By Shirley Bar
Who knew that after being so skinny as a young girl, I would gain such an enormous amount of weight at age 14? All of a sudden, one day, I was 30 pounds overweight! It’s quite difficult being an overweight teenager. I was determined to lose the weight. I began doing every diet in the book. You name it, I did it. I chewed gum for days at a time without eating anything, but then I became so weak that I ate everything in sight. I then began taking laxatives, over-the-counter diet pills, weight-loss supplements, and basically whatever was sold. After all of my attempts, I always gained back what I lost, and then some. I also did the Atkins diet, South Beach diet, Miracle Diet, and on and on. I did it all. I was exhausted and desperate.
At the same time, my aunt Dina was sick. She was diagnosed with liver cancer and we were all petrified. My other aunt, Sarah, Dina’s sister, found a place in Florida where they “drink grass and eat it, too.” Sarah said that people go there from all around the world to heal from all sorts of diseases. However, Dina’s three sons did not really believe in that stuff, and decided to continue with conventional medicine. Dina passed away within three months.
But for me, something felt right. I was curious to learn more about this place in Florida. I looked it up, contacted them, and was on a plane there within days. I found Hippocrates Health Institute.
After only eight weeks at Hippocrates, I lost about 40 pounds and felt better than ever. I was only 19 back then, but I was ready to conquer the world.
I put together a program called Transform42. The program is based on a doable and practical approach. It’s healthful and promotes longevity and weight loss. The program is based on correctly combining your food, on detoxing, on strengthening the immune system, and building metabolism. There is no calorie-counting, carb-counting, or any counting at all. I believe a person can count calories for a limited amount of time–not forever. Too many clients came to me after they have been to a conventional nutritionist (who encouraged them to eat processed food along with artificial sweeteners) and complained how they managed to lose weight but gained it back.
I would like to share an amazing story with you that happened about 12 years ago:
I was a personal trainer/health educator working at a gym. As I was training one of my clients, a 19-year-old woman walked in. She was extremely overweight. She got on the treadmill, walked on it for about five minutes, lifted some hand-weights for another five minutes, put her coat back on, and left the gym. I thought, “What in the world is she doing?” Sure enough, the next day, I saw her again doing the exact same thing!
On the third day, I finally approached her and asked her why she even bothered coming to the gym if she’s not working out nearly enough. She said: “Oh, no, it’s OK, I’m going in for gastric bypass surgery next month. I don’t really need to work out.” I was sad and shocked and, most of all, I wanted to help her. I offered her my program for free, until the surgery. She agreed. Within a month, she lost 35 pounds and the rest is history. She canceled the surgery and went on to lose 50 more pounds!
She still looks amazing today, and that is because Transform42 is not a diet, it’s phase 1. Phase 2 is the rest of your life.
After opening my studio and having much success in Boro Park, I decided to live in Israel for a while. Israel didn’t know what hit it. Within just a few months in Israel, I had weight-loss, health-gain groups all over the state. Thousands of people from all around the country attended my lectures and seminars. My book became a bestseller within days. My bestselling products are top-quality and are being sold in health food stores all around Israel. I have trained hundreds of healthy chefs in my school and conducted detox retreats four times a year.
My ultimate passion is for you to get healthy! I will do anything and everything in my power in order to educate you on what’s hot and what’s not. I want you to lose weight if you need to. I want you to heal if you need to. I want you to feel amazing every day. I want you to live long. I want you to learn how to use food as a tool to heal your body and prevent diseases. I will go to the limit, and I will do whatever it takes so that you will realize the truth about nutrition. I want you to know that food is medicine.
I would like to finish off by giving you a few tips that Transform42 is based on.
Correctly combine your food. Proteins and carbs do not digest well together, and since we want a good and fast-working digestive system, we must separate the intake of proteins and carbs. If you are eating protein, have it with vegetables only. If you are eating carbs, have them with vegetables only. No more chicken and potatoes. Chicken with veggies, or potatoes with veggies.
Eat fruit alone and on an empty stomach. Fruit digests easily when eaten on an empty stomach, but ferments and slows down digestion when eaten after a meal. Your breakfast should consist of fruit alone.
Drink two cups of room-temperature water with fresh lemon squeezed into it. The lemon will alkalize your stomach and it’s a great way to start the day.
Good luck to you all! v
Over the last 20 years, Shirley Bar has developed a signature program called Shirley Bar Living that has allowed thousands of people around the world to get in the best shape of their lives and heal the most troublesome of health conditions using food as medicine. Shirley is an international bestselling author of Transform 42, a formulator of numerous bestselling products, and a media personality with a huge following in Israel. Shirley is now a Five Towns resident and welcomes your questions and concerns at Shirlybar123@gmail.com.
