Great information!! If you're looking for a fast way to burn fat there are A TON of tips in this read.

I'm torn between giving the book 2 or 3 stars, so I give it 2.5 and rounded it up.

The book in itself presents an interesting (and fast, it claimed) diet by restricting your calories intake for the first (at least) 2 weeks. Then, you should gradually adapt with the next steps.

What works for me: there are recipes! Half of the book is supposed to be the science and information part and half filled with recipes that you could create.

What doesn't work for me: I still need more information on this particularly for the setback parts. It doesn't really explain the psychological part and focuses on physical (ex: you'll feel lightheaded, but just drink water and it'll subside).

While there seems to be some valid science behind this plan, it,is a lifestyle and not a diet. Of course you will loose weight more rapidly if you massively restrict caloric intake and add in some exercise. For me this would be unrealistic. With two kids I don't have the time or inclination to make separate meals, and nothing in this book would be palatable to them. I will continue with my slow but steady healthy eating and moderate exercise plan which has helped me shed and keep off 30 pounds.

An interesting read with lots of information. The program sounds very interesting and intriguing. I appreciate the scientific research the author shared, the sharing of his personal experience, the Q & A and providing tips such as what to stock your kitchen with and ways to manage stress. Intermittently fasting sounds doable to me. The first stage of rapid weight loss and eating only 800 calories a day sounds more iffy. Is that really sustainable (even for 2 weeks)? For me I just see that turning into a disaster and leading to overeating. However, he made some good points about it as well. Thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books for an ARC copy in exchange for an honest review.

Dieting revisited!

A combination of ideas put forward about food, exercise and losing weight by Mosley are ringing bells with me. Particulars he's mentioning are factors my doctor has been raising with me. Although my need is more to do with excess weight putting pressure on my arthritic knees.
The book is pithy, easy to read, not too complicated in its explanations, fairly straightforward and most importantly, held my interest.
The things that struck me most included:
that Mosley gives "a number of options so you can tailor the program to your needs, goals and motivation...based on 800-calorie fast days—it’s high enough to be manageable and sustainable but low enough to trigger a range of desirable metabolic changes." So changing metabolism gets a tick and there are Options available for the way you might approach the process. 800 calories is really not a hardship for me but alas there goes the glass of a particularly nice Sauvignon Blanc I've just purchased.
Some of the Benefits which also resonate for my particular needs are:
1. Better sleep
2. Cutting risk of type 2 Diabetes
Mosley references the idea of Intermittent fasting such as the 5:2 program alongside Time Restricted Eating which apparently helps with acid reflux (another little quirk I've developed.)
He does address the concerns about rapid weight loss equaling rapid weight gain and then it seems morphs into championing a Mediterranean type diet to counteract this.
Sadly I do know about foods that convert to sugar. (But between the knowing and doing I find there's a ginormous gap!)
He discusses Exercise. Once again there is a certain amount of symmetry with what Mosley puts forward and what my doctor's been saying. His hints for strength training are a plus. I liked his "12 ways to introduce more activity into your life" section. Using the exercise bike is one cross over, although my days of stomach crunches and squats have long gone. Tai Chi and water aerobics is more where I'm centered these days.
The chapter on Stress was a bonus, especially with the inclusion of practicing Mindfulness and a couple of short related exercises.
The Recipe section suggestions I feel would be easily incorporated into one's routine. Interestingly gluten free (such a buzziword--is mentioned only once, and then in a recipe.)
As with all food control books the things on the NO list are what we all know about (no pun intended).
So there goes the Hagen Daz and Lindt and that rather delicious Savy B.
But wait maybe some of those can be incorporated on a Five day day! If I go for a 5:2 regime!
Despite what seems to be many pluses, I will say I am reserving judgement about the validity of Mosley's ideas for me until I can explore them further. Which for my particular needs could well be a good thing.

An Atria ARC via NetGalley

This book had some interesting advice and points to take into consideration. I've done intermittent fasting (what this author refers to as TRE - time restricted eating) before and found it to be helpful. However, I'm not sure the 800 calorie plan would work for me.

Very interesting read. It’s not usually my type of genre. But it’s a topic I’m interested in. The book was well written Learned a lot. Lots of interesting information in here is definitely give the diet a try

Fast for 12 hours then eat a reasonable amount. Fast for 18 hrs then eat a reasonable amount. Basically this book wants you to fast for a certain # of hours the eat well.

