People are paying thousands of dollars not to eat. This is what they're paying for.

It was 2011 when “101 Wellbeing” Diet first started making headlines. Also known as: the diet where you don’t eat. Literally, nothing.

Malcolm Turnbull had allegedly been trying it and some people wondered if he was really sick.

He wasn’t sick; that’s just what someone looks like after they had starved themselves for two weeks.

After her editor thought it would be a good story, journalist and author of Wellmania, Brigid Delaney, decided to give the 101 Day Detox a go.

So, when Mia Freedman interviewed her for my podcast, No Filter, the first thing on her mind was what you get when you pay thousands of dollars to eat nothing.

Brigid Delaney explains the Bondi Wellness paradox to Mia Freedman. (Post continues after audio.)

Mia: Like with many diet regimes and wellness plans, there were “gurus” behind all of this.  Can you tell us a little bit about it? How much did it cost?

Brigid: So, it costs. It depends on what sort of program you do but it can cost several thousand dollars to not eat.

But you are paying for this absence to be enforced. I’m sure you know how many times you’ve been on diets where what you eat or don’t eat is about you. It’s very hard to be disciplined.

So, I would go to this fasting clinic, every day. I would be weighed, I would have acupuncture and I’d have this very rough massage, which was a massage on my organs.

Mia: What was the purpose of those things?

Brigid: The theory behind the fast is that even if you look skinny, you have fat. If you have an unhealthy lifestyle, fat builds up around your organs, then it can block oxygen from getting to them. So, you’re not actually functioning at the highest level and your metabolism is slower.

Your kidneys aren't flushing out what they should. Your liver is not working at its best level, so this fast aimed to remove "subcutaneous fats" around the organs. Then, they would be at their best level and you would never need to go on another diet again.

Mia: Was the purpose of the diet weight loss?

Brigid: They never said weight loss on the tin, so to speak. But that's what everyone went in for. That was particularly popular with Sydney businessmen.

You can listen to her full podcast with Brigid, right here. (Post continues after audio.)

I would go to the counter and there be these guys in suits who had the largest kind of guts, who enjoyed lots of meals and nice restaurants, and it was a way of dropping weight really quickly. For them, it was particularly around your middle, which is where a lot of men carry it.

Mia: It was all overseen by Dr Liu. What did he promise you?

Brigid: Dr Liu was a man of few words. But, he did say if I followed the program to the letter, and that included not even chewing gum, then my organs would reach their optimum level. He also said that I would lose weight as a by-product. And he was correct.

If you found this article interesting, we have plenty more for you: 

• Explainer: The ‘lose 10kg’ diet that has a two-month waiting list.
• The 5:2 money diet: The simple rules that saw one couple save $23,000 in a year.
• Seven dietitians tell us what they order when they go out for brunch.