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?

Congratulations Megatron - I myself also successfully lost weight some years ago on a 1500 cals a day diet with exercise

@Settle59 what will you do when you feel you need to get back to a more 'normal' way of eating? (Sorry I'm not sure what other term to use!) Will you gradually increase your intake over a few weeks? I'm sticking to roundabout 1400 as I can maintain at that or lose the odd lb now. Losing weight is bloody hard however you do it isn't it.

Christ mn is home to so much disordered eating. I thought the low carb boards were bad enough.

Megatron - losing weight is very hard I totally agree. I've thought about what happens when I reach goal and yes, what you mentioned - gradually increasing my intake over a few weeks seems the best option.

@Elmerrrrrrrr

What's wrong with the low carb boards?! Surely you can't consider those to be about disordered eating?!

Elmerrrrr I think you should be writing the book. Since January I've been watching portions and cut right down on snacks, have not lost one pound. If you have lost three stone and maintained it without really trying, you have an enviable metabolism or a secret of national importance.

NotMeNoNo

Then you are probably still eating too much.

There is no great secret to weight loss.

If only you were right, @Elmerrrrrrrr. Then nobody would be overweight.

It really isn't a simple issue. But you crack on, and perhaps write that book?

I’ll try a smaller plate. Maybe a saucer. I’ll be down to 800 calories where we started at this rate. I don’t think it’s as simple as that but I guess the main thing is people find what works for them.

I didn't say it was easy to do, but the science, unless you have a medical condition, is plain and simple.

Is it?

Really?

Have you ever struggled with your weight @Elmerrrrrrrr?

BIWI

Yes, as I've said numerous times on this thread. I would hardly be qualified to comment otherwise.

This post isn’t very informative without describing the research and facts behind it, as people see the 800 calorie total and quite rightly think it sounds atrocious. For anyone who is interested, or those who are skeptical and think it’s terrible for you, the book is extremely informative and there are a number of articles online explaining the benefits not only for weight loss but also general health.

It is NOT just 800 calories of any old food you fancy, you need to ensure your macros are correct especially in relation to protein. I’ve been following it with good success, as well as weight loss, I no longer have extreme cravings for sugar, and as the food is anti-inflammatory my IBS and eczema have cleared up. I sleep better and have improved concentration throughout the day. I’m half way through the rapid weight loss phase and will continue for the 12 weeks. I eat within an 8 hour window each day, fasting for the rest of the time, and I eat two meals a day. I’m not hungry and I don’t feel dizzy/lightheaded or lethargic as I am meticulous about making sure my macros are correct so I get the right nutrition.

Please, please don’t try 800 calories without reading the book first.

No dieting this way (or any restrictive way in my opinion) is not good for your body. It's really bad for your health. Your body will tell you instinctively what it needs.
I really hate diet culture & think that prescribing to some idealogy of size or health goal is feeding into the negative expectations of our society and of the media. The ideology of calories is completely made up, it's not real. We are all different shapes & sizes & we need to embrace different body types & love ourselves & our bodies. I don't care OP how big or small your body is I love you for who you are & what you look like without forcing an unnatural fasting diet onto yourself. You just need to eat sensibly! And exercise sensibly!

The ideology of calories is completely made up, it's not real. We are all different shapes & sizes & we need to embrace different body types & love ourselves & our bodies

You don’t actually believe this unscientific bullshit, do you?

I mean, excess calories lead to weight gain and no amount of wishful thinking is going to change that

When I dieted about 2 years ago (about to do it again) I ate around 800 cals a day veggie and gluten free and ran for an hour plus half hour weight lifting, lost 3 stone over 3/4 months but was hard and felt starving all the time, good luck if you're going to try it x

What I like about 16 8 is I still eat home made treacle tart and drink wine but just at weekends and eat less in the mornings in the week. Trade off works well for me lost the 2 stone I needed and importantly maintaining

A calorie is a unit of energy, not an abstract concept. I proved it in a biology experiment 30+ years ago.

