‘I lost two stone, my anxiety stopped and I no longer crave junk food because of 1 change’

“Weekends consisted of McDonald’s… KFC… Chinese takeaway,” Julie, 60, told Express.co.uk. “I ate a lot of crisps and chocolate and my go-to drink was Pepsi Max; I ate a lot of biscuits and cakes too.”

Julie confessed: “I find it so hard now, looking back, to believe I ate this way.” After witnessing her dad struggle with ill health and her mum passed away from cancer, Julie started taking an interest in her own health.

“I heard British epidemiologist Dr Tim Spector talking about the microbiome and listened to his podcast,” said Julie.

This is where she came across the ZOE membership, which is a personalised nutrition programme based on science.

Since joining, Julie continues to “learn more and more” about which foods work best for her body.

When Julie first joined the ZOE membership, she weighed 10st 11lbs; now she weighs 9st 2lbs.

“I’ve lost over two stone in weight,” Julie beamed, but that’s not all. “When I started, I was suffering with menopause symptoms like hot flushes, anxiety, low energy and weight gain.”

Julie elaborated: “Since doing ZOE my hot flushes have all but disappeared, my anxiety has completely gone and I am a happy person that loves life again.”

Her cravings for fast food have vanished; now she steers clear of ultra-processed foods.

“Breakfast consists of a variety of berries and grapefruit, chia and flax seeds, barley flakes ( oats spike my sugar), homemade kefir and Greek yoghurt,” Julie revealed.

“Some weekends, instead of a once loved fry-up, I have mushrooms, avocado, asparagus, spinach, tempeh, and egg.”

Lunch is a “massive salad” that includes beans or chickpeas, extra virgin olive oil, and tahini. “I always have a piece of fruit with some nuts after my salad,” Julie added.

While these dietary changes might seem drastic, Julie assured they were “so easy to implement”. Julie said: “I went one step at a time, and the better I ate the better I felt, so it encouraged me to keep going.

“Now eating whole healthy foods just feels natural. I actually have no craving for any of the foods I used to eat, crazy as it sounds.”

ZOE is a science and nutrition company leading a movement to transform the health of millions. ZOE Membership, which starts from £25 per month, is a personalised nutrition programme that turns complex science into clear step-by-step actions to improve your health with every meal.