{"id":639722,"date":"2026-04-30T03:26:22","date_gmt":"2026-04-30T03:26:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/639722\/"},"modified":"2026-04-30T03:26:22","modified_gmt":"2026-04-30T03:26:22","slug":"does-the-fast-800-diet-work-long-term-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/639722\/","title":{"rendered":"Does the Fast 800 diet work long-term?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Opinion<\/p>\n

Michael Bachelard resolved to wait 12 months before publishing his response to the world. Motivated by bloodymindedness and smugness, he was determined to prove the naysayers wrong.<\/p>\n

April 30, 2026 \u2014 5:00am<\/p>\n

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Trigger warning: This article contains mention of dieting, weight loss and feeling good about it.<\/p>\n

A few things happened after I bragged in writing last year about losing 16 kilograms from around my blubbery guts.<\/p>\n

First my wife \u2013 my co-pilot on the 12-week Fast 800 diet \u2013 received a tongue-lashing from an acquaintance at a party. My \u201cbeefy to buff\u201d story<\/a>, our accuser complained, lacked a trigger warning for those who suffered from eating disorders. My bad.<\/p>\n

\"MichaelMichael Bachelard, still \u201cbuff\u201d one year later. Graphic: Stephen Kiprilis; portrait: Joe Armao<\/p>\n

Still smarting from this, I opened my emails to find a note from a professor who assured me in patronising tones that I would inevitably put all those kilograms back on again.<\/p>\n

\u201cA little research before advocating an extreme diet might have saved readers from emulating the risky approach you\u2019ve taken,\u201d the academic tut-tutted. He included a link to an article headlined, \u201cWhy People Diet, Lose Weight and Gain It All Back\u201d.<\/p>\n

The best recipes from Australia’s leading chefs straight to your inbox.<\/p>\n

Sign up<\/a>Related Article\"Michael<\/a><\/p>\n

Over my career in journalism, I\u2019ve found many sources of motivation, and bloodymindedness is among the most reliable. So I resolved to wait 12 months, then publish my response to the world \u2013 and I was determined to be able to include these words or similar: \u201cNyah nyah, nyah nyah nyah.\u201d<\/p>\n

How did I go? The target weight I set and achieved after the Fast 800 diet was 83 kilograms. As I write this more than a year later, I weigh 83.3 kilograms. My wife, likewise, has maintained her trim silhouette. <\/p>\n

To describe us as smug about this would be an understatement. I, myself, am both smug and self-satisfied.<\/p>\n

\"PizzaPizza on a Friday night? Yes!James Moffatt<\/p>\n

I won\u2019t pretend, though, that we simply shed our excess lard, then frolicked back into our normal lives. No, fearing regression, we kept hold of our \u201cgraduate membership\u201d of the Fast 800 app (at $22 a month). And while we no longer follow it slavishly, we still cook its recipes, use its shopping lists, and draw on its motivation. For four days every week, we eat lightly and don\u2019t drink. As a result, we\u2019re permanently slightly hungry.<\/p>\n

Then, at COB Friday, off come the traces. That first weekend beer or mezcal margarita tastes like freedom. Pizza?<\/a> A choc top with your movie, sir? A whisky nightcap? Yes, yes and hell, yes.<\/p>\n

For weekend breakfasts and lunches, we still tend to the lighter side. Our fallback first meal is berries and yoghurt with a sprinkle of muesli and nuts. We\u2019re in an ongoing silent tussle with the gym bros to nab cottage cheese<\/a> at the supermarket.<\/p>\n

\"WeekendWeekend breakfasts are often yoghurt and berries with a sprinkle of muesli and nuts.iStock<\/p>\n

For lunch, it might be the Fast 800\u2019s delicious broccolini and ricotta, or a caprese omelette. We rarely snack between meals.<\/p>\n

Weekend dinners, though, are open slather. And then there\u2019s the postprandial cheese. The French Shop at the market was relieved to see one of its most reliable customers hove hungrily into view after the diet ended \u2013 and brie and I have resumed our liaison passionn\u00e9e.<\/p>\n

Sunday night is always pasta and wine, a long family tradition.<\/p>\n

\"SundaySunday night is always pasta and wine. Getty Images<\/p>\n

Apart from that, though, there are no hard rules. I eat and drink up on book club night \u2013 a Tuesday. I often indulge in the baked goods set out by my colleagues on a sluggish afternoon in the office.<\/p>\n

And every morning after breakfast, I get on the scales. That might seem obsessive \u2013 the kind of behaviour that warrants a trigger warning \u2013 but to me, it\u2019s like looking in the mirror. A stocktake, a check-in.<\/p>\n

And that\u2019s been a revelation. A weekend\u2019s indulgence can add two, even three kilograms with very little effort. Typically, I\u2019ll start the week at almost 86 kilograms then, over an abstemious few days, peg it back to about 83 kilograms.<\/p>\n

Being a bit hungry makes food taste better, and being lighter makes exercise more fun, and sleep more satisfying.<\/p>\n

The price is hunger. So why does it take so much abstinence just to stay put? <\/p>\n

In search of an answer, I actually read the article<\/a> provided by my academic emailer. It talked about how the Biggest Loser contestants were, after six years, still ravenous and still feeling the effects of their radical kilojoule deprivation. (Note to self: schedule another article for 2031.) <\/p>\n

As we cut kilojoules, the article says, our metabolisms adjust, with the almost inevitable result that we resume our old bulk.<\/p>\n

\"HarissaHarissa yoghurt with soft-boiled eggs and spinach from The Fast 800 Keto Recipe Book. Smith & Gilmour\/Hachette Australia<\/p>\n

There is an answer, though, and it\u2019s the boring one. Eat healthy food, control portion size (allowing for the occasional treat) and don\u2019t focus on \u201cdieting\u201d \u2013 focus instead on healthy habits, including exercise, good sleep and lower stress.<\/p>\n

And, thinking about it, that\u2019s what I\u2019ve learned from the past 12 months. For the first time, I know I can control my portion size without starving to death. I don\u2019t need the most calorific item on the menu simply to sustain me \u2014 because what was true in my youth is regrettably wrong for late middle age.<\/p>\n

Being a bit hungry, in fact, makes food taste better, and being lighter makes exercise more fun, and sleep more satisfying. I feel great in my body and I like the way my clothes fit. <\/p>\n

It also allows me to wallow in smugness. And that, perhaps, is the mightiest motivator of all.<\/p>\n

Related Article\"Extract\u00c3\u0082\u00c2\u00a0from<\/a>Related Article\"Dr<\/a>Save<\/p>\n

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\"MichaelMichael Bachelard<\/a> is a senior writer and former deputy editor and investigations editor of The Age. He has worked in Canberra, Melbourne and Jakarta, has written two books and won multiple awards for journalism, including the Gold Walkley.Connect via X<\/a> or email<\/a>.From our partners<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Opinion Michael Bachelard resolved to wait 12 months before publishing his response to the world. Motivated by bloodymindedness…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":639180,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[64,63,137,532],"class_list":["post-639722","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nutrition","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-health","tag-nutrition"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/639722","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=639722"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/639722\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/639180"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=639722"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=639722"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=639722"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}