Take heart from these letters from people that have experienced remarkable changes in their general health, many have struggled unsuccessfully for years to shed unwanted kilos and by changing to a more natural way of life they have finally managed to achieve (and maintain!) their goal of perfect weight and unimagined vitality.

I Was Always on Diet and Felt Awful

My previous lifestyle was probably similar to that of many people you’ve spoken to. I was always a few kilograms overweight and I had tried various weight control diets (where you weigh and measure food based on points) as well as a variety of fad diets. I even did silly things like bingeing occasionally and then taking laxatives, and I went so far as to take a water pill once a week as I was convinced that I was retaining water.

Apart from the excess weight, I suffered from terrible premenstrual tension, very heavy periods, cellulite, constipation, and repeated thrush infections. I also had a virtually continuous phlegmy cough. I felt almost suicidal at times, very irritable and weepy, and was plagued by fatigue, listlessness, lethargy and anxiety.

And yet for years I thought I was eating healthily – wholewheat bread, low-oil salad dressings, low fat margarine, low fat milk, no butter or cream, no more than three fruits per day (fattening!), very few bananas (fattening again!), very little dried fruit (yes, fattening again!), diet cold drinks, no sugar in tea or coffee, salads, veggies, lean meat, chicken with no skin, poached eggs (not fried) – I’m sure you’ve heard it all before. I also had a sweet tooth and found it hard to resist chocolates or rich desserts.

Then in March last year I went to the doctor with abdominal pains and he thought I had a spastic colon. He also did various blood tests and found that my iron and calcium levels were very low. So, what next?

By chance I came to one of Mary-Ann's talks and this was the turning point for me. I purchased her book (The Natural Way), stocked up on nuts, dried fruit (previously both forbidden) and fresh fruit and veggies, and I was away. I changed my lifestyle completely and did not deviate from this way of eating for three months. During this time I felt calmer and happier than I had in years. No more constipation, shorter menstrual periods, fewer premenstrual symptoms, no more bloating, and only the occasional cough. I had more energy and generally felt much better. I had also lost six kilograms without even trying.

What with all the festivities, I fell off the wagon in December and I felt awful, just like I used to in the old days. So I am now back on track and benefiting enormously from the Natural Way lifestyle. As a result, people ask me continually what I am doing to look so well and slim at the age of 43. I have now encouraged many people around me to go on the Natural Way programme, and their health and weight have improved dramatically. Many thanks for showing the way to all of us.

You Can Live a Better Life

My name is Clive and I am 26 years old. In February 1995 my health deteriorated radically and although I spent much time and money at the local doctor, nobody could trace the cause of my illness. The symptoms ranged from headaches and fatigue, to nausea and an increase in weight. After several months my mother persuaded me to go to a homeopath. His diagnosis was ‘congestion of the liver’, but he was not able to help me much.

Then my girlfriend suggested I read Mary-Ann's book The Natural Way. Well, it was awesome. I could not believe that anything so simple could be so effective. Within four months I had lost 27kilos, weighing less than I had done in years. My body fat came down from 24 per cent to 18 per cent and still continues to decrease. My strength at gym has increased by at least 25 per cent and my muscle tone and development is more visible than before. For once in my life I am starting to feel good about my body and the way I feel.

How did I do it? Simple. I ate fruit all day from sunrise to supper and then for my evening meal I follow the rules of not mixing proteins with carbohydrates. I have also cut out dairy products, coke, coffee, heated fats and oils and try not to eat after supper or later than 8.00 pm. I still enjoy a good pizza on occasion, but always start with a raw salad. Everywhere I go I promote your books and simple philosophy of living. What can I say? We can live a better life!

We Are Saving a Fortune in Medical Bills

I have decided to write and tell you how The Natural Way has changed my family’s life. Despite spending over R30 000 on medical bills, we experienced no improvement to our health until we stumbled across your book.

My husband suffered many unpleasant symptoms. He coughed all day long as a result of a continuous postnasal drip, and was always clearing his throat. He started getting blackouts from the severe coughing (this happened three times while driving his car). And at night, well the snoring was too terrible for words. He took about four Disprin (an analgesic) every day for headaches and raised temperature. And he was overweight at 106kilograms.

Our GP and a specialist had been treating him for asthma for five years and he had regular physiotherapy to help him get rid of excess phlegm from his lungs. He underwent two operations for the sinus problem but experienced no improvement at all. In fact, his annual X-rays showed that the asthma medication had worsened the condition of his lungs!

