How to lose weight fast with Dr Michael Mosley

When it comes to losing weight there’s plenty of good science to show the advantages of doing it fast. Not only does rapid weight loss trigger dramatic health improvements, but the tumbling numbers on your bathroom scales provide excellent motivation to drive you towards your goal.

Over the last ten years I’ve been honing and perfecting an impressively effective diet plan with my wife Dr Clare Bailey right by my side, creating deliciously simple and extremely healthy recipes to keep you on track. You might be familiar with the concept of 5:2, and with Fast 800, but the newest and most scientifically robust incarnation is the Fast 800 Keto which combines the best elements of both with a powerful ‘turbo button’ which flicks your body into fat-burning mode and silences hunger pangs. 

The secret lies in that very simple word: keto. We discovered that by restricting calorie intake to 800- 900 per day you gain the widely known health benefits of ‘fasting’. But if you ensure your calorie allowance includes plenty of protein (meat, fish, eggs and cheese), healthy fats (olive oil, nuts) and not many carbohydrates, you can also create the ideal conditions for your body to go into a state of ‘ketosis’. 

This is when it releases compounds from your fat stores and converts them into chemicals called ketones which can be used as fuel. Amazingly, ketosis doesn’t just mean you’re burning fat , it also promotes the release of hunger suppressing hormones. 

It’s a double win! Many classic ketogenic diets have been horribly austere and unhealthy, but you can see from Clare’s recipes here that you really can enjoy nourishing meals – even the occasional dessert – while still activating that keto turbo button and shifting the pounds fast.

To get you started, you’ll find a tempting selection of recipes based on the super-healthy principles of the Mediterranean diet. You can be confident you’re getting all the nutrients your body needs – plus some wholegrains, beans, lentils, and fruit – without putting your diet at risk. 

This new programme not only puts you into ketosis faster than a normal keto diet, but is also, I believe, healthier and more sustainable. On the rapid weight-loss phase of the plan (stage one) you can expect to the plan for 2-12 weeks, depending on how much you want to lose. 

But you also have the option of moving to stage two which means picking anything from two to five consecutive days a week to ‘fast’ like you do in stage one, but easing into a lowish-carb Mediterranean-style diet on the other days (without having to count calories). We have found this works really well if you ‘fast’ Monday to Friday, then enjoy a more relaxed approach over the weekend, snapping back into ketosis each Monday morning. 

And when you do reach your target weight, you can stay slim long-term by sticking to the lowishcarb Mediterranean style of eating and throwing in the occasional ‘fast’ day to keep things on track – which is precisely what I do! With this flexible plan, we really have made dieting easy. 

If you want to improve your health and shift a substantial amount of weight, fast – and keep that weight off longterm – this is our most effective programme yet.

CHECK WITH YOUR GP FIRST 

• Medical note: rapid weight loss does not suit everyone. If you have a significant underlying medical condition, are on insulin, have Type 2 diabetes and are on medication, are on blood pressure medication, have moderate or severe retinopathy, have epilepsy or gallstones, or are pregnant or breastfeeding, please talk to your doctor before going on this diet. It is not suitable for teenagers, or people with a history of an eating disorder, who have a psychiatric illness, are unwell, underweight or doing endurance exercise.