HOW THE FAST 800 WORKS

STAGE ONE: THE FAST 800

IF YOU want rapid weight loss, as long as it is safe for you to do it, try sticking to 800 calories a day for a few days, weeks or even months.

REAL food is best, but while you adjust to the diet, for simplicity and convenience, consider using meal replacement shakes for up to half your daily calorie intake to suit your lifestyle, perhaps for breakfast or to take to work for lunch.

THIS ‘fast track’ approach is great if you have a lot of weight to lose; if you are in a hurry; if you have pre-diabetes or type 2 diabetes; if you have been told you have a fatty liver; if you want to kick your weight-loss journey off with a bang; or perhaps because you have hit a weight-loss plateau.

800 is the magic number when it comes to successful dieting — it’s a calorie amount that is high enough to be manageable and sustainable but low enough to trigger a range of metabolic changes that are very good for your mental and physical health.

AIM to eat within a 12-hour window (9am to 9pm or 10am to 10pm) to maximise the health benefits of your overnight fast.

STAGE TWO: THE NEW 5:2

PICK two days each week when you will stick to 800 calories (the days can be consecutive or separate).

ON THESE ‘fast days’ aim to eat within a 10-hour window (so your nightly fast is extended to 14 hours).

THE fasting options can be varied according to your need; the 2:5 with two non-fasting days and five ‘fast days’ — if it is difficult to fast at weekends — or adding extra ‘fast days’ to speed things up with the 3:4, or maintaining the metabolism in good shape with the 6:1 involving only one ‘fast day’ a week.

AIM to maximise your nutritional intake by following the recipe ideas in today’s magazine and all next week in the special pullouts in the Mail.

ON non-fast days, eat healthily. No calorie counting, but keep an eye on portion sizes and aim to stick to a Mediterranean-based diet.

5:2 ALL THE WAY

I’VE designed this diet plan to be flexible so you can tailor the programme to your needs, goals and motivation. You can switch from stage one to stage two whenever you like, or you can cut out the first stage and start at 5:2 as long as you eat 800 calories on your two ‘fast days’ and aim to eat healthily the rest of the week.

STAGE THREE: A HEALTHY WAY OF LIFE

ONCE you’ve achieved your ideal weight, make sure you stay there by sticking to my super-healthy Mediterranean-style recipes.

NO calorie counting, but do watch portion sizes. Eat the foods you love, but in much smaller quantities than you used to.

AIM to eat within a 10 or 12-hour window, always.

WEIGH yourself regularly and if it starts to creep up, try 6:1 (one day per week on 800 calories).

BUT WHY HAVE TIMERESTRICTED EATING TOO?

THERE is strong scientific evidence that extending your overnight fast — going for 12, 14 or even 16 hours without calories — brings benefits.

THIS extended break gives your body a chance to switch its priorities away from digestion and on to other important functions, such as ‘autophagy’. This is the clearing away of old cells to make way for new ones. An extended overnight fast will also help your body switch from burning sugar to burning fat — YOUR fat!

STUDIES suggest the best results from eating within an eight or ninehour window, but that may not be practical. Start by trying to confine your eating and drinking to 12 hours.

CAN I STILL HAVE A GLASS OF WINE (OR TWO)?

IT’S A good idea to try to lower your alcohol consumption while on the plan. Alcohol lowers your inhibitions. Another reason? It is extremely calorific. A large glass of wine (250ml) or a pint of beer comes to around 230 calories, similar to eating a small chocolate bar or an ice-cream.

But there’s no reason not to enjoy the odd glass of wine (preferably red) on non-fast days and when you reach your goal weight.

KEEP ON MOVING

IF YOU already have a regular exercise programme, keep going — on ‘fast days’ and non-fast days. If you don’t do regular exercise, this is a good time to begin.

START with a few brisk walks and add in some light resistance exercises, such as push-ups and squats. These should increase in frequency and intensity as the weeks go by.

EXERCISE will improve sleep and will help fat burning, which will increase the effectiveness of the diet.

DON’T use exercise as an excuse to eat more, and don’t use the fact you are on a diet as an excuse to stop exercising.

WHY MEDITERRANEANSTYLE FOOD?

THE recipes you’ll find in this series are based on a Mediterranean-style diet, which is a way of eating that is rich in healthy natural fats, nuts and fish, as well as vegetables and legumes, which are packed with disease-fighting nutrients.

Because it is tasty and varied, it is far easier to stick to than more restrictive diets. You don’t eliminate lots of food groups, plus it is extremely filling, thanks to highish levels of natural fat, protein and fibre in the diet.

The recipes in this series are designed to be proportionally high in

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protein to help maintain muscle mass and stop your metabolic rate from crashing as you lose weight. This should mean you will find it much easier to keep the weight off.

A Mediterranean diet doesn’t just taste great, there is solid scientific evidence that eating like this will cut the risk of heart disease, cancer, type 2 diabetes, depression and dementia. Even if you only take up this way of eating later in middle age, studies show you can increase your life expectancy.

TWO MEALS OR THREE?

ON YOUR 800 calorie ‘fast days’, whether you are sticking to 800 calories every day or for just two days a week, many people find it easier to simply skip one meal and eat two meals and a small snack rather than three. It is often easiest to skip breakfast, or merge it with lunch as ‘brunch’, then have another meal later in the day.

Studies show it is better to eat most of your calories early. That’s because your body is much better at handling sugar and fat in the morning than in the evening when it is getting ready to close down for the night and will not appreciate being forced to re-start the complex process of digestion.

WHAT ABOUT BREAD, RICE AND PASTA?

THE recipes in this series are lower in carbohydrate than you might be used to. I’ve avoided sugar and refined flour, and even bread, potatoes and rice in many cases.

This is because cutting back on starchy carbs will help persuade your body to switch from using sugars to burning fats for fuel and the best way to do this is through fasting, and keeping your carbohydrate intake low.

The Fast 800 is a mildly ketogenic diet, where you are eating a much higher ratio of fat and protein to carbs than you normally would, especially during the rapid weight-loss phase.

The term ‘ketogenic’ is one you may have heard before. As your body switches from burning sugar to burning fat, it produces substances called keto bodies, which will help suppress your appetite.

SAFETY FIRST

RAPID weight loss used to be called ‘crash dieting’ but recent research shows it can be safe and sustainable — people who lose weight quickly are more likely to keep it off.

CAUTIONS AND EXCLUSIONS

YOU can stay in this fast-track phase for up to 12 weeks, but if you have any medical problems check with your GP before changing your diet. This diet is not suitable for the under-18s, if you’re breastfeeding, pregnant or undergoing fertility treatment.

Nor is it for those who are underweight, have an eating disorder, psychiatric disorder, had recent heart problems or uncontrolled heart disease or high blood pressure. Check with a doctor if you are unwell or recovering from significant surgery, have diabetes, retinopathy or epilepsy or are on certain medications.

THE Fast 800 by Michael Mosley (Short Books, £8.99). To buy a copy for £6.74 (25 per cent discount) go to mailshop.co. uk/books or call 0844 571 0640. Offer valid until January 19, 2019. p&p free on orders over £15. Spend £30 on books and get FREE premium delivery. Find support at thefast800.com