There’s more to life than following diet after diet, which is why this plan is designed to help you get fast results – and make sure they last…
LOSE UP TO 11lb IN JUST TWO WEEKS!
What to do
✣ STAGE 1 RAPID WEIGHT LOSS
The Very Fast 800 involves eating 800 calories a day for two weeks. This should induce mild ketosis for fat-burning.
✣ STAGE 2 THE NEW 5:2
This counters insulin resistance. When you’re nearing your weight loss target, eat 800 calories two days a week and follow a Mediterranean diet, exercising portion control, for the rest.
Eat plenty of home-cooked meals with lots of veg and fruit, wholegrains, beans, lentils, fibre, nuts, full-fat dairy and oily fish. Limit processed foods and avoid sugar. Avoid starchy carbs like white bread and white pasta and eat at least 60g of good-quality protein daily.
✣ STAGE 3 AIM TO MAINTAIN
You’ve hit your goal and now maintenance is key to ensuring the weight stays off. Continue the Mediterranean approach, taking the odd fast day when you feel you need it, continuing a low-sugar diet with moderate amounts of starchy carbs.
Why it works
For a long time, we believed that rapid weight loss was a terrible way to go but, when done safely, evidence of its benefits is mounting. Long-term studies suggest the amount of weight you lose in the first month predicts the long-term likelihood of greater loss. The idea that your body will go into starvation mode and stop burning fat is, says Dr Mosley, a ‘popular myth’.
In more recent clinical studies on intermittent fasting, when a study participant enters a metabolic chamber – a specialised hospital room in which an individual’s metabolic activity is measured – their metabolic rate goes up. On a very low-calorie diet, the body uses up fat stores rapidly, starting with the unhealthy visceral fat around the gut.
Your meal ideas
The Fast 800 diet involves cutting your calorie intake to 800 a day for the first couple of weeks before progressing to the 5:2 stage. Here are a few tasty, calorie-counted ideas for brunches, dinner and snacks.
BRUNCHES (APPROX 250 CALS)
✣ 2 poached eggs with steamed mushrooms and spinach, seasoned with sea salt and black pepper.
✣ 30g jumbo oats mixed with ½ a peeled and chopped pear, ½tsp cinnamon, 75ml full-fat milk and 120ml water. Cook over a medium heat for 6 mins.
✣ Put 4 halved and stoned plums in a saucepan with some orange zest strips and 100ml fresh orange juice, 150ml water and
