After my mother died last year, I took a good, long look in the mirror and discovered that I wasn’t myself. I was her product, looked how she had told me I did: always a little too fat, my skin looked blotched and my clothes just never fit right as I was trying to hide my body. I realized I was ready for a big time make-over.

I had been devouring meat all my life, as my parent’s culture considered it “the cornerstone of all nutrition”. My father had been a hunter, so we always ate venison, in addition to all the pork that usually makes up the southern German (Bavarian) diet. I decided from one day to the next to eliminate all meat. In the past I had tried to become a vegetarian (especially during a documentary I shot at a slaughter house) but the smell of bacon always won me over. This time, I swore to myself it would be different. I had discovered the Portobello Mushroom! I fried (in olive oil) one portobello mushroom to a crisp and pretended it was a steak. I acted extremely gullible – and this is how I got off meat!

It was a very hard first month as I felt weak, picked up the flu and suffered from low energy. Then something amazing happened: I started realizing that the initial detox process was over and each day I began to feel better. My energy increased, my skin became clearer, and I slept better at night. But something was still wrong. I experimented with foods, trying to listen to what my body was telling me: no more yoghurt, no more milk and eggs. I became a vegan. I missed my morning yoghurt, so I started eating soy-yoghurt. I also replaced the milk chocolate with dark chocolate (over 75% cocoa).

low-carb-vegan-logoI realized I needed protein supplements and found out which was best for me: hemp protein! (I never knew it even existed before!) Each morning I checked in with myself and over the next months, the following diet crystallized: I call it the Zirius Diet: Low-Carb Vegan plus Fish.

I watched carefully when I felt the most heavy and tired: after downing those yummy dishes with pasta, rice, or potatoes. No more! Over the next week, I left out all high-carb foods like cereal, bread, potatoes, pasta, rice (yup, also brown rice!). You might ask yourself: what DID you eat then? Actually, I figured out how to replace most of those high-carb foods with other veggies: brussel sprouts, zucchini, Portobello mushrooms, cauliflower, artichokes, string beans, etc… as I didn’t use milk products anymore, I initially had a hard time making tasty sauces with those veggies (because all the usual nasty stuff like ketchup is out, OF COURSE!). I discovered Veganaise, the best vegan mayonnaise replacement I have come across – and after this everything became easier.

But things got tough again when my body asked me to replace those thick fruit juices with water. This is when my skin cleared up a lot.

A nutritionist told me that vegans developed various diseases over the years and that I should consider eating seafood at least once a week. I also learnt about the supplements I needed: Vitamin C, Magnesium and Calcium – Q10 – and I also started taking a lot of Chinese herbs from Dragon Herbs (Tao in a Bottle, Supreme Protector and Profound Essence) as well as a Superfood Drink (containing spirulina and other algaes, probiotics, etc…)

The Zirius daily diet consists of:

Mornings: soy yoghurt with berries and hemp protein, vitamin and mineral supplements and Chinese herbs. Also a superfood greens drink (that contains spirulina, etc…)

Lunch: a huge salad with Avocado, nuts, apple, pepper, tomatoes, onion, fresh ginger, mixed with vinegar, oil and honey

If I get hungry some veggies or a piece of chocolate until 6pm – nothing after that!

I changed my diet 2 years ago and as a result have shed about 15 pounds. The weight loss occurred mostly in the first month, then my body found a new balance – and it’s been no problem maintaining it. I feel generally way more energized, sleep better, remember my dreams more frequently(!) and my entire energy has changed. Quite a few of my friends have tried out my diet and all had great results – check it out!

It’s free, it’s sustainable – and you will start listening to your body a lot more!