Hi all,

I’m new here and have read the books and also just read the pinned post about “How long you can stay on the 800 calorie plan”…however, I (and possibly others who are interested in the diet for overall health rather than weight loss reasons) would really appreciate some further clarification on one point. The books (BSD and Fast800) didn’t seem to make this point clear either:

If my BMI is already in the healthy range (possibly towards the lower end) should I skip entirely the 800 cals/day phase and just go straight to the 5:2 plan or is it still advisable/okay to do a short (the 2 weeks suggested in the book?) 800 cals/day phase first?

I ask this because I’m interested in the diet for health reasons more than weight loss, however, while I’m not overweight as such and although BMI is in the healthy range I am carrying a little more bodyfat than would like and I was thinking to try it for 2 weeks which was the minimum suggested in the book with the hope of quickly losing a bit of mid-section fat and then going on to the 5:2 to maintain things.

Advice or insight on this greatly appreciated!

Hi jay21, welcome to the site. I would suggest that, as we dont know how much visceral fat we have, it is good to give it a good sharp shock. I know I lost 5 inches from my waist in 3 weeks and that was without a massive weight losss (around 8 lbs) and I put that down to belly fat going first. While you dont seem to have any health problems and are not overweight my suggestion is to do the 800 for a couple of weeks and then transition to the 5:2. However, for health reasons I would recommend everyone reduce the amount of starchy white carbs they eat. With no health problems you dont have to completely give them up but they should be infrequent or a very small part of a meal rather than the main ingredient. Hope that helps.

Thanks sunshine-girl, for your advice and congratulations on your success with the diet. 🙂