lose weight Fast easy the way

Super soups, shakes and delicious dishes to help you...

AS THE Mail revealed yesterday, the NHS will be offering people with type 2 diabetes a liquid diet of just 800 calories a day as part of radical plans to turn the tide on the disease. There is another way: Dr Michael Mosley’s groundbreaking 8-Week Blood Sugar Diet from his book. Here, in the first part of a two-part series, we publish his simple yet healthy and tasty plan for sticking to 800 calories a day — while still feeling full.

sIX years ago I discovered, after a routine blood test, that I was a type 2 diabetic. This was a particularly nasty shock because my father had died, aged 74, from complications of diabetes. But rather than start on medication, which is what my doctor advised, I decided to find something I could do to overcome diabetes without drugs.

I’m not alone in trying to find a solution to this cruel disease, which is at epidemic proportions: one in three Britons now has pre- diabetes (blood sugar levels that are abnormally high but not yet in the diabetic range), while about four million have the condition itself.

And if you do have pre-diabetes (and unless you’ve been tested you won’t know), there’s a 30 per cent chance that within five years you will go on to develop type 2 diabetes — the kind linked to unhealthy diet and lifestyle.

This can lead to a range of serious complications including an increased risk of going blind, needing an amputation or suffering a heart attack, kidney failure or dementia.

Luckily, I believe I did discover an answer to type 2 — my bestselling Blood Sugar Diet book, which shows you how to eat to beat diabetes.

Since I wrote it just over two years ago, tens of thousands of men and women have used it to lose weight, cut their risk of type 2 diabetes and even reduce their reliance on medication.

People like Cassie, a nurse, who within weeks of starting was able to come off insulin injections. In a couple of months she lost more than 20kg (44lb) and then managed to get pregnant. ‘You have helped make a little miracle possible,’

she wrote, ‘for which I can’t thank you enough.’ But it’s not just weight loss and diabetes — the diet has led to dramatic improvement in people with a range of other ailments, from eczema to polycystic ovary

syndrome, a condition that

hinders fertility and affects nearly one in five women.

The key, based on extensive research, lies in switching to a Mediterraneanstyle diet rich in healthy fats and vegetables, but low in sugar and starch.

And, if you have a lot of weight to lose, sticking to 800 calories per day for eight weeks, you could lose up to an astonishing 33lb and completely reverse your diabetes.

Studies by one of Europe’s leading diabetes experts, Professor Roy Taylor of Newcastle University, have shown that a rapid weight-loss diet is just what you need to reduce the belly fat that’s so bad for us. My own plan is backed by studies which show that if it is done properly, a rapid weight-loss diet can be a safe and effective way to cut fat and achieve your goals.

It’s this kind of research that’s the basis of the new liquid diet taken up by the NHS. I’m thrilled to see the health service is taking the research seriously and I look forward to lots more people reversing their type 2 diabetes.

Not everyone can manage a low- calorie diet like this. But you can still gain many of the benefits (though you may lose weight more slowly) by easing yourself in gently and picking one, two, or three 800- calorie days a week and eating according to sensible, low-carbohydrate diet principles the rest of the time.

In scientific studies, liquid diets are mainly done for convenience — it’s an easy way to keep tabs on what people are consuming. But others have done it just as successfully on solid food.

To make it easy for you, here in a sample week of my 8-week plan, the Mail is focusing on soups andshakes that can go towards making up your 800 calories a day.

Tomorrow we will look at delicious proper dinners and lunches that can make slimming so easy.

HOW IT WORKS

THE principles of the Blood Sugar Diet are that it is low in starchy carbs, but packed full of disease-fighting vitamins and rich in olive oil, fish, nuts, fruit and vegetables, as well as full-fat yoghurt and eggs.

That’s because large studies have found that not only do people gain multiple health benefits from a Mediterranean - style diet but they find it easier to stick to — unlike a low-fat diet — as it’s simple and enjoyable.

Alongside the diet, I recommend a really simple fitness plan.

Here are some pointers to give you an idea of what is meant by Mediterranean-style eating:

CUT right down on sugar, sugary treats, drinks and desserts.

MINIMISE or avoid the starchy ‘white stuff’. That means bread, pasta, potatoes, rice.

SwITCH your starches. Instead of pasta and rice, try quinoa, bulgur (cracked wheat), whole rye, wholegrain barley, wild rice and buckwheat. Legumes, such as lentils and kidney beans, are healthy and filling too.

AvoID most breakfast cereals as these are usually full of sugar.

FULL-FAT yoghurt is also good. For flavour, add blackberries, strawberries, blueberries, or a sprinkling of nuts.

START the day with eggs. They can be boiled, poached, scrambled or made into an omelette, and will keep you fuller for longer than cereal or toast. Delicious with smoked salmon and chilli.

SNACk on nuts. They are a great source of protein and fibre. Try to avoid salted or sweetened nuts, which can be moreish.

EAT more healthy fats and oils. Along with oily fish (salmon,

Volunteers who followed the diet lost an average of five inches around the waist

tuna, mackerel), consume more olive oil. A splash on vegetables improves the absorption of vitamins. Use olive, rapeseed or coconut oil for cooking.

Avoid margarine and use butter instead. Cheese in moderation is fine.

PiCk high- quality proteins — oily fish, prawns, chicken, turkey, pork, beef and eggs. other protein- rich foods include soya, edamame beans, Quorn and hummus. Processed meats, such as bacon and salami should be eaten only a few times a week.

EAt plenty of different- coloured veg. Choose a range from dark, leafy greens to bright-red and yellow peppers. Add sauces and flavouring, such as lemon, butter or olive oil, salt, pepper, garlic, chilli, gravy.

Avoid too many sweet fruits. Berries, apples or pears are fine, but tropical fruits such as mango, pineapple, melon and bananas are full of sugar.

the idea is that — whether by following the recipes shown here or creating your own — you follow these principles, restricting your daily calories to 800.

For some people this will mean having just two meals a day, for others it will be three smaller ones. And while alcohol isn’t banned for life, it’s worth avoiding owing to its high calorie content.

if after eight weeks you still have more weight to lose, or need to bring your blood sugar levels down further, move to the more relaxed 5:2 approach.