Freedom from the Diet Trap: Slim for Life

Copyright

Thorsons

An imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers 1 London Bridge Street London SE1 9GF

www.harpercollins.co.uk

First published by HarperThorsons at Slim for Life in 2002 This updated edition published 2014

© Jason Vale 2002, 2014

A catalogue record of this book is available from the British Library

Jason Vale asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work

Cover photographs @ Shutterstock.com

All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.

Source ISBN: 9780007284924

Ebook Edition © JUNE 2014 ISBN: 9780007466375

Version 2015-01-12

Contents

Cover

Title Page

Copyright

‘The Best Book I Have Read on the Subject for Twenty-five Years’

1. OH NO! NOT ANOTHER DIET BOOK!

2. THE FLY SYNDROME

3. NEVER GO ON A DIET AGAIN

4. PHARMAGEDDON

5. CHANGE YOUR DIET

6. WE DON’T NEED TO KNOW!

7. WHY DO PEOPLE EAT JUNK FOOD?

8. THE FOOD TRICK

9. OH SUGAR!

10. FAT FREE

11. A PINCH OF SALT

12. THE PLEASURE OF EATING JUNK

13. CHANGE YOUR MOOD BY EATING SOME FOOD

14. CHOCS AWAY!

15. OUT TO LUNCH

16. FAST FOOD

17. A MEATY PROBLEM

18. ‘DAIRY’-ARIANS

19. PASTA LA VISTA BABY

20. LETHAL COMBINATION

21. CON – APPETITE

22. LIQUID ASSET

23. A DIET COKE BREAK

24. COFFEE WAKE UP CALL

25. BLIND DRUNK

26. VERY BIG FAT PROFITS

27. THE MOUSE TRAP

28. THE ADVANTAGES OF EATING JUNK

29. THE SACRIFICES YOU WILL BE MAKING

30. DIET MENTALITY

31. THE FAT CURE

32. PURE JUICE POWER

33. FURNITURE DISEASE

34. THE BEST EXERCISE PROGRAMME IN THE WORLD

35. PEOPLE PHOBIA

36. GET BUSY LIVING OR GET BUSY DYING

37. THE FOOD POLICE

38. GIVE YOUR BRAIN A BREAK

39. BE FLEXIBLE

40. YOU’VE GOT A TICKET TO THE BIG GAME

41. RE-TUNE, RE-TUNE, AND RE-TUNE

Appendices

1. THE INSTRUCTIONS

2. SEVEN SIMPLE STEPS TO BE SLIM FOR LIFE

3. A DAY IN THE LIFE OF

4. FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

5. BASIC RULES FOR MAKING JUICES

6. RECIPES

7. GET THE RIGHT JUICER … FOR YOU!

Also by Jason Vale...

About the Publisher

‘The Best Book I Have Read on the Subject for Twenty-five Years’

I sent the manuscript for this book off at 12 noon on a Wednesday, and at 2 p.m. the following day I got a call from the first and only publishers I had sent it to. The first thing the editor from HarperCollins said was, ‘This is the best book I have read on this subject for twenty-five years’, followed by, ‘It’s like a cold glass of water on a hot summer’s day.’ I was flattered, to say the least, but I knew at the same time that the information was pretty groundbreaking. Luckily, the editor at HarperCollins wasn’t the only person to think the book was extremely different to everything else out there and I have received thousands of emails from all corners of globe, saying how the book has completely changed their lives. The problem is there are so many ‘diet’ and ‘health’ books on the market that it’s all too easy to group them together. Luckily, through no press or advertising, Slim For Life has grown through word of mouth alone and is now not only a best-seller, but is even quoted in some medical papers.

Don’t Listen To Me

My words cannot possibly encapsulate the ways in which this book has helped so many people, so before we begin, here is an extremely short selection of the very genuine unsolicited emails and reviews we receive on a daily basis. Please make a point of taking the time to read them as every aspect of this book is here for a reason. I sincerely hope this small selection helps to inspire you, now that you have bought the book, to actually go on to read it. After you have read this short section I will finish the introduction explaining what you have in store so that you fully understand the nature of my writing and you get the most from the book.

