In a nutshell, the fast 800 diet is the new version of the 5:2 diet devised by Dr Michael Mosley a few years back. At that time, studies had primarily been done on rats; however, for the first time, human studies are now available which has led to this reworking of the diet. One of the key differences is the focus on what you eat as well as restricting calorie intake. This means following a ‘traditional’ Mediterranean diet (sadly not the modern pizza/pasta filled one) of meats, oils, fish, vegetables and legumes and very low levels of carbohydrates. We are already feeling the difference that this has made. Compared to when we did the 5:2 diet last year, we have felt much less hungry this time and we have tried so many new dishes in just the first week.
Let’s have another brief look at the three stages of this diet. For more detail please refer to the fast 800 book.
- Stage one: Calorie restriction of 800 calories each day, cutting out carbs by following a Mediterranean diet. How long? From 2 to 12 weeks depending on your weight loss goals.
- Stage two: Moving to the 5:2. That’s restricting your calories to 800 for just two days of each week. Eating normally for the other days but still largely following a Mediterranean diet and paying attention to Time Restricted Eating (extending the period of your overnight fast). How long? For as long as you wish or until you have reached your goals.
- Stage three: This is the maintenance phase and involves continuing a new healthier way of eating. If you slip back into bad habits, it is easier to introduce some fast days again until you get back to where you need to be.
My main goal in this diet is not weight loss but rather to benefit from autophagy (the destruction of damaged or unhealthy cells - a process triggered by a period of fasting) and ketosis (where your body begins to burn fat rather than sugar and this helps to reduce any excess internal body fat). Think reduced risk of diabetes, heart disease, cancer…
So how have the past couple of days been? Luckily, day six of the fast 800 suddenly seemed a lot more manageable and we were both excited to not be feeling particularly hungry at all.
For breakfast, we had a delicious Blueberry and Almond Yoghurt. I can’t remember the last time I had a non-processed yoghurt. Using full fat Greek yoghurt made this a surprisingly satiating breakfast. I have found a new love for toasted almond flakes!
Dinner was a Chicken, Coconut and Green Lentil Curry from the fast 800 book. This, again, was very tasty and filling. The recipe served four, so we have two portions to eat over the coming days. The mangetouts were an optional addition with insignificant calories.
The next day, we headed to the gym before breakfast. We had chosen a natural yoghurt with blanched almonds, plum and agave nectar. This was also nice but the plums were not quite ripe enough and a little too sour for Ross! He filled the calorie gap with a hard-boiled egg. We also hesitated over the agave nectar as this is essentially sugar which could throw us out of ketosis and back into burning sugar for energy. This recipe was in the old 5:2 recipe book which does not follow the same low carb principles as the revised version.
For dinner we had the Pepper Chicken from the fast 800 book. This is essentially stir fry veg, chicken and cashew nuts seasoned with five spice. We added in the remainder of our packet of zero noodles to fill the dish out and it was perfect!
We’ve just planned some new recipes for next week which we are excited to try! Watch this space!
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