Serbians Ready to Pay for Perfect Summer Waistline

For some the arrival of summer is the best time to start working out and thinking about smart food. Depending on their weight, health, age and goals, there are several programmes and diets that Belgrade nutritionists offer.

One popular option in Serbia, which is not that expensive, is a programme based on food intolerance. While those with food allergies may have noticed adverse reactions to particular foods, intolerance usually goes unnoticed.

However, according to the health experts, for every person there are more or less preferable foods.

“Most patients come because they want to lose weight, but this programme is also good for those who have problems with skin, migraines and stomach,” says Radmila Vrzic from Analiza laboratory.

“There is a right food for each person and although consumption of the ‘wrong’ groceries is not going to harm you in a drastic sense, your overall health is much better when you eat food that your organism prefers,” she adds.

After a blood tests, each patient gets a list of food divided into four categories – ideal, neutral, food that shouldn’t be consumed often and food that shouldn’t be consumed at all. 

Clients also get a cookbook and the list of groceries where they can see how much calories each item has. The programme lasts three to four months and costs up to €200.

Shakes and juices:

More intense nutrition programmes require clients to replace regular meals with juices and shakes. However, these kinds of diets must be fully controlled.

Some of these products are Herbalife and Protekal. Both are based on protein shakes and soups that replace meals.

Both are adapted to individual patients after the blood test. However, in the Herbalife programme clients may consume food for some meals.

The Protekal programme, on the other hand, replaces all meals with Protekal juices and shakes along with fresh vegetables. During the diet patients also get vitamin and mineral pills.

After the first phase, food is gradually introduced back into the daily diet, so excess weight does not come back. During the diet, appointments with the specialists are obligatory every 15 days.

One benefit of this diet is that you do not have to exercise to lose weight, so people do not feel tired and exhausted and their skin tone will not change, regardless of weight loss. These programmes cost about €500 per month.

Nutrition plus training:

Those who are not only looking to lose weight, but also to get their body into shape, may also try programmes that combine nutrition with training. These programmes can cost up to €2,000 a month.

Some of the best-known places for these in Belgrade are Profex Academy and Studio Astalos. Studio Astalos prescribes their clients diet, protein shakes and training.

“The idea is that our clients change their habit and their metabolism, not just for on a diet for three months,” says Maja Astalos, owner of Studio Astalos.

Profex Academy has a unique formula that their inventors have protected as their intellectual property.

In this programme, clients lose only fat, without losing liquid from the body.

Before the programme begins, the client goes though detailed checks of heart, blood, muscles, and joints, structure of tissue, blood vessels and lungs.

 “The controls are necessary. Some of our clients lose more than 110 kilograms and we must know all about their body in order to make them lose all that weight healthy,” says Dusko Ilic from Profex Academy.

“What we do is get the body in to the exact shape and firmness that we have promised,” he adds.

Regardless of the idea they are promoting, most nutritionists advise people not to start diets on their own and not to starve themselves.

Nutritionist Maja Simic says that the diets people can find online or hear about from friends are rarely a good solution.

“It’s best to find a good nutritionist or a programme that suits them. Those trying to lose more than two or three kilos on their own may starve themselves and torture their body till it gets sick, without having any lasting results.

“Losing weight is never easy, it requires not only a change of nutrition but also of life habits.”