The simple eating plan helped me shed menopause weight, effortlessly,
Anyone who has tried to diet will know only too well that there is usually one fundamental flaw: sticking to them in the long term is close to impossible.
It’s a similar story with the weight-loss jabs like Mounjaro and Wegovy, with slimmers regaining the pounds they lost within 18-months of stopping treatment.
But Dorte Jensen is perhaps proof that not all weight loss methods lead, ultimately, to failure.
The 54-year-old Pilates instructor lost nearly half a stone and dropped a dress size, going from a 10 to an eight – ‘effortlessly’, she says – by following a ground-breaking new diet which sees people shed weight without going hungry.
Not only that, but Dorte has successfully maintained that weight loss, equally effortlessly, by sticking to the plan ever since – even shrugging off a lifetime’s snacking habit in the process. Indeed, she admits that her once-habitual mid-afternoon bag of crisps is something she no longer even thinks about.
So how did she do it? Called The 30 Gram Plan, the programme Dorte followed – which thousands of others have also used to transform their lives – was devised by leading nutritionist Emma Bardwell.
It is based on straightforward, evidence-based rules: consume 30g of fibre a day, 30g of protein at every meal, and at least 30 different plant varieties every week.
It works because fibre and protein slows the progress of food through the gut, making you feel fuller for longer, and reducing the urge to snack. Consuming 30 different plants has also been shown to improve gut health and boost the immune system.
By following The 30g Plan, Dorte Jensen, 54, lost nearly half a stone and dropped a dress size, going from a 10 to an eight – ‘effortlessly’
The Pilates instructor pictured in 2024, before she began following Emma Bardwell’s eating plan and lost the stubborn weight she’d gained during the menopause
In last week’s Mail on Sunday, Emma, 54, told how she created the diet for her own reasons; namely, to help her ease the debilitating menopause symptoms such as brain fog, fatigue and a lack of energy which had turned her into a ‘virtual hermit’, and to lose weight after putting on nearly a stone.
And those simple rules proved transformative. Not only did Emma ease her menopause symptoms and restore her joie de vivre, but her digestion improved, the excess weight she had gained fell away, and her skin cleared of acne and eczema.
Since then, she has refined her approach into an easy-to-follow plan full of delicious, easy-to-prepare recipes which involves no banned foods, no punishing restrictions, and no obsession with calories.
Many of those who follow the plan insist they have never eaten so much on a diet.
As Dorte, who lives in Rugby, Warwickshire, says today: ‘When I think back to being in my 20s and 30s, it was a time of SlimFast and all those low-calorie meal replacement shakes and soups, and the fact you were starving was all part of the goal to become thin. It was almost the point.
‘When I think about diets, I think of misery. But this is a very different approach. I’m rarely hungry, it has taken away all the noise about food, and I’ve maintained my weight for two years.
‘I have so much more energy, and I really notice the difference every time I slip and go back to old habits and start missing meals or snacking. It’s become a way of life for me, and I can’t see myself ever stopping.’
Now, you could benefit too if you sign up for the MoS’s brand new newsletter which gives all Mail Plus subscribers the opportunity to transform their lives in just six weeks by following Emma’s simple but life-altering habits.
Dorte, who lives in Rugby, Warwickshire, pictured with nutritionist Emma Bardwell, inventor of The 30g Plan. Dorte says today: When I think about diets, I think of misery. But this is a very different approach’
While The 30g 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. If you’re heavier to begin with, it could be even more.
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.
Click here to sign up and start your journey
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 breakfasts, lunches and dinners from her new book, The 30g Plan Cookbook.
It will keep you on track throughout those six weeks by offering motivation to help you shed the pounds, answers to important questions, and easy meal fixes to help you stack up your protein, fibre and plant goals.
As Emma puts it, 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, could this be the diet you stick to for life?
That has certainly been the case for Dorte, who came across Emma’s approach two years ago, in May 2024.
She was already following the nutritionist on Instagram, and signed up to a two-week programme – an early version of The 30g Plan – which involved getting a weekly meal plan, set of Emma’s recipes, and a shopping list.
It came at the ‘right time’ for Dorte, who had been struggling with some menopausal weight gain which she couldn’t seem to shift.
‘I’d been through the worst of the menopause by then – migraines, sleep problems, brain fog, and just being really annoyed and emotional all the time – and I had started taking HRT when I was 49,’ she says. ‘But while I was okay with the fact that my body had changed a bit, I wasn’t ok with the weight gain. I’d crept up to 11st 2lb – I’d put on around a stone, in all – and it had all happened in a two-year period.
‘I thought, “Where is it going to stop?” It wasn’t just about the weight – I’d always been a snacker, and once I started nibbling on a chocolate bar or a bag of crisps, there was no going back. I could get away with it in my 30s and 40s, while eating just some Ryvita and houmous for lunch, but that wasn’t working for me anymore.’
As a Pilates instructor and keen runner, Dorte has always been active, but her usual attempts to lose the extra weight by eating salads for lunch had no effect.
‘That was usually what did the trick, and I knew I needed a new approach,’ she says.
Trying Emma’s two-week programme, and then repeating it, led to her losing ‘four or five pounds’ in a month.
‘It was so easy, and the recipes were delicious,’ she says. ‘I normally eat pretty healthily, but the difference was the structure, getting the right amounts of fibre and protein, and the portion sizes.
‘There were some great tips, like adding extra egg whites – which you can buy in cartons in the supermarket – to an omelette to up the protein.
‘I felt better relatively fast. The breakfasts are really satisfying and filling, so that carries you through to then eating a decent lunch. So within weeks I just felt a massive difference in my energy levels. My husband joined in too, and he also really likes it.’
Dorte enjoyed it so much that she saw no reason to stop. She bought Emma’s book, The 30g Plan, when it was released last year and follows the recipes every day.
In general, breakfasts and lunches come from the book, and most dinners too, unless the couple go out for a meal.
Favourites for breakfast include overnight oats, with chia seeds, flaxseeds, yoghurt, and milk, which she keeps interesting by swapping in different types of fruit.
A cherry bakewell and carrot cake version, both from Emma’s books, are on repeat, as is a rye porridge with toasted peaches, and a pearl barley porridge.
Lunches might be a chicken noodle and red cabbage salad with a peanut butter dressing, or a chicken and quinoa salad with chickpeas. And dinner staples include a Tuscan bean stew, a lentil dahl, and a pasta with chicken, tomatoes, olives and spinach.
The 30g Plan Cookbook by Emma Bardwell (Vermillion, £20.00) Photography by Kate Whitaker
‘Doing it over a longer period of time has made a massive difference to my energy levels,’ Dorte says. ‘And I pretty much never snack now – I don’t even think about it – because I’m just not that hungry. And by the time I am, it’s dinner time.
‘One of the things I really like about Emma is that she says she categorically doesn’t want you to be starving, which is what makes it effortless and so easy to stick to.
‘I’m now settled around 68kg (10st 10lbs), which I’m happy with, but the main point is that I’ve maintained it without really having to try. I pretty much just eat this way all the time.’
Dorte now notices a difference if she deviates from the plan.
At Christmas, after a bit of over-indulgence and more alcohol than normal, she says: ‘I noticed I was getting hot flushes again, that my sleep was rubbish and I was just a lot more bloated.
‘There definitely is a lifestyle element to the menopause. At my last HRT assessment, my GP said that everyone always thinks HRT is going to fix all their problems but that, actually, lifestyle is the biggest thing you can do for yourself.’