A whole new way to look at food

‘Since reading this book twelve months ago I have lost 5 stone [31 kg], my skin and hair looks amazing and I am full of energy! This book is truly life changing. It’s not the sort of “Same old …” diet book which tells you to weigh out 3 oz [368 g] of cottage cheese every day, it actually changes the way you think about food and explains why you’re hooked on certain foods (and un-brainwashes you too!). I started by reading another of Jason’s books – The Simple Way To Stop Eating Chocolate – as I used to eat way too much chocolate. Now it’s been fifteen month since I’ve had any and I’ve not missed it for a second! I’d recommend these books for absolutely everyone, fat or thin (my slim boyfriend has read Slim For Life and it’s changed his views on food too!)’

J. Bramwell

4 stone in 4 months

‘From reading this book in May and adopting most of the principles within it I have gone on to lose 4 stone [25 kg] in as many months and feel better than I have in years. The book is very informative yet easy to read and something about the way it is written makes you want to take heed and actually cut out many foods from your diet (something I never thought I could do!!). I have never written a review before but for this I had to make an exception, this many people can’t be wrong!’

J. Ainley

Another one of the converted

‘This book is a life changer. I am a 52-year-old male who has been on a diet for the majority of those years. I have lost 5 stone [31 kg] three times and other large amounts along the way. And every time I’ve put it back on and more besides. I’ve reached goals at Weight Watchers, Slimming World (I was Suffolk’s only male consultant there) and other slimming clubs. I read Jason Vale’s book on the 27th of December (yes in a day) and I’m cured of ever being on a diet again. I will never weigh again. I will never drink diet drinks tea or coffee again. I will not eat cakes, chocolate, or the foods I now know to be damaging. In what amounts to a month (in which I have juiced every day and eaten well) I feel a whole lot better and am sleeping at night (I used to get up to eat), I have so much more energy and my trousers are falling down. If you are thinking about buying this book you would be a fool not to. This book is a godsend. Thank you Jason Vale. If anybody buys this book on my recommendation and reads it from start to finish I will be a happy man because I too will have made a difference. It works!’

M. Howe

Buy this book and transform the way you think about health

‘This book isn’t just about what to eat, it’s about the psychology of health, and it’s something everyone should read.

‘I’m not fat and I never have been – but this book has given me more power to improve my health than anything else I’ve read in the last decade. I used to be addicted to certain types of foods – usually those loaded with sugar. Even though I looked healthy to most people I struggled with low blood sugar on a daily basis and I experienced massive mood swings because of the food in my diet. So I was delighted when I read Slim For Life because it helped me understand why I was hooked on all sorts of junk, and it gave me the simple solutions I needed to take my health to a whole new level.

‘If weight loss is your goal, I’m sure Slim For Life will help you get what you want. And if you’re already slim, you should still read this book because it will help you stay in shape for the rest of your life without feeling stressed or under pressure.

‘I’m now free from the food trap, and I owe massive thanks to Jason Vale for writing this terrific book.’

17-year-old life change

‘Before I read this book I had spots – a lot on my forehead and some on my cheeks and back. But within a few weeks of adopting Jason’s easy ideas ALL my spots disappeared. I’m a 17-year-old who read this book when I was 15 so I’m sure if I can do it anyone can do it. I was never fat but I binged all the time (and I mean all the time!) on crisps, chocolate, McDonald’s, chips, Coke, white bread etc. I don’t eat any of that rubbish any more and I never will again. At first I was scared of giving up these foods but by the time I finished the book I never wanted to touch them again. Thanks a million Jason – you’re so accurate when you say that this book is for people who want to be slim for life and not just for a week. Great book, great advice, great life changer.’

