A WOMAN claims she dieted so hard that her body began 'eating itself'.
Brigid Delaney, a wellness journalist, went on a 101 day 'detox' where the rules stated she was not to eat for two weeks.
The wellness diet, which, according to it's website promises to ‘reset’ your body, "proved to be brutal," she recalled.
In place of food, Brigid was instructed to drink herbal herbal concoctions – which provided her with just 250 calories each day.
Then for the remaining 87 days, she was told to restrict herself to just 50g of chicken or a boiled egg or half a cucumber.
The diet left the former lawyer so light-headed at times she didn't feel safe to cross the street.
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It also put her in a state of ketosis – a process of burning fat that creates acidic acetone in the body – which left her smelling bad.
"At one point I thought someone had left a rotting chicken carcass outside my bedroom window, before realising the rank smell was coming from me," she wrote in MailOnline.
She also suffered from insomnia, sweat-soaked nights and was tormented by terrible dreams.
Brigid quit after 70 days of the traumatic diet after developing chest pains that were so sharp she believed she was having a heart attack.
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The clinic that was supervising the journalist told her not to worry,
Two years later the clinic closed down, the doctor who ran it having suddenly retired.
An academic specialising in fasting and metabolism later told her the chest pains were likely to have been her own body eating its heart muscle for fuel.
She added: "If there were any benefits beyond the pain, they were short-lived… I put all the weight back on, plus a few pounds more, in six months."
"Looking back, reassurances that my chest pains were akin to a healthful breakthrough now feel like gaslighting to me," she said,
The 'wellness' industry is now estimated to be worth a whopping £3.5trillion.
Hot yoga, colonic irrigation, bone broth, sound baths are just some of the many 'wellness' activities sold as methods of self-improvement.
How to ACTUALLY shed the pounds
According to the NHS, to get the best possible start on its weight loss plan, there are 12 steps you should follow.
1. Don't skip breakfast
2. Eat regularly
3. Eat lots of fruit and veg
4. Get active
5. Drink water
6. Eat high fibre
7. Read the label
8. Use a smaller plate
9. Don't ban foods
10. Don't buy junk food
11. Cut down on booze
12. Plan your meals
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