You CAN lose a stone in time for summer... by following this 1980s diet that's 'better than Ozempic'

Looking at Brenda Griffin today, it’s hard to believe that, not long ago, she was nudging 15st on the bathroom scales – and had, in her words, ‘hit rock bottom’.

All her life, the 63-year-old had struggled with her weight after dealing with every hurdle – from divorce in her 30s, to multiple bereavements and the disabling effects of the menopause – in exactly the same way.

As she puts it: ‘It was always the same, I’d resort to cheese, chocolate and a bottle of Chardonnay.’

By November 2022, following a hysterectomy and having lost three close family members within a few weeks during the pandemic, she was, she concedes, ‘a hot mess’ with a BMI of 31, making her obese.

The mother-of-two was doing no exercise and living off takeaways and family-sized Galaxy bars – putting her on a fast-track to type 2 diabetes, which ran in her family.

But today, Brenda is transformed. More than 3st lighter, her BMI is normal and she says she’s rediscovered her ‘joie-de-vivre’. She eats homemade curries, porridge and salads, has given up alcohol, and goes running and to Pilates several times a week.

So what changed? It’d be easy to assume that Brenda had used weight-loss jabs like Mounjaro or Wegovy to ditch those stubborn pounds. After all, an estimated half a million Brits are said to be taking the drugs, which studies have shown can help shift up to 21 per cent of bodyweight in just 12 months.

But Brenda’s transformation was, in fact, based on a diet first devised in the 1980s and which, its advocates claim, is ‘superior to’ weight-loss jabs as it’s more sustainable.

Originally called the Cambridge Diet, it’s been known as The 1:1 Diet since 2018 – in a nod to the one-to-one support slimmers get from the plan’s specially trained ‘consultants’.

But it still follows the same basic principle – dieters stick to between 600 and 800 calories a day by replacing meals with products such as shakes and soups. Studies suggest people on it lose an average minimum of around 1.5st, up to 3st, in the first 12 weeks. Studies on Wegovy show an average weight loss of 13lbs over 12 weeks.

These same meal replacements were used in the DiRECT trial – a groundbreaking study which proved rapid weight loss could reverse type 2

diabetes. Published in 2018, the NHS-backed research saw 2,000 people lose up to 33lbs – more than 2st – using the products over two years. Nearly half put their diabetes into remission, meaning they no longer needed medication.

Today, the range is no longer just shakes and soups, which many found uninspiring and hard to stick to. Now, there are dozens of meals including pasta and curries, as well as porridge and snack bars.

The diet is seeing renewed interest, because – despite the clamour around weight-loss drugs, known as GLP-1 receptor agonists – not everyone wants to resort to medication, which can have side-effects such as nausea and vomiting and may have to be taken for years to keep the weight off.

Some 1:1 Diet consultants argue the plan leads to quicker, healthier weight loss than the jabs. One coach, Emma B, wrote on Facebook: ‘Weight loss is over twice as fast with The 1:1 Diet – eight weeks to lose an average of 1.5st versus 20 weeks with Wegovy,’ adding that ‘the 1:1 Diet is specifically formulated to provide all the nutrients you need.’

In Brenda’s case, the diet not only helped her drop several dress sizes, but has completely changed the way she thinks about food. It is no longer the emotional crutch it was – as she discovered when she lost her mum last year.

‘I’ve learnt so much about my triggers,’ she says. ‘I’d cared for Mum throughout the pandemic and, when she died in February 2024, the old me would have spiralled out of control, eating and drinking through my pain.

‘Since doing the plan, I know if I just get off the sofa and go for a run or walk the dog on the seafront, I will feel better than any chocolate bar could make me feel. Fresh air and exercise are my new drug of choice.’

Tens of thousands are on the 1:1 Diet in the UK alone, and it’s understood to have helped millions since it started 40 years ago. It involves six stages. The first is the strictest: dieters use the company’s meal-replacement products – all around 200 calories each – to reduce their food intake to between 600 and 800 calories a day for eight to 12 weeks. (People get either three or four a day, depending on their starting weight).

After this point, normal food can be gradually reintroduced via one healthy meal, cooked from a range of recipes, but might involve grilled fish or lean meat with salad, crispy chicken and waffles, or a chilli and prawn spaghetti.

Crucially, the portion sizes are strictly limited, partly to control calorie intake but also to gradually ‘train’ the brain and body to recognise what a healthy plate of food should look like.

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Stage three involves a 150-calorie breakfast, a salad for lunch and a 400-calorie evening meal, topped up with two meal-replacement products. Steps four and five gradually increase the calorie intake to 1,500 a day by adding in more food and milk and reducing the number of meal-replacement products. Step six is maintenance – eating a healthy diet of 1,500 calories a day and staying active.

Mark Gilbert, nutritionist at The 1:1 Diet, explains: ‘The diet is based on a small volume of food providing the maximum amount of nutrition.‘You get all your essential vitamins, minerals, essential fats and quality protein. Despite the very low calories, we’ve seen people improve their iron levels, as well as other minerals.’

He adds: ‘This isn’t a miracle diet. Most diets are unsuccessful and people will get it wrong and relapse. But it is easier to stick to than most other diets, and we have the science to tell us that it works.’

It is because of the results from the DiRECT trial that the diet has seen an uptick in popularity, Mr Gilbert suggests.

But the key to any diet, of course, is whether the weight stays off.

In DiRECT, there was a high drop-out rate and ‘considerable’ weight regain for most participants as they reintroduced normal food. After five years, the average weight loss was nearly 1st –and just a quarter of those who had put their diabetes into remission after two years remained in remission three years later.

Another study by researchers at Oxford had similar results. One group was given the 1:1 Diet plan while another was just given standard diet advice.

