A weight off your mind

Since 20 years Birgitt Wolff visits regularly Buchinger Bodensee to fast. For us she has written about her very own personal experiences and feelings during her fasting.

 

There was a time when I would quickly buy a Mars bar at the petrol station on the B 12 from Munich to Überlingen to stock up, like a hamster, but that was long ago. Now as I set off for my fasting cure for the 25th time I know what to expect, and I already sense the euphoria in me which will come afterwards. Buchinger on Lake Constance is my refuge. Ten days without my laptop or mobile - incomprehensible. Without television, because that makes you hungry too. Only herbal tea, fruit juice, vegetable bouillon, and lots of water. The latter is only difficult at home, where choosing between trainers and patent leather shoes constantly leads to choosing champagne. Fasting in the care of Raimund Wilhelmi and his wife Francoise Wilhelmi de Toledo, who are the third generation to run the clinic that the naval doctor Otto Buchinger founded 55 years ago.

 

Anyone who has seen Raimund Wilhelmi's mother, Maria Buchinger, who opened the additional place of pilgrimage for celebrities in Marbella 35 years ago, knows that fasting is worthwhile. At 92 she still has the aura of a young girl, and no doubt wonders what the point of all this modern anti-aging stuff is.

 

The Buchinger method is simply based on going without, and in this case that is not a loss but a gain. And it doesn't take much effort. One simply lives off one's surplus. In my case at least 3 kilos. But that is only one pleasing side-effect. The far more important effect is getting rid of the rubbish, as Anja Kruse puts it so nicely. This actor, who is very conscious of her body's needs, has just left when I arrive. She has written in the Visitors' Book : After ten days I feel as fresh as a daisy. Absolutely understandable.

 

I check in into the quietness, into a small cosy room in the Larix, one of the houses which are spread over the generous grounds, with a balcony and a view of Lake Constance. You can have the whole thing in a more luxurious style in the Villa Bellevue which was opened recently. I prefer my snug nest. Of course, like every year, I say I will start fasting at home the day before, and of course I go on eating and drinking right up to the last minute again. So what now? Fruit or rice? I decide that accordiing to the weather and the season. In these March days I often feel cold, so I'd prefer something warm. And next day a clearly-structured routine begins, which is something I really appreciate but which is impossible in my normal life. But only after a dose of Epsom salts. The laxative helps to empty the bowels more quickly, but for those with a sensitive stomach and low blood pressure it can be replaced by something else.

 

Health check-up between 7 and 9. With weighing of course, one needs the daily sense of achievement. An hour later herbal tea in my room. Between 11.30 and 12 fruit juice or vegetable soup in the dining room or in one's room. The latter costs more, but I prefer it because I really don't want to meet anyone. That's part of my own personal therapy. I give up talking as well as food, I'd rather read. I devour books in fact. I can easily get throught five in ten days.

 

Until 2 o'clock a rest with a detoxifying compress on my liver. Between 6 and 7 vegetable soup again, and of course throughout the day lots of water. Everything else is determined on an individual basis after the initial examination by a doctor, which is a must, and which among other things establishes whether one is fit for fasting. My doctor, Dr. Dorothe Hebisch, looks at me with a knowing grin that says „same as usual then - too little sleep, too much stress, too much eating and drinking “. She knows that she doesn't need to to give me a motherly lecture and can move straight on to prescribing as many massages, saunas, cold affusions as possible, and Ludmilla. Ludmilla is my personal secret weapon at Buchinger, she gives me treatment for my breathing and my pelvis. In fact she is also my substitute for the psychiatrist's couch.

 

She says I'm to free my mind, find my body and my centre again. That's what my astrologer always says too and she uses the same method. At Yoga I meet Elizabeth Teissier, the meditative side at Buchinger is very important to her. „Every fast is different“, she says „when I was coping with the death of my mother it was very hard. But it also helped me.“ The lovely astrologer, who you would never believe was 70, finds the side effect of the detox, the loss of a few kilos, very pleasant. “The skin becomes clearer, you just look younger and more beautiful. Everything becomes easier and you find yourself in the spring in harmony with blossoming nature.“

 

I haven't quite got the hang of yoga, I still force myself to do it, knowing full well that it will bring me down. I'm more the wild type, I throw myself into physical activities like stretching, Pilates, creative dance, the treadmill. And if I can't go to the golf course – particularly recommended in summer at 5 o'clock in the morning – I prefer to go swimming or join in the numerous walks that are offered on the very varied week's programme.

 

It's also important when you're fasting to give in to spontaneous feelings. Not to do what other people expect of you. Simply to become more egotistical. That's why I always come to Lake Constance alone. It would be counter-productive to have to consider a partner. You are hardly aware of the other Buchinger patients anyway. Because whether they are businessmen, employees, or celebrities, Europeans, Arabs, or Russians - sometimes there are up to 30 nationalities at this remote place at the same time – their suits and costumes are hanging in the wardrobe. The standard outfit is the dressing gown in which we sit and wait on the landing for Nurse Brigitte to summon us to the morning check-up.

 

Not even a Pierre Brice attracts attention there. He adapts to the routine, and in spite of the doctors, nurses and German discipline, which doesn't really suit him as he is French, he experiences a happiness which probably only fasting can produce. He has just come from a Tibetan massage with Herr Lutz, and is completely relaxed. You lie lightly clothed in a darkened room, the therapist places copper bowls on your body and taps them with a felt-tipped stick, sometimes gently, sometimes firmly. The body seems to vibrate. Pure relaxation.

 

The tenth day begins, and that's the one I like least, because I would so love to go on. But the timetable has other ideas: a ripe apple or stewed apples in the afternoon, eaten very slowly, help to end the fast gently. Four hazelnuts with it. In the evening there's a thick potato soup on the menu. Alongside the little candle and the certificate for the successful days of fasting. The world reclaims me. Unfortunately, but this is good too. I am bubbling over with energy, I am completely clear about what I want and what I don't want, and I reach for my mobile. What else...