I am just starting out, in my second week, and absolutely loving the fast 800. I’m eating better nutritionally than I ever have. Thankfully, my husband is on board and starting the 800 too. We’ve enjoyed entertaining and joining friends and family for food and drinks, lots of both. This is a big change for us and I’ve had friends express concerns about it, about the myths of dieting that are covered in the book. Any tips for how to handle this? Do people become less concerned over time as they see results?

I don’t know if you or hubby are diabetic or just want to lose weight. In either case you can tell concerned friends the myths as you have already read them. Tell them that in many circles this way of eating is accepted as being the way forward to preventing obesity, heart disease and diabetes and recommended by a prominent Endocrinologist Prof. Roy Taylor of Newcastle University. Ask them to read the new thinking of Public Health Collaboration UK and their paper on a revision of healthy eating which recommends the restriction of carbohydrates, lower calories and high good fats consumption. Tell them you are trying this for a period of time (8 weeks is a good timescale to mention) and you will judge on results at the end of that period. In the meantime ask if can they support you in this and you promise to take good care of yourselves – whatever that is ie not allow to go dizzy or watch your BG very carefully if you are T2. Throw all the evidence at them. My family and friends got so fed up of me giving them all the facts that they stopped asking. My doctor said I couldn’t live on 800 calories until I showed him a sample diet plan, he says I eat better than he does and now is fully on board with it as he has seen my fantastic HbA1c results as well as a massive reduction in cholesterol and triglycerides.

Good thing you have your hubby to support each other. My hubby is not on this diet (no need to) but benefits so much from having a lot of what I have that he has lost weight and lowered his blood pressure and he tells people how great this has been for me but has now banned me from talking about it on nights out.

Thanks Sunshine Girl! Got a chuckle out of your talking ban. I have had one or two of those myself. 😀 Two weeks in, feeling great, have lost 18 pounds and am eating more nutritiously than I have in a long time! And the food tastes so good. I think I’ll wait to talk about it anymore (to friends) until I get my tests done at the 8 week mark. Then hopefully the results will speak for themselves.