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The pictured Dr. Michael Mosley has come up with a plan to help people improve their health and diet during this final lockdown
Sometimes it feels like Groundhog Day. It’s been nine long months since we were first banned, but now we’re back. The difference this time, of course, is that there are vaccines and we can see the light at the end of the tunnel. In fact, I’m incredibly optimistic that it will all be behind us by summer.
But at the moment Covid-19 is still a risk. So what can you do to protect yourself from the new and much more contagious variety without straying as far as possible from everyone else?
Well, there is good evidence that if you are in good shape physically, mentally, and metabolically, you can navigate safely for the next several months.
To help you with this, my wife, Dr. Clare Bailey, a general practitioner with more than three decades of experience, wrote The Fast 800 Easy, which will be serialized this Sunday on The Mail and this week’s Daily Mail. It’s based on the science behind my Fast 800 Diet, a quick weight loss program that involves first going on a low-calorie, low-carb diet before switching to intermittent fasting, or what I call The Way Of Life (more on that later) . And there has never been a better time to follow our plan.
As a general practitioner, Clare has seen the long-term effects of being overweight or obese on the health of her patients. These include an increased risk of heart disease, type 2 diabetes, fatty liver disease, stroke, some cancers, depression, dementia, and infertility. And now you can add to that list: “Risk of Ending Up in Hospital and Dying If You Get Covid-19”.
With a body mass index (BMI) greater than 35 – officially morbidly obese – the chance that a person will die if they contract the virus is 40 percent higher, meaning they are now considered to be extremely clinically prone to death Covid is classified.
And that’s a concern for more of us than you might think. It is often said that a third of adults are overweight or obese, but these are people in their twenties who tend to be lighter. If you rule them out, the numbers are shocking. According to the NHS, 78 percent of men over 45 and 73 percent of women over 65 are overweight or obese.
If you carry too much weight around your waist and have type 2 diabetes or metabolic syndrome in particular (large waistline, high blood pressure, blood sugar, and blood lipids) which also increases your risk of Covid, you can really benefit from losing some of it quickly .
GP Dr. Claire Bailey (left), pictured with her husband Dr. Michael Mosley, co-developed the Fast 800 weight loss plan, which helped some people shed two stones in just ten weeks
Some people have managed to shed two stones in just ten weeks on the Fast 800 weight loss plan. So you can take advantage of this lockdown by losing weight, improving your metabolic health and protecting yourself in the event that Covid strikes.
Does the vaccine work just as effectively in people who are severely overweight? There has been much speculation that obese people may react less well than other vaccines do, but Pfizer data suggests that the sting works equally well in people of all weights.
Regardless of whether you are at risk from Covid-19 due to obesity, it is important not to believe that the sting is a jail free card.
What does the Fast 800 Easy contain? Well it’s flexible. You might want to start with The Very Fast 800. This is an intense, rapid phase of weight loss that you can get started – eat 800 to 1,000 calories a day, split up between two or three low-carb meals, and avoid snacks. Stick to this plan for two to 12 weeks depending on how much weight you want to lose.
Some people like to split their 800 calories over three meals. Others find it easier to eat in pairs, with a late morning brunch and an early dinner. Likewise, some people prefer to consume up to half of their calories as meal replacement shakes. Others want real food for every meal.
Regardless of your chosen approach, there should be something for everyone.
You can try The New 5: 2 – eat 800 calories a day two days a week and a normal Mediterranean diet for the remaining five days. You can split your calories over two or three meals, but try to eat within a time window like 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. This version of the diet should fit seamlessly into your daily routine while promoting steady weight loss.
But what should you eat? To get you started, you can find delicious, low-calorie recipes in today’s magazine You that can be thrown together in a few minutes and that don’t use fancy ingredients. This is pretty important when you hit the stores. This week, starting tomorrow, there will be more recipes in the Daily Mail every day.
Our recipes are categorized by meal type – breakfast, light bites, soups, main courses (with meat, fish, and meat-free options and side dishes), and even the occasional treat. Everyone has a calorie count so you can stick to the plan.
It is a good idea to plan your meals in advance, especially if you are cooking for others. This way, you are far less likely to succumb to temptation or have a bite to eat while cooking.
Many of the recipes are gluten free and we have some dairy free and vegetarian swaps.
When you’ve reached your weight loss goal, move on to The Way Of Life’s maintenance program: a healthy Mediterranean way of eating – not counting calories, but portion control.
The Fast 800 Easy recipe allows people to double the serving size of low-fat, high-protein foods like fish, chicken, or meat without using sugar and starchy carbohydrates like bread and pasta
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