277xo - congratulations on your progress and I admit in an ideal world I'd follow the book to the letter

Aclh13 - well done that's encouraging especially in a relatively short amount of time !

We are all different shapes & sizes & we need to embrace different body types & love ourselves & our bodies
Yes, let's ignore that obesity is the biggest killer and cost to the nhs shall we. Let's instead have more thread bashing the nhs and government and ignore that funding the nhs wouldn't be an issue with obesity wasn't such a widespread concern.

Cosmetic is one thing, health certainly another.

@MangoFeverDream you don't actually believe that calorific diets work do you? this is a bullshit way of encouraging people to buy into diet culture, and yes I do actually feel that the whole fucking world is made up of people who are focussed far too much on what they look like rather than how they feel about their bodies, their lifestyles and themselves. The fact is the less you eat the more your body will crave food - an unhealthy state to be in and unnecessary too, and most weight loss under these starvation conditions is water loss, which will just as easily be put back on, which is why this type of diet does not work.
I believe in the fuckit diet, a no nonsense unfaddy eat what the fuck you like (I am not talking about just unhealthy foods either here, its about eating what your body knows it needs), avoiding eating disorders and unhelpful diet plans which encourage the culture of ED's (And yes I know an awful lot about this subject so just try me). Bodies are supposed to be all different, there is scientific proof of this fact! we are not all supposed to be starving ourselves into being thin and unhealthy

donotdisturb - no I am not talking about obesity! why would you think that? most people have perfectly sound bodies, not fat but if they have a bit of fat on them, well so what? we are supposed to have some fat aren't we.
And as for your comment about the nhs, I think this is the very least of their problems at this moment in time. I think we should all be trying to hep them get the PPE don't you?
I am talking about loving yourself for what you look like anyway, eating healthily and normally and exercising like an ordinary person would. It isn't healthy to starve yourself, it is extremely dangerous, ED's cost the NHS millions of pounds although I digress. It isnt something to poke at and think it won't happen to me, diet culture is fucking dangerous.

A calorie is a unit of energy, not an abstract concept. I proved it in a biology experiment 30+ years ago.

Yes. However, no one is disputing that.

The ideology of calories isn't about whether or not a calorie is unit of energy but about whether weight loss is as simple as calories in/calories out. Which is much more complicated because bodies are not simple systems. Bodies process different foods differently, they use up different amounts of energy to do so, they use the energy generated by those calories to do all kinds of things: generate heat, pump blood, keep the brain functioning, as well as movement and excretion. It is impossible to measure all of those output calories. There is good evidence that simply reducing calorie intake is not a good way to produce weight loss either in the short or long term. The body reacts to deprivation by changing all kinds of internal functions in the short term. And in the long term, the starvation mode forces us to seek out more and more food.

That is why the 'calorie ideology' is fundamentally flawed. The best and newest research on diet is much more focussed on intake which causes your body to function well and sustainably, reducing blood sugar levels, as well as managing various hormones, and organ functions. Calories are basically the least useful measure of a healthy diet.

Well, it's an interesting theory, but I don't agree with you Chocolate50. It's fairly simple: if you eat more calories than you expend, you will put on weight. If you eat fewer calories than you expend, you will lose weight. A 2018 survey found that 63% of UK adults are overweight or obese. So that's most adults.

Extreme dieting does not satiate and is not sustainable. Guess what? The Fast 800 and Blood Sugar Diets are based on modern scientific research and findings and are designed to meet the body's actual nutritional needs and to satiate whilst reversing pre-diabetes and type 2 diabetes and bringing a whole host of benefits that not being overweight brings. They are not long term plans - there are maintenance plans provided and explained for after the initial restricted calorie intake period.

I for one would rather be healthy than put myself at increased risk of cancer and of dying of Covid-19, for example. An overweight population puts far more strain on the NHS than eating disorders do. I'm still overweight although I've lost over a stone. I've had people tell me, "you're not fat!" when I definitely was/am. A big problem is that being fatter has become accepted as the norm.