Swapping lethargy for vitality at Original Mayr Resort in Austria
Gerri Gallagher treats her body to an intensive Mayr cure for weight loss on the banks of Lake Wörthersee in Austria and finds compassionate staff and boundless energy
I write this a year into the global pandemic, the greatest collective challenge of our lifetimes. As someone who lives to go on retreat, the ability to do so again has been what has kept me afloat, and while I wait, I’ve been feeding off my experiences at the last place I visited pre-lockdown, Original Mayr Resort.
Since puberty I’ve carried extra pounds, and had resolved myself to being the perennial short fat girl until I discovered Dr Franz Xaver Mayr, whose ‘cure’ was my life changer. I’d done six of them at different clinics all over the world, but had never visited the 'mother ship’, which was opened on the banks of Lake Wörthersee at Dellach in 1976 by Dr Erich Rauch, a student of Mayr.
Based on the belief that a bad diet is the root of many health problems – insomnia, IBS, high blood pressure and heart disease – the Mayr Cure is a programme of from 7 to 21 days that clears body and mind through detoxification and de-acidification. I knew if I jump-started the detox at home it would ease my first few days, so a week before my departure, I eliminated caffeine, sugar and my beloved Chardonnay, packed my bare minimum - a couple of tracksuit bottoms, swimsuit, trainers, lots of cashmere, a scented candle and a month’s worth of reading material - and set off.
“From the laboratory nurses who took my blood and did a metabolic analysis to the cure coach who mopped up my tears, I had never experienced such collective compassion”
Upon arrival at Ljubljana Airport, I was met and whisked across the Austrian border in a Mercedes to Lake Wörthersee and into the chalet-style building that was to be my home for a week. Once I’d settled into my room (#305), which was neutrally toned with a vibrant raspberry headboard and double aspect windows onto the lake, the night porter delivered my evening meal of broth garnished with fresh herbs and my schedule for the week. My Original Mayr Resort journey had begun.
Everyone is assigned a doctor to handhold them during their stay here, and prescribed a programme that combines holistic and Traditional Chinese Medicine with a low-calorie diet. I was blessed with being paired with Dr Ursula Muntean-Rock, the charming medical director, who was particularly empathetic to the emotional rollercoaster I had been on since my mother’s death and my younger sister’s diagnosis of early-onset dementia. As my goal was to lose as many unwanted pounds as possible, she prescribed the intensive weight loss programme and a full schedule of treatments from body acupuncture and shiatsu to energy and detox drips.
What struck me immediately about Original Mayr Resort compared to its competitors was the staff’s ineffable kindness and sensitivity. From the laboratory nurses who took my blood and did a metabolic analysis to Claudia Waldner, the cure coach who mopped up my tears, I had never experienced such collective compassion. Another point of difference here is doctors’ high ratio to patients, which makes it even more of a friendly, intimate environment.
However it was still a punishing regime, especially those initial three days, when my organs struggled to flush out the lingering toxins caused by sugar, caffeine and alcohol despite my pre-detox. My energy levels were at zero, as was my mood. I retreated to my room between appointments and crawled under the duvet with a Hayflower detox wrap.
But on day four, it was all change. I flew out of bed, loving life. At breakfast, my dressing gown-clad peers shushed me for breaking the silent eating code. I could not contain myself; pure energy was coursing through my veins. Never one for moderation, and wanting to make up for lost time, I did an aqua cycling session with Eva, trained with Nikolai, and joined the afternoon hike with Judith and her Transylvanian hound. I also discovered the joys of wild swimming at the sleek Beach House on Lake Wörthersee. Exhilaration and relaxation had new meanings as I plunged into the icy water and then retreated indoors to the Finnish sauna and massage rooms.
While the universal Mayr precepts of Epsom salts, gluten-free buckwheat rolls and relentless chewing are an integral part of the offering here, chef Andreas Wolff’s food – or the relative lack thereof – is a mainstay of the experience. The exceptional quality of what little I ate with a doll-sized spoon was a total and welcome surprise. Lunch, the highlight of the day, was always a triumph. Never have nouvelle cuisine-sized potato blinis with caviar, quail egg, beetroot ragout and horseradish foam tasted so good. The ubiquitous vegetable bouillon served in the evening was delicious and allowed my digestive system to rest for the requisite 16 hours to achieve ketosis, whereby the body burns fat, aka intermittent fasting.
My remaining time was spent being measured and tested, bathing in alkaline baths, discovering the effectiveness of lymph drainage for the face and décolleté and reading on a sun lounger in the terraced gardens of lavender.
I left renewed, rejuvenated, determined to adhere to what I learned, and three kilos lighter. With Original Mayr’s wise words resonating in my head: ‘Abstinence does not always mean deficit: most of the time, it is the biggest benefit.’ I can promise that Original Mayr Resort is the real deal.
