to recommend the 800 cals a day diet?

[Settle59]

I know a book has been written on this - the fast 800 - by Dr Michael Mosley. I haven't followed his recommendations in the book to the letter and his recommended recipes but I still stick to 800 cals daily - since April 14th this year I've started this diet and the results in 4 weeks have been amazing. When I started I was 5ft 1 and around 12 - 12 and a half stone - now I'm around 11st 4. I know I'm still overweight but feel so much fitter. I also run for at least 30 mins every day. My previously tight size 16 clothes feel looser. I had so much difficulty losing weight before- for the past 3 years I've not been able to diet and binge eaten a lot. However, now I've stuck to this for nearly 5 weeks I feel I'm on a roll and determined to keep it going. Has anyone else tried this diet and had similar success?

Quietly confident that me not shovelling crisps chocolate and biscuits into my mouth at every opportunity and eating smaller healthier meals of all food groups unlikely to cause any damage 🙄 quite the opposite. Two stone lighter and feel great

800 calories a day on a very well devised and healthy meal plan, for maybe one or two days a week, I can understand and makes some sense. I know IF clearly has benefits and works for many.

But we seem to be talking about 800 calories a day of any old food and every day for weeks on end? And for someone with a BMI in the high 20s? That seems insane.

Many years ago I was anorexic and even with a BMI of 13 I was never eating this few calories! I know I was obviously exercising and young but I also was clued up to avoiding any sort of starvation mode. My point being even being hugely unhealthy and losing too much weight I still always ate 1000+ calories at a much lower weight!

Clearly, from this thread and most lived experience, quick fix diets don't work. It has to be lifestyle change and sustainable new habits, and not depriving yourself so much you set yourself up to binge.

@user1464279374

But we seem to be talking about 800 calories a day of any old food and every day for weeks on end?

This is absolutely not what the Fast800 diet is about. It's about a low calorie but lower carb/higher protein approach to eating, not just any old calories - and for a max of 12 weeks

Unfortunately @Settle59 is doing this, which really will not be doing her health any favours - and despite lots of us trying to explain that to her, she would rather favour her bank balance over her health.

Oh, I’ve not read the thread so perhaps some people are at cross purposes?

Nothing makes me sadder than the notion that e.g. 800 cals is the main focus and not the quality of nutrition taken in - that’s certainly not the case. You might get skinny surviving on just the right balance of junk but you will be woefully unhealthy and putting your long term health and well-being at huge risk.

I actually ate very well on 800 calories a day. And it wasn’t terribly expensive either...you just have to be smart on how you spend your money.

I agree it’s depressing to see so much drivel posted here by so called experts who think they know more than medical researchers and doctors.

I wish I had £ for every person who stomps in and yells

“ it’s just calories in calories out, there’s no such thing as hormones, you are all just greedy and lazy “.

Or “ you will faint or even die if you don’t eat for 12 hours let alone 24 hours “.

Or “ losing weight is unhealthy and will lead to an eating disorder, even if your doctor has told you to lose weight “.

Or my favourite “ cutting out a food group is unhealthy “.

I usually get this because I’m gluten free ( I have a medical condition ) and apparently gluten has been designated a food group by self appointed experts who know more that my GP and consultant.

But I know it’s also very common to be told them if you eat LCHF. From people who think the word “ low “ is the same as “ no”.

I have no idea how BIWI is so patient with them.

I also wonder how many of them are social marketing people / social influencers from Kellogg’s et al.

I agree it’s depressing to see so much drivel posted here by so called experts who think they know more than medical researchers and doctors.

Some of us who have posted that drivel have opinions informed by other medical researchers and doctors. Hth.

If you can't have gluten because you have a medical condition, that is nothing to do with anything posted here.

Thank you for insulting me. I myself am an Academic working at a University which is at the forefront of UK Research and Medical Training and come from an entire family of medical professionals. My entire paternal side of the family over the age of 40 all have Type 2 Diabetes as is common in the SE Asian population. The study posted is about reversing Type 2 Diabetes. Patients would be advised to try this diet under the supervision of at the very least a GP, Diabetic Nurse or Dietitian.

The majority of people doing the Fast 800 are not doing it under supervision, and are not doing it because they have Diabetes. Fast weight loss seems to be the primary goal.

I have read Mosely’s work and I do not apologise for calling him a quack.

Also surely it's worth remembering that weight loss isn't an exact science? Medical professionals disagree with one another, the thousands of studies done have differing conclusions. Bodies all work differently and it's clearly a delicate thing to get right. If there was one 'correct' way to do it then surely everyone would be thin and there'd be no need for a diet industry at all! I don't think giving varying opinions/experiences is as simple as disregarding science.

Bodies all work differently and it's clearly a delicate thing to get right. If there was one 'correct' way to do it then surely everyone would be thin

I think it’s worth remembering that in lots of countries everyone is thin.Simply not having access to food , cultural food choices or social pressure.
In the U.K. we have cheap food and culturally we tend to eat big meat, veg and potatoes type food. Socially we revolve around food and drink.

@Leflic Totally. But I mean within the context of all that availability and all those pressures. Psychologically you might be better doing IF and I might thrive physically on low carb etc etc. Obviously without choice and just surviving it's a different situation.

NameChange84 what advice would you give to someone wanting to lose weight safely and permanently? A diet of not much over 1200 calories is recommended by the NHS but it didn't seem to work for you in your pp (or for me). Did you lose weight in the end, if you wanted to?

