Way of Life

With the right tools, weight loss can be achievable and enjoyable. With the correct planning, it can be easy to maintain those hard earned results. Following a programme like The Very Fast 800 or The New 5:2 diet can help you lose weight fast but once you have reached a healthy weight, following a moderately low-carb, Mediterranean-style diet will give you all the nutrients you need to be able to keep the weight off. Paired with regular exercise, you should find that you manage to lose weight and maintain it. This phase of weight maintenance is exactly what The Way of Life plan was designed to support.

The Fast 800 weight loss plans provide all the support you need to maintain a calorie deficit and lose weight in a healthy, sustainable way. However, programmes like The Very Fast 800 should only be followed for a maximum of 12 weeks, or until you reach a healthy weight, whichever comes first. From there, you can either follow a programme like The New 5:2 which involves fasting just two days a week, or you can transition to following The Way of Life. This plan involves no strict calorie counting, simply eating a moderately low-carb, Mediterranean-style diet. This flexible plan can be modified to fit around your own lifestyle, and the clue is in the name: it can be followed for life to help you maintain weight after losing it.

Yes, you can follow an intermittent fasting lifestyle for as long as you’d like. Many choose to follow a 5:2 fasting approach, which involves maintaining a calorie deficit by consuming 800 calories two days a week. Alternatively, you may choose to do time restricted eating (TRE), shortening your eating window by eating breakfast later in the day or eating an early evening meal. There are health benefits to be found from both, like improving your insulin sensitivity, activating autophagy (clearing out old or damaged cells), reducing your risk of neurological diseases like Alzheimer’s and, of course, achieving and maintaining weight loss.

There is no set amount of calories you should consume in order to maintain weight loss, as every body is different. That said, you should burn roughly the same amount of calories as you consume to ensure you’re not either in a calorie deficit (which would cause weight loss) or a caloric surplus (which would cause weight gain). Eating a moderately low-carb, Mediterranean-style diet while exercising regularly is sure to help you maintain weight loss. The Way of Life programme does the work for you by providing a tailored exercise and meal plan so you can rest assured you’re eating the right foods to maintain your weight loss.

Whether you’re aiming to lose weight or maintain weight loss, we recommend you consume 60g of protein, 30g of fibre and plenty of healthy fats every day. A Mediterranean-style diet is rich in all of these essential nutrients which is why it is one of the healthiest diets in the world. It’s abundant in foods like chicken, oily fish, eggs, Greek yogurt, whole grains and non-starchy veggies which are all nutrient-dense foods you should prioritise when thinking about how to maintain weight after losing it. The Way of Life plan contains hundreds of delicious recipes designed by our team of nutritionists, ready for you to enjoy as part of a weight maintenance diet.

After following a very low-carb diet like The Very Fast 800, you can then transition to a diet which includes some carbohydrates. However, if you want to maintain weight loss, it’s important to wisely choose which carbs you eat. ‘Simple carbs’, like white bread and pasta, potatoes and sugars, will not support your weight maintenance goals, as they spike blood sugar levels and are rapidly absorbed by the body. ‘Complex carbs’ like wholegrain rice and pasta, quinoa, buckwheat and sweet potato are all high in fibre and take longer to digest, meaning you stay fuller for longer.

We recommend doing a small amount of physical activity daily, including a combination of high intensity interval training (HIIT), resistance training and incidental exercise. Doing two HIIT workouts and three resistance workouts per week is sure to help you lose weight and maintain it. These types of exercise are ideal for supporting good heart and lung health, and for maintaining muscle mass during and after weight loss. Sign up to The Fast 800 Programme for a range of exercise plans tailored to your fitness level, featuring daily workouts led by our team of Health Coaches to support your health journey.

As you move into a more flexible diet plan to maintain weight loss, you may find yourself craving unhealthy foods, and running the risk of overeating. Make sure you manage cravings by eating enough fibre and protein, both of which increase perceived satiety, thereby keeping you fuller for longer, and slows gastric emptying. Getting enough sleep, reducing your stress levels and drinking plenty of water all also help to reduce cravings. Meal plans, like The Way of Life, can be an invaluable tool to avoid overeating as they ensure you’re eating enough satiating nutrients to reduce your risk of cravings.

If you find that you start regaining weight after you’ve lost it, you could either reassess what you’re eating, or follow The New 5:2 or The Very Fast 800 for a few weeks. Regardless of how you lost your weight, if you revert back to unhealthy eating habits you will regain the pounds you lost. To maintain weight loss, follow a moderately low-carb, Mediterranean-style diet, as it prioritises all the nutrients you need to stay at a healthy weight. Alternatively, you could follow an intermittent fasting lifestyle like a 5:2 diet to maintain weight loss.

Staying motivated after you reach your goal weight is the key to maintaining weight loss, otherwise you risk falling back into old habits. Don’t forget, the goal isn’t just losing the weight, it’s staying the healthy weight you aimed to reach. Mindfulness can be a helpful tool for staying focused on your goals: our Programme has plenty of mindfulness resources which can support you through how to lose weight and maintain it. Alternatively, signing up to a plan like The Way of Life programme can help keep you on track, providing you with tasty recipes, exercise videos, and even an exclusive Community of others who are following on the same journey that you can reach out to for motivation.