In December 1998 I watched The Natural Way Video at my sister-in-law’s house and in February 1999 I got hold of Mary-Ann's book. My husband and I both started the programme in March of the same year. What a difference! No more mucus, clear nasal passages and the coughing has finally stopped. My husband no longer snores at night and he has lost nearly 20kilos. As long as he sticks to the food combining, he is in excellent health. In fact, we both feel better than we have done in years and there are no more medical bills to pay either!

Diets Don’t Work!

I would like to share my health and weight story with you. I've been overweight ever since I can remember. I recall my mother taking me to the school clinic as a second grader to put me on a diet and throughout my school days I tried several diets. In Standard Eight a dietician put me on a high protein diet. For the first time I lost all the weight I wanted to, but I also lost a natural, uncomplicated relationship with food. The diet ended in jaundice, six weeks in bed and compulsive overeating. Over the next few years my weight ballooned.

After school I found a kind of balance - my weight stabilised and I overindulged only occasionally. But I wasn't healthy and still felt guilty about every bite of something delicious. I got married five years out of school to a very accepting husband who never encouraged or discouraged me to do anything about my weight. 

He viewed my weight and health as my responsibility. I felt the need to take charge of my life so I went to a weight control organisation. Again I lost all the weight I wanted to, but as a result of the low fat diet, together with tremendous stress within my own business, I ended up in hospital to have my gallbladder removed. Over the next two years I maintained a fairly normal weight, with some overeating, a lot of guilt and terrible mood swings.

Then I fell pregnant. I regret to say that poor food choices, overeating and stress dominated my pregnancy. I had a Caesarean section (by choice) because I had neither the will power nor the emotional resources to even consider natural birth. Thank God, my baby was healthy but I had (almost) no breast milk and my weight was right back to where I started. After my daughter’s birth I got Bell's Palsy, which was treated with cortisone, and during the first five months of new motherhood I had six courses of antibiotics for cystitis. I also had mild postnatal depression. After the last course of antibiotics I realised that I could not keep trusting the doctors to cure me. I had to do something about my health.

I got hold of the book The Natural Way and met a friend who combated a severe disease through this way of eating. I started out with two weeks on a 80 to 90 per cent raw diet and the results were so amazing that I haven't stopped since (it is now two months later). My mood swings disappeared and I haven't had cystitis ever since I started the programme. Suddenly I had the energy to go for walks and my weight slowly melted away. My husband was so impressed that he joined me in my new way of eating.

I believe that because I now focus on feeding my body nutrients rather than kilojoules, food and weight are no longer issues for me. I really don't have any cravings and I am learning to listen to my body's natural needs and responses for the first time in years. The book has given me a way to work around my emotional issues with food by not restricting any of God's delicious foods. I don't feel deprived because my view of food has changed - it's not there to reward or comfort me, but to get and keep my body in prime condition. I'm sure that I still have a lot to learn, but so far it has been more than worth it.

An added bonus now is that I can raise my baby to have a strong immune system and a natural relationship with food. Thank you for your book, Healthy Kids. Just as I changed to the Natural Way she came down with a cold and on reading your book I took a leap of faith. I changed her formula to soymilk, put her on flaxseed oil and barley juice, and a week later she was fine. One of the stories in your book changed the way I viewed feeding her. It was life changing for me. The story about the mom who never forced her children to eat stopped me dead in my tracks. I'm learning to respect my daughter's ‘hungry’ and ‘full’ cycles and now realise that food should never be a moral issue. Mealtimes used to be full of stress but now we enjoy fresh fruit in a fun (and messy!) way.

Good-bye Cellulite

I have to tell you this, after I read the chapter on cellulite in Mary-Ann's new book Healthy Kids, I decided to experiment on myself, since I have always struggled with it. I don't ever wear shorts, not even when I am fit, because I always have lots of cellulite on my thighs.

OK, so every day I eat tons of almonds (at least a quarter of a cup but many times just over half a cup) with freshly squeezed orange juice, and I eat a huge raw salad every night with lots of avocado. My point is that I am devouring fats, plenty of fats, but not heated fats. I usually also have a snack (many times really late night since I come in from work late, which I know is not ideal but sometimes I am just so hungry) of hot air-popped popcorn with lots of cold-pressed olive oil and herb salt. 