It seems we hear a lot about what doesn't work, and what is supposed to work but doesn't. But what does? Is it a combination of things? Why on earth can't all these researchers actually form a coherent plan. We are better at treating cancer than obesity.

The reason behind obesity is overeating. Figure out why people eat to excess because there are a whole myriad of reasons.

Speaking as someone who used to be obese, I did not fit the stereotype. I did not eat ready meals or "processed" foods (hate that term). I was brought up on home cooked food and am an excellent cook myself, cooking most meals from scratch using fresh ingredients and loads of fruit and veg. I love veg.

Three things were the issue with me. One, my portion sizes were humongous. I am only 5ft2 and a portion of pasta for me would have been about 120g, double what it should have been. The second issue was emotional eating - my reaction to any emotion, happy or sad, was to eat. If something good happened, I'd want to celebrate with food. If something shit happened, I'd want to comfort myself with food. I was never hungry because I just ate all the time and it didn't matter that the food I ate was "healthy". Thirdly, my mother whom I adore but who has huge issues with body image never let us have sweets, fizzy drinks, fast food or anything like that growing up so when I went to uni I went nuts and had loads of it. Feeling it was forbidden made it harder to resist.

I tried all diets, including blood sugar and all types of low carb high fat, but ultimately none of them eliminated the above problems, particularly the second and third ones.

I am now maintaining a healthy weight (3 years now) because I finally tackled those problems and my disordered eating. I see no food as "bad" now. I eat bread, pasta, sugar, full fat dairy, junk food occasionally if I fancy it. But my portion sizes are appropriate for my height and sex and, most days, I don't snack.

Today I had a blended frozen banana with greek yoghurt, honey and chocolate nut butter for breakfast. Lunch was 3 scrambled eggs with red pepper, spinach and pepper, followed by an apple. Dinner will be home made red lentil dahl with paneer and a home made naan bread. May have an ice lolly too!

@NotMeNoNo

I don’t think there is a one size fits all approach and I’d advise anyone who is clinically obese to consult with their GP as to what the best course of action is for them.

I’ve never been obese and was only slightly in the overweight category when I started a low calorie diet. Then I kept gaining weight, even on 800 calories. I gained 2 stone in total but I had been very slim prior to this so was still only just in the overweight category clinically. I realised I couldn’t afford to keep cutting calories and I sought medical advice. After a barrage of tests and seeing an endocrinologist I was advised to stop calorie counting entirely, take two sets of medication and undertake more very gentle exercise. Towards the end of the diet I’d been going into shock when weight training or doing HIIT due to the damage that had been done to my body through dieting long term.

After 4 months I started to lose weight without trying, just eating a healthy diet and walking. Within a year my thyroid and endocrine hormones were improving and I’d stopped losing my hair. There’s still some lasting damage but I’m not even two years on so I don’t know if it will even out or not. My metabolism still isn’t great.

@Elmerrrrrrrr your post is absolutely spot on, but also another reason why weight loss isn't as simple as CICO.

Emotional/comfort eating is a very difficult thing to deal with - and culturally we use food for comfort - 'you've been good you deserve a treat - have some chocolate/sweets/cake/booze, etc', or 'I've had a shit day, I deserve a treat - pass the chocolate/sweets/cake/booze, etc

Well, @NameChange84 as you didn't say any of that, how was I to know you come from such a background?

But I still disagree with you about Dr Mosley, and I think your assertion is libellous, actually. If you have read his work then you'll know that he has worked with/incorporated the findings from the University of Newcastle's work into his own.

A lot of people are doing the Fast800 because they want to lose weight, and I fail to see the problem with that. Many of those may already be diabetic, if not pre-diabetic, so a diet that's been shown to reverse the effects of diabetes is surely a good thing?

However, I agree with you, a lot of people are doing it wrong and not following the principles behind it, like the OP, which is is a concern.

Of course it’s not Libellous @BIWI.

It’s my opinion based on my own conclusion.

Dr Mosely trained as a psychiatrist and has never practiced in General Medicine. In fact he hasn’t even practiced within psychiatry for decades. He’s spent most of his life as a journalist. I wouldn’t go to a Psychiatrist to lose weight or to reduce my Diabetes any more than I would see a Neurologist about a broken toe. Newcastle University is not the only research institution investigating Diabetes, Diet and Obesity. I’d never base any publication on one research study or institution. There’s so much to take into consideration.

I’m allowed to have little faith in the man and draw my own conclusions.

saying a doctor is a quack is potentially libelous but I doubt he will be too bothered. Most doctors know what works and what does not in this field and the days of the high carb diet being great for type 2 diabetes are long gone.

@Settle59 I've just bought the book & started reading it, going to give it a try once I've read it.

I'm 5'2 currently weigh 11 stone, used to be size 8 now a 12/14, although I know size 12/14 isn't big it's big for me as I'm so short.
I had my boobs done a couple of years ago & the 2 stone weight gain is hiding them & they don't really look any bigger anymore with my new frame! ( I didn't go huge with the boobies though ) I feel sluggish & it's all gained round my hips & belly .... watching this thread with interest.

artyandtarty - me and you are practically the same - in height, weight and dress size!

First, to become a psychiatrist you start with general medical training. Second, Dr Mosley remains a scientist therefore I believe he would be more than competent to understand the work being done in nutrition.

You are allowed to think what you like about anyone - but to call him a quack is really unnecessary.

He's looking at all the latest research. I'd like to know on what basis you think he's a quack tbh.