I could print an entire book from the thousands of testimonials I have had from this book alone. These were just a few and I hope they have provided even more reason to read the book. One thing you should know before you get stuck in is that my basic writing style isn’t to everyone’s liking. I fully understand and appreciate this, but my aim is not to win literary awards but to genuinely make a difference in the area of health and addiction. My aim is also to reach as many people as possible. Not only will my sometimes basic style annoy some, at times, but I also repeat myself constantly throughout the book. I do this as a form of hypnosis and re-conditioning and it is all meant for a reason. We have been bombarded for years with emotional messages from what I call BIG FOOD and BIG DRINK in a bid to lure us in and trap us. We have the space of one book to reverse all of that brainwashing and the repetition of key points is one of the best ways to achieve our goal.

THIS IS NOT A BOOK ON JUICING!

I would also like to make it clear that unlike many of my other books, this is not a book on juicing and smoothie making. In fact, if you don’t want to go near a juicer after you finish this book you don’t have to. Yes I will talk about juicing and yes I think it’s a truly wonderful tool to the land of the slim and super healthy, but it’s not 100 per cent essential. I want people to fully understand that although I am also known as, ‘The Juice Master’, this new version of Slim For Life, Freedom From The Diet Trap, doesn’t rely on juicing as a prerequisite to lifelong slimming and health success. I am hoping that after you read this book you will want to get fresh juicing into your life and use it as a tool to lifelong good health, but if you don’t you will still have success.

This version of the book is slightly different to when I first wrote it and there are a couple of new chapters too, but the message and impact is still the same. If you have read the book before the new format and few bits of new information may well make re-reading it easy and worthwhile. It’s like an old film you’ve seen before, many aspects you would have forgotten and it’s good to revisit some aspects again to remain free from the food and diet trap.

Read the book with an open mind and read at least a chapter a day until you finish. I realize that it’s hard to imagine how a simple book can make such a massive difference; especially if you have tried God knows how many different methods before. However, after reading thousands of letters from people all over the world, I can guarantee you cannot read this book with an open mind and not make a fundamental change to your diet. You will also never see food or the industry in the same light ever again.

I wish you every success and if you get time I would love to hear from you.

1
OH NO! NOT ANOTHER DIET BOOK!

That’s right – what you are holding is not another diet book. In fact, if you’re looking for something that is the complete opposite to the misery, deprivation and ultimate failure of dieting – then you have finally found it.

This book is not just for people who are overweight either; it’s for anyone who has ever had the slightest issue with food, which – in today’s processed food and image conscious world – pretty much covers everyone I think. And it’s also not what I call a ‘state the obvious’ book either. What I mean is, I’m not going to spend the time we have together stating the mind-blowingly obvious to you about certain foods or treating you like some kind of moron. That was one of the things I hated about eating the wrong foods, being overweight, feeling tired, lethargic and unhealthy myself – people assuming that just because I was thick physically, it automatically made me thick mentally. My doctor at the time was one of the worst for this and was head of what I call ‘The State The Bloody Obvious Brigade’. He would say things like, ‘You’re eating too much of the wrong types of foods, you don’t exercise enough and you should lose weight. If you changed your eating habits and exercised more you would feel better and be slimmer.’

Well no shit Sherlock! It was the same when I used to smoke 40–60 cigarettes a day; my doctor would say, ‘It’s killing you and costing you a fortune, you’d be richer and healthier if you quit.’ Once again – no really, what a revelation doc, hadn’t figured that one out, now you’ve pointed that out I’ll just extinguish this last one and I’ll call it a day.

Some doctors are not the only members of the ‘State The Bloody Obvious Brigade’ either; it appears most health books, diet clubs and people in general are also lifelong members of it. We’ve even got people like Gillian McKeith who, when confronted with a 5 ft (1.5 m) woman weighing in at 20 stone (127 kg), feels the remarkable need to see a sample of their poo before suggesting the appropriate measures. The appropriate measures not surprisingly being to eat less crap, increase fruit and veg intake and exercise more. Information which would hardly come as a surprise to anyone who hasn’t been on another planet all of their lives and information which would hardly be a surprise to the 20 stone (127 kg) woman either.

