Examining her reflection in the bathroom mirror, Emma Bardwell felt utterly defeated – and barely recognised the unhappy woman staring back at her.
Then 48, the leading nutritionist was in the throes of perimenopause and battling debilitating fatigue and insomnia.
There were palpitations and anxiety. Every day was ‘a slog’, she says, and was so flattened by it all that she had ‘become almost a hermit’, barely leaving the house.
To make matters worse, she was drinking too much, not exercising, eating badly and had piled on weight – much of it around her midriff. And to top it all off, her skin, once clear and healthy, was now mottled with acne and eczema.
In a stark admission that will strike a chord with many, the married mother-of-two, who lives in Dulwich, south east London, says: ‘It felt like I’d lost all sense of who I was.
‘I had none of the poster symptoms of menopause – the hot flushes, the night sweats – but I had all the psychological ones, like a total loss of joy in anything.
‘I became quite isolated and barely left the house for about a year. I shunned my friends and my social life. I couldn’t really articulate what was happening to me, and it seemed that no one else was going through it.’
Today, however, six years on, Emma is a new woman. Her skin is clear and glowing, she has renewed energy and joie de vivre – and, as the Mail’s pictures show, an enviably trim figure.
So what brought about this remarkable transformation?
Six years on, Emma is a new woman. Her skin is clear and glowing, she has renewed energy and joie de vivre – and, as the Mail’s pictures show, an enviably trim figure
At 48, the leading nutritionist was in the throes of perimenopause. She was drinking too much, not exercising, eating badly and had piled on weight – much of it around her midriff. To top it all off, her skin, once clear and healthy, was now mottled with acne and eczema
While HRT eased her insomnia, she insists it was tapping into her training as a nutritionist and overhauling her diet which made the most significant difference to her symptoms.
That involved ‘going back to basics’, she says – ultimately, eating regular meals based on protein, fibre and a wide variety of fruit and veg. She stopped skipping breakfast, reduced her alcohol intake and cut back on snacks.
Within a few weeks she was sleeping better, less sluggish and more energised, and her acne and eczema started to clear.
As a ‘happy accident’, she also found that she had started to lose a little of the weight she’d gained.
She says: ‘I felt more in control, I was feeling satisfied and less inclined to graze or snack.
‘The weight didn’t fall off – the losses were small but steady – but that wasn’t the main purpose of doing it. The most important thing was that I wasn’t feeling so exhausted. I wasn’t having these peaks and troughs of energy, and because of that I wasn’t craving high carb, high sugar, high-fat fixes.
‘I felt like myself again. I used to hide this weight around my middle and everything had felt very sluggish, but upping my fibre and eating consistently in a regular way, rather than trying to skip meals and over-eating later in the day, just got rid of that bloat. It really worked.’
Hi, I’m Emma Bardwell, a nutritionist with more than 15 years’ experience helping people improve their health and lose weight.
I’ve been there. I was overweight, unhappy with my skin and stuck in a rut. Then I changed the way I eat. You can now do the same with my tried-and-tested healthy eating plan. And for DailyMail+ subscribers, it’s completely free.
And it’s not just Emma who has benefited. Over the last few years she has refined her approach into an easy-to-follow regime which has proved hugely successful for thousands of others.
Called The 30 Gram Plan, it’s based on a scientific approach to boosting health and maintaining a healthy weight.
There are no banned foods, no punishing restrictions, and no obsession with calories. Instead, the focus is on consuming 30g of protein in every meal, 30g of fibre every day, and 30 different types of plant across an average week.
The idea is deceptively simple: fill up on foods which will keep you feeling satisfied, and you’ll naturally consume fewer calories overall and not feel like you’re denying yourself anything.
So could it work for you? Today, for the first time, The Mail on Sunday is launching a brand new newsletter series which gives you – the reader – the opportunity to transform your life in just six weeks by following Emma’s simple but life-altering habits.
While her plan is ultimately about boosting your overall health – turbo-charging your immune system, improving digestion, banishing low mood, and transforming your energy levels – by the end of those six weeks you could expect to lose up to a stone, just in time for your summer holiday.
If you’re heavier to begin with, it could be even more.
Every week, those signing up to the newsletter will receive exclusive access to Emma’s evidence-based insights, hints and tips, alongside mouth-watering, filling recipes for breakfast, lunch and dinner from her new book, The 30g Plan Cookbook. There are even recipes for cakes.
To give you a taste of what’s in store, we’ve included two meals on these pages, too.
The 30 Gram Plan is based on a scientific approach to boosting health and maintaining a healthy weight. There are no banned foods, no punishing restrictions, and no obsession with calories
Week one on the diet plan – which will hit your inbox as soon as you sign up – tells you everything you need to know about getting started, including a guide to what 30g of fibre and 30g of protein actually looks like on a plate, a ready-made shopping list, and which store-cupboard staples can play an essential role in overhauling your diet.
The second newsletter, which you’ll be sent a week later, reveals the unsung diet hero foods that will stop you snacking for good.
Over six weeks, Emma’s emails will keep you on track to shed those pounds with motivational insight and easy meal fixes to help you stack up your protein, fibre and plant goals – all with exclusive recipes which won’t make you give up the foods you love.
Midway through, Emma will also be appearing live on dailymail.com to check in with you all and answer your questions on the diet.
As Emma says, this is not about perfection, or obsessing over scales and calories, but about small tweaks which will keep you full and stop bad habits. And once the six weeks is over, this will be the diet you stick to for life.
As Emma explains: ‘It isn’t super restrictive and full of what people would call ‘rabbit food’. People tell me they’ve never eaten so much on a diet. But the idea is that this isn’t really a diet at all – it’s a way of life which they can just continue.
