By Scott Thompson
MEET THE former party girl and mum-of-two who after living a lifestyle of heavy drinking and binge-eating has finally got her life together and at FOURTY-SEVEN-YEARS-OLD has people asking her how she looks SO YOUNG – and she puts it down to fasting for up to TWENTY-ONE DAYS on WATER.
Stunning pictures show yoga and wellness coach and mum-of-two, Nicola Arthur (47) from Sydney, Australia, looking more radiant than most women her age and she puts it all down to decades of yoga, healthy eating and even water fasting to defy ageing.
However, it wasn’t always this way as when Nicola took on a hairdressing apprenticeship at the age of 17, she became more social and to fit in began indulging in a party girl lifestyle of heavy smoking, binge drinking sometimes even two days in a row on weekends and overeating.
When she turned 24, she decided to make a change because she didn’t like the habits she had picked up, so started her journey to become healthy. Nicola had personal training sessions three times a week and during this time, she began preparing for fitness competitions to keep her on track and motivated.
Nicola stopped her fad diets, smoking, drinking and partying but quickly became obsessed with her new ‘healthy’ regime and for 10-years would starve herself all day only to binge on sugary snacks in the evening that made her feel terrible.
It wasn’t until Nicola got married in February 2000 and fell pregnant with her first child Lucia in May 2002 that she found the motivation to really change her lifestyle and started only eating raw fruit, vegetables, nuts and seeds. She also began practising yoga and believes it has helped her to reduce negativity and accept herself.
She has just finished a full 21 days of consuming absolutely nothing but water and believes that this keeps her feeling and looking young.
“I was brought up NZ, in a small town called Dunedin. Spent a lot of time growing up around the country on a family farm. I was a competitive runner and horse rider back then,” Nicola said.
“I was a real go-getter; I was positive, kind and generous.
“I started a hairdressing apprenticeship at the tender age of 17, that’s when the toxic life began. I was a smoker and drinker party girl. I never did drugs though, just mainly alcohol binges with my friends. I was always very social.
“Then I started to change my life around. When I turned 24, I started training for fitness competitions to get fit and lean again. Around this time, I learnt to eliminate things out of my life that I knew were simply no good for me, like drinking, late nights, bread and sugar etc. Although this took a few years as I was yo-yoing from one thing to the next.
“Before falling pregnant with my first daughter I was binge eating. I’d starve myself all day then only want sugar foods. I’d always feel bloated and sick.
“Once I found out I was pregnant I changed quickly to put my growing baby first. That changed everything. I didn’t want to hurt my special daughter growing inside of me. I had a very healthy pregnancy I practiced and embraced all the natural pregnancy therapies like hypo therapy, meditation and massage.
“My pride and joy was becoming a mother. I published a book called How to be a Happier Mum in 2011 – just before a terrible gut-wrenching divorce in 2013. He’d had an affair with his opera partner. I used to watch them sing together on stage. It was the hardest thing ever.
“The divorce was terrible. There were complications that took a lot longer to heal than I would have or could have predicted. However today this has become a foundation for clear thinking and transformation.
“I stumbled upon yoga when I was 27 and it slowly helped pull me out of tall hose negative patterns and self-hate about my body and I learned to fully love and accept myself. I even became a yoga teacher.
“Water fasting began in 2017. Towards the end of March 2019, I had dinner with a friend, and it was coated with chickpeas which I know are bad for my blood type, type B positive. I hadn’t been sick in years, but I had stomach pains and my stomach was terribly bloated. So, I decided to do a 21 day water only fast to heal my body.”
Nicola says that fasting is not without its dangers and should not be performed by people with certain conditions.
“I want you to think about the last time you got sick, what happened? You most likely didn’t feel like eating. You may have been off your food, and self-healed your body. The problem is in today’s world most people rush off to the doctors, to get answers or medication without trusting the process of self-healing,” Nicola said.
“Neither myself or Dr Rama Prasad (who practices Ayurveda whole-body healing) wanted me to go on medications and so I decided that healing myself in a natural way was the best step forward.
“Fasting is not for everyone and if you don’t have a healthy relationship with food, have Bulimia or Anorexia, are pregnant, or have type I or II diabetes you should not undergo fasting. If you fast then you can expect increased energy, clarity of mind, less cravings, improved digestive system, clearer skin, clear eyes, feel joyful, have renewed cells, feel rejuvenated, defy ageing, eliminate inflammation, lose weight and starve off cancer cells.
“I believe that fasting is not a fad, but it is the future.
“Some women think I’m extreme but then others are asking why I am always smiling and how I looks so good and young after having two children.”
Nicola now runs detox retreats in Bali, Indonesia and she uses Instagram to educate and inspire her followers. She is currently writing her fourth book on water fasting and detoxing.
“I facilitate detox retreats in Bali helping lead people through what helped me years ago, detoxing with raw vegan plant-based foods. And Now embracing water fasting has taken my health knowledge and body to greater heights,” Nicola said.
“I should also mention that this isn’t just for girls. I’ve had a large increase in men reaching out to me on Instagram asking for advice about health and detox. Men in their thirties are ready to make a change. A recent client changed his life and lost 11kg in just six weeks.
“My key advice for anyone wanting to make permanent and positive changes to take things slow. Reduce things one by one, little and often. If you decide to fast remember that the key reason should not be to lose weight.
“I feel amazing, my energy is sustainable all day. I’m more positive and balanced and I continue to grow and evolve. You can have all these things too.”
You can follow their journey on Instagram.
