serving, unless otherwise indicated.

Body Cleanse Elixir Drink

1 mug hot water

Juice of ½ a lemon

30 drops neem tincture

2 tsp honey, to taste

Mix the neem tincture in a little cold water before adding to the warm water, lemon and honey mixture.

This can be a little bitter so use the honey to taste.

Calories: 70 Fat: 0g Protein: 0.15g Carbs: 19.33g

Good Morning Body Juice

¼ fennel bulb

1 apple

½ pear

4 sprigs mint

6 sprigs parsley

1cm (½ inch) fresh ginger, peeled

1 tsp Pure Synergy (or other living green food)

Wash all the fruit and vegetables (ideally these should be organic). Cut into chunks and feed into the juicer. Alternating the ingredients will help prevent your juicer getting clogged up. Add the living green food into the juice and mix well with a fork to help dissolve the powder. If you are not used to fresh ginger, you may want to use less to begin with.

Calories: 131 Fat: 0.84g Protein: 0.62g Carbs: 33.89g

Body Blender Breakfast

2 dessertspoons porridge oats

1 dessertspoon wheat germ

3 semi-dried prunes

1 teaspoon ground flaxseeds

1 dessertspoon lecithin granules

Sprinkle of nutmeg (or cinnamon if you prefer)

2 tsp pumpkin seeds

½ apple or pear, chopped, or a few strawberries

Place the oats, wheat germ, prunes, ground flaxseeds, lecithin and nutmeg in a measuring jug and top up to 200ml (7fl oz) with boiling water. Leave to soak for at least 20 minutes. Now may be a good time to take a shower or bath.

It’s a good idea to prepare to this stage when you are making your Body Cleanse Elixir Drink. Alternatively, you can prepare this the night before.

After 20 minutes the mixture should be quite thick. Pour into a blender. Rinse out the measuring jug with a further 100ml (3fl oz) of hot water to mop up any leftover nutrients and add to the mixture in the blender. Blend for 60 seconds or until smooth.

Pour into a bowl, sprinkle with the pumpkin seeds and fruit. Add more warm water if you want a runnier consistency.

Eat while warm as it’s easier to digest and more satisfying. Enjoy!

Calories: 270 Fat: 6.18g Protein: 8.60g Carbs: 48.73g

Vitality Soup

Makes 2 servings

1 tin chopped organic tomatoes

½ small red onion, roughly chopped

1 small red pepper, roughly chopped

Large chunk cucumber, roughly chopped

2 cloves fresh garlic or 1 heaped tsp garlic purée*

Fresh chilli pepper or Tabasco sauce to taste

Large handful fresh basil

1 tbsp olive oil

1 tsp sugar to taste

Black pepper to taste

To serve:

½ avocado, chopped

1 dessertspoon lecithin

Large handful fresh parsley

Put the vegetables, garlic, chilli and basil in a blender and whizz until smooth. Add the olive oil and sugar and blend for a further 10 seconds. Season with pepper to taste. Chill until required.

Pour into a large bowl and top with the avocado, lecithin and chopped fresh parsley.

* If you’re not a great garlic fan try using just one clove of garlic.

Calories: 222 Fat: 14.89g Protein: 3.30g Carbs: 23.46g

Sanity Snack

Makes 8

8 walnut halves

1 dessertspoon almond butter

1 dessertspoon pure fruit spread (I use Sunwheel pear and prune)

1 dessertspoon lecithin

1 tsp ground flaxseeds

1 dried fig, roughly chopped

3 dried dates, roughly chopped

Good-quality 70 per cent dark cocoa powder for dusting

In a small blender, first chop the walnuts until small. Then add all the remaining ingredients, apart from the cocoa powder, and mix. After about 30 seconds the mixture should form a sticky ball. If the ingredients aren’t combining well, stop and stir it, then switch the mixer on again for a short blast. Take the ball out of the mixer and divide it into eight equal portions. Using your hands, make each portion into a small ball, then roll each ball in the cocoa powder to dust the outside. Leave in the fridge to chill for at least 30 minutes. These last for four days.

Calories: 52.13 Fat: 2.64g Protein: 8.60g Carbs: 7.21g

Nutty Evening Energizer

1 dessertspoon almond butter

200ml (7fl oz) orange juice

½ banana

To serve:

½ apple or pear (or apple left over from breakfast)

6 walnut halves, chopped

Blend all the ingredients until smooth. Pour into a bowl and serve with the fruit slices and chopped walnuts.

Calories: 332 Fat: 17.54g Protein: 5.85g Carbs: 44.48g

THE BIG DAY

Everything you need to prepare the meals, drinks and snacks for the diet can be found in the shopping list on page 18. Recipes are given on page 21.