I first became aware of Intermittent Fasting or the 5:2 diet a few years ago when a few friends were enthusiastically describing the benefits of it. I tried it without doing any reading, and barely managed the first day because I was just too hungry. Inspired to try again by someone who is roughly my height & size and had lost 5kg fairly quickly, I gave it a go, and quickly worked out for myself the major new modification in Mosley’s plan - that 500 is too few calories for most people but 800 is much more manageable. Over a year I lost 12kg, taking me from a BMI of just over 25 to the weight I was in my early 20s, a happy UK size 12, which I had not enjoyed since the Atkins diet 15 years earlier.

Unfortunately, like all diets, when you stop them, weight returns, and a combination of events, including two frozen shoulders, led me to regain more than half my lost kg over a year, and lose the motivation to tolerate hunger. I am still doing a modified 5:2 but cheating much more often than I should. When I saw a copy of The Fast 800 Diet for request on NetGalley, this seemed a good opportunity to try again by doing it properly. I’m interested in the science behind it and reassured that Mosley is a qualified medical doctor, albeit non-practising since he has spent most of his career in journalism/broadcasting.

The Fast 800 is written in a clear engaging style with a mix of personal anecdotes and opinions, reviews of relevant research and suggestions on how to combat common pitfalls. The principal ideas from the 2012 original - The Fast Diet - have not changed, and he begins by explaining the theories around how fasting affects the body’s metabolism, in particular with regard to insulin and it’s effects on appetite and fat storage. Mosley’s own story includes the diagnosis of type 2 diabetes which kicked off his interest in the first place, and how his almost evangelical enthusiasm for the benefits of his discoveries was triggered by the remission of his diabetes. His gleeful confessions about his own chocolate addiction help make him more relatable than your typical preachy celebrity nutritionist. A second book, The 8-week Blood Sugar Diet, was aimed specifically at patients with diabetes.

In the intervening years, large population studies have been done which support his theories, and this is what led him to update the plan and publish the new book. The key change, as mentioned, is that the magic number is now 800 calories, which is both safer and more manageable for most people. The new principle is Time Restricted Eating, (TRE), which means limiting food in take to only part of the day - he proposes 16 hours initially - so not eating after 8pm and before 8am, then reducing that interval to 12 or even 10 hours, which is not as difficult as it sounds. He’s a big fan of the Mediterranean diet, which makes sense as there is good evidence that consuming mostly plants, protein (including meat, oily fish and pulses) and lashings of olive oil is the key to heart health and longevity.

The first chapter explains the reasons behind the modern obesity and secondary diabetes epidemics, and stresses that obesity is not the patient’s fault because the combination of genes and environment make it almost inevitable. Mosley has a way of revealing facts that seem completely obvious but that had never occurred to me before - for example that we think we’re addicted to sugar, but that no one tucks into a bowl of pure sugar; it’s actually the combination of carbohydrate and fat in a 2 to 1 ratio that makes our favourite foods so compelling.

Subsequent chapters focus on the medical benefits of fasting and TRE, and then of rapid initial weight loss - which counters the long-established theory that slow and steady is the way to go - because of the psychological boost that rapid and noticeable change brings. He then explains the Med Diet in detail, and goes on to extol the virtues of exercise in complementing his plan, and advice on the role of stress in poor eating and how to combat it. The remaining chapters deal with the practical aspects of how to begin, who should be excluded, and common Q&As and pitfalls, while the second half is all sample recipes and suggested meal plans. This part is where the average wannabe dieter’s interest may wane: no matter how delicious salmon, kale and leafy greens are, the list of foods to be avoided - realistically forever if you want to keep the weight off - is daunting. I can live without cakes and biscuits but avoiding rice and bread is miserably hard.

I read this as an ebook and so had the usual surprise when you get to 80% and discover the rest is all just references, so the book is shorter and therefore more readable than expected.
My main criticisms is that considering that the author is British, all units are imperial - presumably for the American market - I can’t think in lbs and have no idea what a quart is.
He also promotes meal-replacement shakes and refers to his website for brand suggestions - but in fact the site only promotes their own brand which seem quite expensive. I would rather be able to easily buy small quantities from a supermarket or service station when needed, to be able to try out flavours than order a months worth of shakes which might be revolting. One of the major difficulties of a diet like this is finding suitable foods on the go - since consuming large amounts of fruit is not recommended, nuts are really only a snack and most snack bars are full of sugar.

Overall I would recommend this book to anyone looking for a new way to lose weight - I do intend to start over once I get home from my current travels, as I have lots of lovely new clothes bought to celebrate my previous new shape that are now uncomfortably tight, and this has given me plenty of new ideas on how to do it properly - and the reassurance that when you get it right, those ravenous hunger pangs will settle quite quickly.
My thanks to NetGalley for the arc in exchange for an honest review. The Fast 800 Diet is published on 24th December - timely for all those New Year resolutions?