Then you have some members of the ‘diet guru’ world saying you can actually eat anything you like and be ‘thin’ as long as you ‘eat when you are hungry’, and ‘stop eating when you are full’ – as if anyone who is overweight doesn’t try to do this all the time. Is it possible that our compulsion to overeat just may be caused by the type of foods we are eating? Isn’t it also possible that it takes a shed load of food for some people to ever feel full?

What all members of the ‘bloody obvious’ fail to realize is we’re not stupid. We all know that things like chocolate, cola, coffee, cakes, crisps, ice cream, alcohol, milkshakes, and things like fast-food burgers and fries are not good for us and make us tired, ill and fat. We are also aware that fruit, vegetables, nuts, seeds, grains, fish etc. are all good and would keep us slim and healthy. We also know that a good dose of daily exercise makes us feel good and helps to keep us trim. I’m not being funny but who on earth doesn’t know this? However, my point is: does just knowing this help you to actually stop the unhealthy foods and change your eating habits in favour of the good stuff? Does the knowledge that daily exercise is wonderful for you help you actually to get up and do some? No. If it did you wouldn’t be reading this book, you would have already done it. And that’s the problem. The instinctive knowledge that these foods are bad might make you think more about how much of them you are eating and thus make you try to control your intake of them on a consistent basis, but it doesn’t stop you wanting them or, most of the time, having them. It certainly didn’t stop me.

That is why I was 30 lb (13 kg) overweight, badly asthmatic (took both the blue and brown inhalers, taking up to sixteen puffs a day), covered from head to toe in a skin disorder called psoriasis (at one stage I didn’t have an area of skin which wasn’t affected in some way) and had all the genuine energy of a comatose dormouse. The only reason I didn’t get even bigger and sicker was because I was always on a diet. The yo-yo king, that was me – always fighting a constant battle not to eat too much of the wrong kinds of foods; always using a degree of willpower, discipline, and control to keep my health under some kind of control; always doing spats of ‘healthy eating’ and exercise to ‘keep the weight off’. I hated it every time and always rewarded myself at the end of the nightmare with the very same stuff that caused the problem in the first place. I was more than fully aware that the foods I was eating were causing my physical problems – fat, lethargy and asthma – but the truth was I was psychologically hooked at the time and simply didn’t know what to do in order to escape. On the surface it appears obvious and logical, but addiction and logic have nothing in common. As already stated, logically we know what to do, but addiction totally transcends any degree of logic.

So, if you thought you’d picked up a health/slimming book that was simply going to tell you that you should eat more fresh fruit and veggies, drink their fine juices, do more exercise and cut out the crap from your diet, you are very much mistaken. The reason? You already know you should do this and so does every one else.

THE FOOD AND DIET TRAP

What you need, therefore, is not a lecture on the bloody obvious, which will get you nowhere, but a full understanding of what I describe as ‘The Food and Diet Trap’. You need a full explanation of why you do eat the foods you eat – even though at times it goes against your rational judgement – not why you shouldn’t. You need to know exactly how the physical effects caused by certain ‘foods’ and drinks affect your thoughts – how they cause cravings and additional hungers and how to rid yourself of them. You need to know exactly what is happening, both physically and mentally, when you eat things like refined sugar, refined fat, cakes, muffins, chocolate, coffee, cola, diet drinks, dairy products, etc. You also need to know precisely how the BIG FOOD companies manipulate and condition you into buying what I describe as ‘drug foods’, yes drug foods. You need to know how these drug-like food and drinks companies will do whatever it takes to get you – and keep you – hooked on their ‘brand’ of junkie foods and drinks. You also need to fully understand that many of the foods which we have been told by those we trust to do the right thing – governments in particular and their ‘food groups’ – are excellent for our health, are in reality causing us harm. You need to realize that BIG FOOD have BIG POCKETS and what is going on in the BIG FOOD and BIG DRINK world will astonish you. Much of what I know I am not even allowed to print and it’s more than a bugbear I can assure you. If I put down half of what I knew I would get hammered (perhaps even literally). But what I can print will give you at least enough incite to make an informed decision as to whether you continue to give BIG FOOD your hard earned money.