HBD - THE HUMAN BEING DIET

How ‘The Human Being Diet’ (and the HBD gang) was born 

After almost twenty years in private practice, where I specialised in weight loss, skin and digestive disorders, I was oversubscribed. I was having to turn away more people than I could see and many of the people who wanted to come and see me couldn’t afford the hourly rates, or the fee of over £1500 for a personalised weight loss programme. I felt a disconnect. It felt unfair.  

I realised that the answer was to democratise the process by writing a book. I wanted to share more widely, and in a way that was affordable to all, the experience and knowledge that I had gained by working, one to one, with people whose lives had been transformed by embracing a different way of eating. 

There was, and still is, so much unhelpful advice and misinformation about health, and weight loss in particular. The proof of that is borne out by the number of diet books on the market, and the supplements that promise effortless weight loss. The advice to eat less and exercise more is both flawed and unfair. Those of us who follow that advice are sadly set to fail. I’ve seen too many folk who’ve over-exercised and under-eaten in desperation to lose weight and only succeeded in becoming deeply demoralised. 

To cut a long story short (it’s all in the book) in 2008 my friend, Gloria Parfitt, introduced me to Dr. Wolf Funfack and his Metabolic Balance™ (MB) programme. I worked with it for several years in my practice. What I witnessed, working with so many individuals who were bravely prepared for yet another challenge, was that the changes ran deeper than weight loss. The weight loss was occurring as a side effect of improved overall health. 

Eventually I developed my own programme, and to make this information available to anyone who cared about their health, I wrote the book and self-published it in 2018. But lots of books never find an audience. And a huge part of the reason you came across HBD The Human Being Diet, was through another dear friend, Donna Ida. Donna is a truly life-enhancing person. She’s the most positive, brightest and funniest person I’ve ever met. And she designs beautiful clothes too. Clothes that make you feel and look great. 

In the spring of 2020 we were chatting about the pandemic and lockdowns, and Donna asked me ‘So what are you doing with your book, why don’t we talk about it on Instagram?’ And we started doing ‘lives’ together. And more and more people joined in and we talked and answered questions every week. Within a short time, an incredible community of like-minded and generous hearted people had blossomed and grown - the HBD gang was born!

I hope you enjoy the book, which was updated and revised in 2023, and look forward to hearing not only about the weight loss, but also about how vibrantly well and healthy and HAPPY you feel as a result of following the programme. 

Petronella x