FIRST THING:

Body Cleanse Elixir Drink (see page 21)

Good Morning Juice (see page 22) plus 1 tsp pure Synergy powder

(Spacing these two drinks apart works quite well as it gives your body time to absorb and start to utilize the nutrients, and avoids overloading your system all in one go.)

BREAKFAST:

Body Blender Breakfast (see page 23)

Mid-morning:

1 detox tea

6 almonds or walnuts

1 apple

(Again, these can be spaced out through the morning if you wish.)

LUNCH:

Vitality Soup (see page 25)

Afternoon:

Body Cleanse Elixir Drink (see page 21)

One Sanity Snack (see page 27)

Evening:

Nutty Energizer (see page 28)

1 detox or lax tea before bed

Try to drink at least 2 litres of water throughout the day.

Herbal teas are unlimited but please don’t replace the morning and afternoon Body Cleanse Elixir. I have found the Dr Stuart’s range to be the best.

WHAT NEXT?

Once you have completed your 24 Hour Diet there are a number of ways to continue feeling fabulous:

• You can complete the Three-day Cleanse (below).

• You can do the 20-day Follow-on Plan in Part 2 to continue Losing weight and inches.

• You may feel confident enough to go straight to Part 3, ‘Keeping the Weight Off’.

THE THREE-DAY CLEANSE

This is a great way to continue the good work. Your stomach may have already shrunk a little, and the Three-day Cleanse is a great way to lead out of your 24 Hour Diet. You’ll now have all the ingredients you need. Plus, of course, you get the added benefit of consolidating your inch and weight loss.

Alternatively, you may decide to go straight into the Three-day Cleanse without doing the 24 Hour Diet first. It’s a great way to shake off the body doldrums from the inside out; a super-simple, non-fasting approach to giving your body a spring cleanse.

You can expect visible results when you follow the Three-day Cleanse. Remember to drink plenty of water, little and often. Complete your yoga postures (see page 14) and between 6,000 and 12,000 steps or 40 minutes of brisk walking split into two 20-minute bouts.

The lunches and dinners can be swapped around for convenience. The programme can also be adapted to include meat and fish. For example, you may wish to top your Vitality Soup with some cottage cheese or perhaps a small tin of flaked tuna, rich in the omega-3 essential fats. Alternatively, for your evening meal try wafer-thin chicken or veal escalopes marinated in a little olive oil, sage and fresh rosemary, and then grilled. Or try a steamed skate wing with fresh parsley, a little extra virgin olive oil and small knob of butter with your fresh vegetables. It will be ready in minutes. Salmon and mackerel steaks work really well too, or if your taste buds are less keen on oily fish, try baked cod, haddock or plaice wrapped in foil with some olive oil, fresh dill and chives.

FORMING GOOD HABITS

Another benefit of the 24 Hour Diet and Three-day Cleanse is that they help us break some habits. We are all creatures of habit with familiar patterns of eating, moving, resting, thinking and feeling. These habits aren’t necessarily the best for our wellbeing, but it’s easy to lose sight of what it’s actually like to have more energy. The diet and cleanse may create an opportunity to see things from a new perspective. By following the diet you will be challenging those bad habits, helping you set a standard for a healthier, more balanced approach to your weight loss.

So if you are ready to start forming some new habits to help you achieve a more balanced approach to a healthy body weight, let’s move on to Part 2, the 20-day Follow-on Plan.

PART 2 THE 20-DAY FOLLOW-ON PLAN

In this section I’ll introduce you to the 20 rules that will help you achieve your weight loss and keep it off. You’ll also find 10 highly effective weight-loss plans.

Each of these 20 rules represents a small change. Taking small steps may sound a long way round to getting your weight off but research supports this approach. Implementing the rules in a gradual way to change our habits has been shown to be effective and achievable, and to create a lasting change in our behaviour. The psychologist, Steve Biddulph, has described this as the ‘five-per-cent rule’. Here the rules are about helping you make positive changes for your health and weight; taking one small action at a time.

Each of the rules is supported by a series of ‘habits to groove’ and ‘habits to ditch’. Habit grooving is about the small actions you can take to help strengthen each of the rules. Habit ditching is about minimizing the small actions or cues that may be destructive to fulfilling each of the rules. By applying the rules with habit grooving and habit ditching you will be far more likely to be healthier, fitter and trimmer in the short and long-term.

GET MOTIVATED!

To apply the rules successfully you need to be motivated to make a change. The rules can’t just take care of themselves; you do need to be prepared to put in a little effort. But in each of the 10 specially designed weight-loss plans in this section I’ve made it really simple for you to apply the rules highly effectively. All you have to do is introduce the rules one at a time. You’ll be losing weight and boosting your health while taking small, effective steps to achieving that weight loss and keeping it off.