This book provides convincing arguments on eating a Mediterranean diet in conjunction with time restricted eating and reduced calories/intermittent fasting. I’m no stranger to these and have witnessed the weight loss and improved health indicators but there’s just one point I’m sitting on the fence over - whether these are maintained long term if eating patterns and quantities deviate from what’s recommended in this book. I suspect it’s a simple matter of calories in/out and finding some balance. I know from past experience that if I omit processed foods my calorie count is much closer to 1000 than 2000 per day so it wouldn’t be too challenging to commit to 800 calories if you have the tools to tackle cravings and eating for reasons other than hunger. The book comes with the usual advice about consulting your doctor in certain circumstances and refers to various studies accompanied by a section of references. I would definitely recommend a read of the book. The recipes look tasty with ideas for snacks/adding calories without resorting to processed foods. I’m grateful to Netgalley and publisher for a digital advance copy in exchange for my honest review.

I loved the book! I am a medical doctor myself and appreciated the way the book was written. I am very impressed that he also made sure to put in links to many studies, to help people understand that he was stating facts not guesses.
the 800 calorie diet works! It is a good book and i would definitely recommend.

As someone who has been intermittent fasting for a little while, the plans of when to fast is always up for debate. This is a 5:2 plan which may work for some but I was not a fan of that. However it is well written and explains a lot about the lifestyle of fasting.

Interesting premise, probably not realistic though. Timeframe to test out would have to be much longer

No, no and NO! I tried this, I lost weight, then I put it all back on once I increased my calories to more than 1,000 a day. Sorry but the body cannot sustain itself on 800 calories a day for the rest of your life, and any increase in calories means the weight goes back on. Plus Dr Mosley's books are all very repetitive.

After losing 40 pounds over the past year, I found myself having a hard time moving on to drop that last 10 pounds, and Mosley's book gave me just the push I was looking for. I've learned that for me, weight loss is always going to be about a combination of the not-exactly-rocket-science practices of eating less food, exercising, and watching out for the dreaded emotional eating. With this book's focus on reducing food intake and the popular concept of intermittent fasting, I think he's really hitting on a weight-loss plan that's ideal for today. While I don't like the word "diet," it's really a bit of a misnomer here since the Fast800 is more of a "tool" than something you'll be doing every day for the rest of your life.

Helpfully, Mosley cites many studies that back up his research about the benefits, both physical and mental, of quick weight loss. Like many reputable sources today, he advocates a Mediterranean diet, and I look forward to trying some of the recipes included in the book.

I'm eager for "The Fast800 Diet" to be published, because I believe it's going to help a lot of people lose weight and stay healthy, and it's already helped me.

Interesting read and I’m going to make a start on this plan myself this week, fingers crossed for good results. Easy to read and you can dip in and out of it as you wish. I like the fact there is strong scientific explanations to support the diet.

I have been reading alot about intermittent fasting and I was excited to be able to read this new book by Mosley. After reading this....I feel that I want to try this way of eating and see if it can help me. I felt that the book was written well and gave good advice and tips.

Really useful to dip in and out of, particularly the information on time-limited fasting. I will absolutely make this part of my regime and it is full of practical tips to make weight loss easy while still enjoying food, and avoiding rookie mistakes while you do so.

My doctor and I have been discussing and having me follow an Intermittent Fasting plan as well as focusing on a Mediterranean diet for the past few months.

I was happy to see that this book followed much of the same guidelines giving me reassurance of its validity. I did however find it a cause for concern to be encouraged to limit your caloric intake to 800 calories for at least 2 weeks and up to 12 weeks. I am no doctor, but this does not sound particularly healthy.

I also found it interesting that the author keeps encouraging a Mediterranean focused diet, but so many of the recipes include cured pork. I have never seen any outlines of the Med diet that encourage cured meats. They are typically fish and poultry focused.

While I did find a handful of the recipes fit my lifestyle and tastes, there were only a handful. I suppose my final takeaway is, I would discuss with your doctor before diving into this way of dieting.

I received a copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I appreciated that this book was written simple enough for most people to not only read but understand. It can help one understand the concept 5:2 eating as well as intermittent fasting. This would be a good guide if a person were instructed to implement this style of eating. It clearly states who should not use this program and I found all the information gave good guidelines. This is a book about eating better for your healthy and because of that I would have preferred the word DIET was left out of the title.