Guess what? I have been pretty much free of heated fats for about four weeks and the difference is phenomenal! Amazing! My thighs look, well, I just cannot believe it. I have not really lost all that much weight, a few kilos only but I was finally able to slide a pair of jeans past my thighs that I literally could not pull up in a year (I bought them thinking I would eventually fit into them, but was starting to lose hope)!

I keep coming back to the fact that, as far as my experience goes, you are always right. I mean, things I have been reluctant to try, once I do them, I get precisely the results you promise. It’s amazing, downright amazing!

Let Your Body Heal Itself

When I was 24 years old, my mother brought me to the Natural Way lifestyle. I had had an undiagnosed condition that had persisted for six months, following a holiday in the Far East. I had clocked up a small fortune in medical bills and blood tests and had consulted a number of top physicians and doctors. All to no avail - just utter confusion and desperation. With each blood test and new physician, came a new diagnosis – presence of Epstein-Barr virus and CMV virus (tagged as recurring glandular fever), viral encephalitis, Gilbert’s liver syndrome, chronic fatigue syndrome, recurring myalgic encephalomyelitis, and so the list went on.

Deep concern set in amongst the family, as the weeks were rolling on, and there was no improvement in my health whatsoever; chronic exhaustion, deep muscle aches and swellings, and no tolerance for anything other than work and bed. Just at the point when physicians were at a loss for prescribing how to manage the condition and were resolving to book me off work for a couple of months, my mom purchased a copy of The Natural Way. With the support of my mom I set about implementing the lifestyle fervently! 

The incredible healing powers of raw, living foods and Natural Way food combining dumbfounded us all – myself, my family and the many physicians and other doctors I had been consulting. We found my body had begun healing itself literally within 72 hours of implementing the Natural Way principles. Within a fortnight the restoration was clearly visible. After a month or two, my health continues to improve steadily and this is all due to the miracle of the Natural Way.

Mom and I remain staunch subscribers of the Natural Way. For me, it is not only the lifestyle of choice after all it has done for me, but also the lifestyle of necessity. I find that any momentary lapse to a looser diet results in an immediate resuscitation of all the wretched symptoms. Thank you Mary Ann, your book and wisdom were a Godsend. I consider it such a privilege to have the knowledge of the Natural Way lifestyle at my age and at this point in my life.

Learn That the Body Can Heal Itself

As a Registered General, Psychiatric and Community nurse, and a Registered Midwife, I have a background in healthcare. I have never been fully satisfied with the medical solutions offered to my patients, and although I admit that today’s medicine does have its place, so many medical people are not willing to learn that the body can heal itself.

A friend introduced me to Natural Hygiene a few years back, and in preparation for a gruelling and physically demanding hike I was to embark on in six months from then, I decided to get myself into shape following the guidelines set out in The Natural Way.

I subsequently lost 21 kilograms, and had never looked or felt healthier in my life. Of course, I was younger and did not have any physical ailments at the time, but I could see the difference in skin tone and my fitness and energy levels soared. I had also suffered from mild depression, which disappeared completely when I started my new lifestyle. I flew through the hike over six days in the Swellendam Mountains, but as soon as we got back to Cape Town, the fun began and Natural Hygiene flew out the window.

I have a family now (and you know what can happen to your body after a pregnancy), so a while ago I decided that it was time to take control once again. I wanted to experience again that energy and health that should natural to all of us – it is essential for living life to the full, whether it be at work, play or creating a better future.

It went slowly, but I realised that the weight I was carrying couldn’t come off in a week. Other benefits were apparent very soon, though. The mild depression and aches and pains I had lived with for so long, disappeared completely! (Most nurses develop back injuries.) Through this experience I have learned three important things: everything happens in its own good time; nobody can change overnight; and every little improvement counts! We are all human and have our limitations, but ultimately we are capable of so much.

I have studied anatomy and physiology but nobody can ever fully understand the power of the body to recover - it has to be experienced to be believed. All we have to do is treat ourselves with a little respect and the body does the rest.

I have been involved in a marketing programme for the first six months of this year, where we would visit high schools educating the students on puberty, hormonal changes and female health. I found that most girls had severe acne, premenstrual symptoms and quite a few approached me regarding weight problems. I knew that natural hygiene was the answer to their problems, and I am so grateful to see that these simple principles have now been made available to them through the new publication Healthy Kids The Natural Way.