W
WELLNESS
40 asiaSpa India May-June 2017
Turns out, we are lucky today
because the strict diet starts the next
day. We are offered a menu and asked
to choose any two dishes from it.
The diner to our right tells us, “Make
the best choice today because, from
tomorrow, you will be in the same boat
as us with either a soup or a broth.”
Amused by this introduction, we are
delighted to discover that the food is
rather delectable. The smiling waitress
asks me if I would like to eat the
buckwheat bread or spelt. I’ve never had
either, so I choose buckwheat – mainly
because it sounds better. Funnily, the
bread is what they call the chewing
trainer. It’s rock hard and I am asked
to chew on it until it becomes soft
enough to swallow. For someone who
is accustomed to gulping down her
food either in front of a computer or a
TV, this poses a huge challenge. This is
my first lesson at VIVAMAYR...chew,
chew and chew more! This technique
of chewing food correctly, according
to them, is the very essence of good
digestion. One of the therapists I get
friendly with later tells me that it’s better
to eat a cheeseburger and chew it well
than to gulp down a salad. Now that’s
a very pleasing thought! Turns out, I
don’t have to feel guilty the next time I
eat fried chicken if I just chew it right!
Jokes apart, the next day is the
start of my ‘cure’. The modern Mayr
treatment is based on the detoxification
programme that FX Mayr developed in
Austria nearly 100 years ago. It combines
natural remedies with modern medical
diagnosis and treatments. The premise
behind VIVAMAYR’s healing is that one
must follow a health regime based on
intestinal cleansing, which combines a
medical detox with personalised diets
and holistic treatments to deliver a total
health transformation. Detoxification
is the core element of the programme
because the cleansing of the gut is what
makes the immune system healthy.
The clinic at VIVAMAYR Altaussee
is led by Medical Director Dr. Sepp
Fegerl, who is charming and makes
you feel wonderful about yourself while
slashing down your daily consumption
of food to one-tenth of what it is on
an average day. Now this is reason
enough to despise anyone, but given his
demeanour, you cannot help but adore
him. My first appointment with Dr.
Fegerl lasts an hour. After understanding
my lifestyle, he prescribes an array of
blood tests and makes a diet plan and
therapy schedule that includes massages,
under water treatments, personal
training, abdominal treatments and a
liver compress, among others, for the
days that I am to be at VIVAMAYR.
The busy schedule comes as a surprise,
but what comes as a shock is that he
is putting me on a diet in which the
main ingredient is potato! I had always
thought that potatoes make you fat. But
here, I will eat potatoes and cheese every
day, albeit in moderation – the Candida
diet. The Mayr Kinesiology test that
Dr. Fegerl prescribes tells me that I’m
gluten and fructose sensitive and this
will become the basis of the diet that
will be prescribed for me to take home.
My first day starts with a massage,
a nasal treatment – which feels funny
initially, but I get used to it in the days
that follow – a liver compress on a
water bed, which was very relaxing,
and a session with my personal trainer,
Michael. Just one session with him
makes me realise how desperately I
need to start exercising regularly. The
first day is a bit of a struggle, but,
by the end of the programme, I am