Emma Bardwell’s 30g Plan is built upon four simple – but effective – pillars
‘I don’t want people to feel like they’re white-knuckling it for two weeks – I want this to feel like a new way of eating which isn’t just a temporary fix.’
There is good, solid science behind Emma’s approach.
Protein is often known as ‘nature’s Ozempic’ because it triggers the release of satiety hormones such as GLP-1, PYY and CCK in the gut – telling the brain it is full – and reduces the amount of ghrelin, the hunger hormone. Weight-loss jabs, in contrast, mimic GLP-1 to have the same effect.
Alongside weight loss and better appetite control, eating enough protein also better regulates blood sugar levels, boosts energy, and in the long term can improve bone and skin health.
Research suggests 25g to 30g of protein, which can come from fish, meat, eggs, tofu, nuts or beans and lentils, at every meal is optimal – because the body can’t store it, it needs to be topped up throughout the day.
The 30g Plan Cookbook by Emma Bardwell (Vermillion, £20.00) Photography by Kate Whitaker
Fibre is ‘just as powerful’, Emma says. The Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition in the UK recommends consuming 30g a day, but research regularly suggests most people don’t get enough – with most reaching just 18g.
Evidence suggests even modest increases in fibre – as little as a handful of raspberries – can lower the risk of disease; another 8g is enough to lower the risk of heart disease, stroke and all-cause mortality. Fibre also slows down digestion, stabilises blood sugar and feeds the colony of beneficial bacteria in the gut, which in turn releases chemicals which reduce inflammation and boost the immune system.
In addition, eating a broad range of plants – from veg, fruit, nuts and seeds to spices and herbs – has been linked to better metabolic and immune system health. The American Gut Project found those consuming more than 30 different types a week had less reliance on ultra-processed foods and consumed more vitamins and minerals overall.
Emma says: ‘Ultimately, following the 30g Plan is about being healthier overall, with the added bonus that you end up consuming fewer calories so you lose weight steadily. You’ll feel fuller for longer, you’ll have more energy, and it doesn’t come along with a side portion of misery because you’re denying yourself the foods you love.
‘These rules aren’t the law – they’re guidelines – and small changes really can add up to big effects. A drop in cholesterol
and blood pressure can happen fairly quickly, your mood will improve and long-term, your risk of chronic disease, such as type 2 diabetes and even certain cancers, will reduce.
‘It’s a way of eating that changed my life for the better – and I know it can do the same for you.’
Chickpea and halloumi 15-plant salad
Chickpeas, roasted sweet potato and spiced halloumi cubes tossed with herbs, seeds and a rainbow of chopped veg. A veg chopper makes light work of the prep here if you happen to have one to hand.
INGREDIENTS:
● 1 tin chickpeas
● 1 medium sweet potato – don’t peel, just scrub well and cut into small pieces
● 1 tbsp olive oil
● 1 heaped tsp garlic granules
● 225g halloumi, cut into small cubes
● 2 tsps honey or maple syrup
● Pinch of dried chilli flakes
● 1/2 cucumber, seeds removed and diced
● 4 radishes, finely diced
● 15 cherry tomatoes, quartered
● 1 small red onion, finely diced
● 1 yellow pepper, finely diced
● 80g pomegranate seeds
● Very large handful of fresh herbs, finely chopped
● 2 tbsps mixed seeds
For the dressing
● Juice of 1 small lemon
● 1 tbsp honey
● 1 tsp wholegrain French mustard
● 2 tbsps extra-virgin olive oil
METHOD:
Preheat the oven to 200C (180C fan)/400F/gas 6.
Rinse, drain and dry the chickpeas with kitchen paper. Spread them with the chopped sweet potato on a large baking tray (or two smaller ones) in a single layer, then toss with olive oil, salt, pepper and garlic granules. Roast for 30–40 minutes until golden and crisp.
Heat a dry non-stick saucepan over medium heat. Add the halloumi cubes, 2 tsp honey and chilli flakes, turning frequently until golden on all sides.
In a small bowl, mix the dressing ingredients with salt and black pepper.
Then, in a large bowl, combine all the salad ingredients, including pomegranate seeds and herbs. Add the roasted chickpeas, sweet potato and halloumi, pour over the dressing and toss.
Scatter over mixed seeds before serving.
Baked feta pasta
Popular with all the family, this is high in protein and big on flavour. A one-pot dish that you’ll go back to time and time again. SERVES 4 Prep time: 10 minutes Cook time: 40 minutes
INGREDIENTS:
● 200g feta
● 250g butternut squash, peeled and chopped into bite-sized pieces
● 2 red peppers, deseeded and roughly chopped
● 3 cloves of garlic
● 1 tbsp olive oil
● 1 tsp dried oregano
● 200g legume pasta
● Salt and freshly ground black pepper
● Fresh basil leaves (optional)
● Dried chilli flakes (optional)
● 4 big handfuls of mixed salad leaves
METHOD:
Preheat the oven to 200C (180C fan)/400F/gas 6.
Put the feta, squash, peppers and garlic in a baking dish, drizzle with olive oil and season with black pepper and oregano. Bake for 40 minutes until the vegetables are cooked through.
Meanwhile, cook the pasta according to packet instructions, reserving 1 cup of pasta water.
Tip the baked contents into a blender or food processor, add the reserved pasta water and blend until smooth and creamy. Season to taste.
Place the pasta in a large bowl, pour over the sauce and mix well. Top with the basil and chilli flakes (if using) and serve with salad leaves.
Tip: Legume pasta boosts protein and fibre – cook it slightly al dente by shaving 1-2 minutes off the recommended time.
