Together we lost 15in off our waists!
BEFORE our 30 volunteers started on the Fast800 programme, they recorded their weight and their waist measurements.
As well as losing 39 st 8 lb between them, they lost an impressive 9ft 8 in from their waistlines.
Here, six of those who took part reveal how they did it.
CUT OUT CRISPS
CLARE PASS, 48, is a civil servant. She says:
BECAUSE I’m tall, people couldn’t believe how much I weighed. But my weight crept up steadily after quitting smoking three years ago.
Until then, I weighed 9st and my waist was trim. But at the start of this year, I was wearing a size 16 and my waist measured 35 in.
I have fibromyalgia, which causes pain and tiredness, as well as sciatica in my hip. I lost a stone during lockdown by cutting out crisps and chocolate and by doing 10,000 steps a day.
But the Fast800 challenge has transformed what I eat. A typical day now consists of Greek yoghurt and berries for breakfast, Greek salad for lunch and something like chickpea patties for dinner.
I want to get below 11st now and drop another dress size. I’ve lost 2in from my waist so far.
MY IBS HAS EASED
ALEX WAINWRIGHT, 24, a delivery driver, lives with husband Ryan. He says:
MY STOMACH is flatter now I’ve lost weight. I’m fitting into size 34in waist trousers (my waist is down from 38 in) and I feel much healthier.
I’ve had irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) for years and sometimes it’s been so crippling I’ve had to take days off work. I’ve never found the cause, although I avoid certain triggers such as fizzy drinks.
But carbs may be another, as the IBS is much better.
I used to have two or three flare-ups a week but I’ve only had two or three while I’ve been doing the Fast800.
I have breakfast most mornings — yoghurt and berries — then a lunch of, say, paprika prawns. Ryan and I have got into the habit of cooking together in the evening using fresh ingredients, which we didn’t do before and we’re eating veg like spinach and kale for the first time.
NO LONGER BREATHLESS
RYAN FLETCHER, 28, is a hairdresser and lives with husband Alex. He says:
OVER the past year I’ve put on about 3½ st, my waist had reached 36 in and I’ve been suffering badly with sciatica. I was so unfit. I used feel breathless walking up stairs.
The physiotherapist I see can’t believe the difference since I began the diet. I lost 10lb in the first week which made a huge difference. I’ve only had two sciatica flare-ups in the past six weeks, which is amazing. I’m moving easier — the doctors said I had the flexibility of a 50-yearold man before but now I walk the dog without getting breathless. I’ve nearly lost 1½ st and I’ve trimmed 4in from my waist. My goal now is to get to 14 st.
FASTING IS EASY
RACHEL McGARTY, 51, is a teacher and lives with husband Grant and their three children. She says:
UNTIL I had children, I never had a weight problem. I put on a lot with my first child and it spiralled from there.
When I weighed myself at the start of this diet, I was shocked I was 14st 7lb and my waist 40in. I found the fasting relatively easy by skipping breakfast, then having lunch around 12.30pm and dinner at 6.30 pm.
I’ve lost weight from my face and middle, plus I’m less stiff.
I’M ENERGISED
CATHERINE PASHLEY, 48, is a complementary therapist. She’s married to Scott and has three grown-up children.
THE first four weeks were hard, as I was drained of energy. But being part of a group on the Fast800 online programme really helped because we shared recipe ideas and tips.
Now, I can last 18 hours without eating — that is from 4pm, when I have my ‘evening’ meal, to 10am the next morning.
My energy levels have soared and I feel more confident trying on clothes.
BODY-CONFIDENT
JOANNA BROWN, 41, is a civil servant who is divorced and WHEN I first saw what the Fast800 entailed I thought: ‘I can do this.’ But two days in, I was starving. However, I stuck with it, drinking water to stave off hunger pangs.
In the first week, I lost half a stone and my skin is better than it has ever been. I’m thrilled with my weight loss so far.
I was a size 20 and now I’m a size 16 and I’ve lost 2½in from my waist.