After six months, the group using meal replacements had lost an average of 15kg (2st 5lbs), compared to less than 5kg (11lbs) for a group given ordinary diet advice. But for both groups, the weight piled back on more than two years later. Those using 1:1 were a stone lighter than when they started, compared to just 6lbs lighter in the other group.

Alex Miras, professor of endocrinology at Ulster University, said: ‘We know from DiRECT that this diet can work to help people lose significant weight, but we also know from DiRECT that it doesn’t stay off once they go back to normal food.

‘For those it works for in the longer term it’s fantastic, but for around 90 per cent they’ll put weight back on and will have to revert to the diet to lose it again.’

Brenda still uses the porridge meal-replacement products in the morning and has overhauled her diet. ‘I can’t say my journey has been easy,’ she says. ‘The first week in particular was hard as it was quite an adjustment. I had to sit separately from my family when I was eating.

‘But I worked my way through the stages and had the mindset that, if I did come off plan for a meal on holiday or for an event, that it was only one meal and as long as I got back to it, I’d achieve my goal. I was losing slowly, but feeling brighter, sleeping better, and had so much more energy.’

She had almost reached her goal weight of 12st by the time her son got married in June 2023.

‘I did not want to be the fat mother of the bridegroom,’ she says. ‘I wanted to wear a big hat, to look great in the pictures and just feel great. And I did.’

While fat jabs weren’t widely available when Brenda started on the plan, she says she doesn’t think she would have tried them. ‘I have a couple of friends who do, but one is still eating her old unhealthy diet and drinking. That’s not sustainable in the long run.’

Mr Gilbert points out that most people on GLP-1 drugs obtain them privately, which means they may not get the same sort of nutritional advice and support to change their diets. ‘Those who are overweight or obese are even more likely to be deficient in one or more vitamins and minerals because they may be eating the wrong things.

‘So when they use the jabs, they’re eating the same wrong things, just less of them.’

He adds: ‘We’ve had people lose over 15st. You’ve got

people with everything from diabetes, heart problems, sight problems – they

feel terrible, they’re depressed. Everything gets better because they’re not just losing weight but are eating nutritionally better, too.’

Donna McCaulsky weighed more than 25st and had a BMI of 45.4 two years ago, making her morbidly obese.

The civil servant, 50, from south-east London, had been diagnosed with an autoimmune condition, lichen planus, which can cause inflammation in the mouth and throat, and was taking steroids to control it. In combination with her snacking habit, this caused her to pile on the pounds.

‘My weight had ballooned by astronomical amounts,’ Donna says. ‘Walking was my thing and I couldn’t walk far any more. I was in excruciating pain. That’s when I realised I had to do something about it.’

Donna turned down a gastric sleeve operation and instead found a 1:1 Diet consultant on TikTok in May 2023.

Because of her high BMI, she started on a combination of meal replacements and normal food amounting to 1,300 calories a day so her weight loss was more gradual.

She lost 4lbs in her first week, and is now 13st 7lb – which means in total she has lost a staggering 12st.

‘I’m so happy,’ says Donna. ‘My skin cleared up. I went from a size 30 to a size 12. When I go food shopping I go straight to what I need and no longer pick up snacks.

‘I still use the products and because I’ve had support I know what to do.’

Under The 1:1 Diet, slimmers only consume calorie-controlled meal replacements for eight to 12 weeks. After this, ‘real’ food is reintroduced, with a range of recipes provided by the club. Here are a few...

Serves two

250 calories per serving

● 2 medium eggs

● Pinch ground cinnamon

● Pinch ground nutmeg

● 4 tbsp skimmed milk

● Freshly ground black pepper

● 2 medium slices of multi-grain bread

● One-calorie spray oil, such as Frylight

● 100g fresh berries, such as blueberries, raspberries or strawberries

● 2 heaped tbsp fat-free fromage frais

● Icing sugar (for dusting)

Beat together eggs, spices, and skimmed milk. Season with black pepper and pour into a shallow dish. Soak bread slices in egg mixture.

Cook bread slices in a frying pan sprayed with oil for 2-3 minutes until golden brown. Flip and cook other side.

Serve toast with berries and top with fromage frais, dust with icing sugar.

Serves two

400 calories per serving

● One-calorie spray oil, such as Frylight

● 200g chicken breast fillets

● 25g rice noodles (dry)

● 1 medium carrot, grated

● 80g white cabbage, shredded

● ¼ cucumber, cut into matchsticks

● 2 spring onions, thinly sliced

● Handful of coriander, chopped

● 1 tbsp crushed salted roasted peanuts

● Seeds from ½ pomegranate

For the sauce:

● 1 tbsp crunchy peanut butter

● 1 tbsp sweet chilli sauce

● Juice of ½ lime

● 1 tbsp water

Fry the chicken in a lightly oiled pan for 12-15 minutes, turning halfway through, until cooked through and golden brown. Cut into thin slices.

Mix sauce ingredients together and add the warm chicken. Cook rice noodles according to packet instructions.

Toss chicken and noodles with coriander and vegetables in a bowl. Sprinkle with crushed peanuts and pomegranate.

Serves two

400 cal per portion

● The 1:1 Diet Chocolate Flavour Shake (or any flavour)

● 100g of 5 per cent Greek yoghurt or 170g fat-free Greek yoghurt

● 10g almonds

● 50g fresh blueberries

● 100g fresh strawberries

Whisk up The 1:1 Diet Chocolate Flavour Shake. Pour into a small baking tray lined with greaseproof paper and drizzle over the yoghurt.

Sprinkle over the nuts and berries. Freeze for three hours, then break up bark and serve.