© europics.at

05. 02. 09. - 12:00

• more Panorama news...
• RSS Feed Panorama

05. 02. 09. - 12:00

Croat loses 73 kilograms in six months thanks to onion and garlic diet

Croatian Times

By Ivo Scepanovic

A man has shed 73 kilograms in just six months after inventing his own diet - onions and garlic.

Commercial painter Momir Zmiric, 42, from the Croatian port of Split, decided to go on such a diet without consulting doctors.

"I did not want to go on a diet recommended by doctors and refused to take any pills as I knew it was all in my mind. I decided to go on a diet and to stop smoking after 25 years on the same evening", Zmiric has said.

He based his new diet on his favourite, low-calorie food - garlic and onions on a plain biscuit washed down with carrot juice.

Momir, 42, said: "I couldn't run even two metres. So I decided to stop eating meat, potatoes, cheese, smoked ham and all the other fattening foods I used to like. And as the weight came off, I started to walk a lot, to swim and to cycle", Momir said,

"I also ate a few other things that tasted nice but weren't fattening," he added, admitting he had eaten some fish but no meat.

"I used to have two kilograms of roasted meat for lunch or an entire roasted chicken. Then at the wedding party of my sister, I decided to stop eating so much. I couldn't bear to look at myself in a mirror anymore. I got a bit drunk at the wedding party, but when I returned home, in the darkness of my room, I decided to go on a diet. In six months, my weight dropped from 165 to 92 kilos", Momir said.

Momir now weighs in at just 92 kilograms after losing nearly half his body weight during the diet.

But doctors have warned against such radical weight loss and dieting.

Dietician Dr Goran Peric said in an interview in local tabloid "24 Sata": "It has helped Momir Zmiric, but it does not mean someone else would have the same results."

Zmiric admitted he had passed through a crisis without cigarettes and the food he had been used to during those six months.

"I just insisted on continuing the diet. There were moments of crisis, but I wanted to lose weight, and, despite what doctors say in the media, I feel good and healthy. You can see I am fit," said the painter. He wants to do more.

"I'm about to launch a website to help other people, and I am also planning to write a book about my experience."

However, he declined to reveal everything about his diet.

"I do not want to do so since I want to leave something for my book. But I can tell you it is not only how much food you eat but also the way you eat it", he said.

"People tell me I might be a candidate for the Guinness Book of Records. I do not know whether anyone else has lost 73 kilograms in six months. But I want more. Now that I do not need to wear 6XL T-shirts anymore, but only XL T-shirts, I want my body to look like Arnold Schwarzenegger’s in his best days. Believe me, in a year or so, I'll look like Schwarzenegger," Zmiric claimed.

"My main goal is to help other people who are overweight. And I know how many people are. My blood pressure used to be 200. You know, that's just a step away from death. Now, my blood pressure is 120. I often stop overweight people on the street and ask them how much they weigh. Before they get annoyed, I show them a photo of myself six months ago stored in my mobile phone. Then, they start to think about themselves. I want to help all of them," the 42-year-old from Split concluded.

Serb to make curious protest along Adriatic coast
A Serbian TV station owner has announced an unusual crusade against what he calls the "mediocrity" that does not allow normalization of relations on both sides of the Croatian-Serbian border.

Unions collect enough signatures for referendum, but government withdraws amendments
A sufficient number of valid signatures had been collected to call a referendum on proposed changes to Croatia’s labour laws, the Ministry of the Interior and Public Administration has announced.

Wife attacks cops to prevent hubby´s arrest
Two police officers in Trogir (Dalmatia) were attacked by a raging wife after they tried to arrest her husband.

Croatia Airlines wants no part in former-Yugoslav alliance
Croatia Airline has said it is not interested in joining any sort of former-Yugoslav fleet alliance, in a response to media inquiries after the Serbian Secretary of State’s called for the union.

Activist demand greater protection for women victims of violence
Campaigners from the Autonomous Women’s House have visited various state institutions in Zagreb in order to draw the government’s attention to the plight of women victims of violence.

Donkeys smuggle drugs from Bosnia to Croatia
Drug smugglers are using donkeys to take packets of weed from neighboring Bosnia and Herzegovina (BH) into Croatia, Split police have said.

PM refutes rumours of IMF´s arrival to Croatia
Croatian Prime Minister Jadranka Kosor has refuted recent media claims that the country may need help from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in the near future.

Thief steals singer´s wheelchair
Croatian singer Zdravko Skender's wheelchair was pinched from a handicapped parking space on Sunday evening in Zagreb.

80 per cent tax returns completed last week
Tax officials have processed 78 per cent of income tax claims, paying 206 million Euros in returns so far.

GDP down less than predicted, analysts say
The Croatian economy can expect a smaller GDP drop of 1.8 per cent compared to earlier estimates of 2.5 per cent, say Hypo bank analysts.