Dr Michael Mosley, an intermittent fasting pioneer, died while on a walk on the Greek island of Symi in 2024, with his body being discovered four days after he went missing
Dr Michael Mosley’s son says he is left “surprised” by the comments he receives about his father. Michael died on the Greek island of Symi after going missing while on a walk in June 2024.
The 67-year-old was found after just over two miles away from the private resort he was staying at with his wife Dr Clare Bailey Mosley. He had been missing for four days at the time.
Michael was known to many for his pioneering work on the 5:2 diet, which promoted intermittent fasting. It led him to TV appearances on the likes of The One Show, Horizon, and Trust Me, I’m a Doctor.
Now his son, Dr Jack Mosley, has revealed that people regularly approach him in the street to discuss his father’s work. It comes as Jack says his father’s work helped “tens of thousands of people” lose weight.
Michael, and the work he did with Clare, even led to Jack becoming a GP himself. He has now taken the lead of the Fast800 from his father.
He said: “He’s had a really big impact on me, they both have really, and they were part of my inspiration to become a doctor, because it was something they were so passionate about and I could see how many tens of thousands of people they had helped with their passion for improving the nation’s metabolic health.
“People tell me all the time how much of a difference my dad has made to their lives and really it has dramatically improved their health. In a way it’s almost surprising at times when people say, ‘I’ve lost X amount of weight’.”
Jack is leading The Fast 800 Online Programme which he says is a “lifestyle programme” that builds on his father’s work. It offers three types of meal plan, the “Very Fast 800” which uses an 800-calorie plan to lose weight over 12 weeks, the 5:2 intermittent fasting plan, and a long-term Mediterranean diet plan.
It also offers exercise guidance through workout plans, using both high-intensity interval training and resistance exercises as well as educational content that covers the science behind weight loss.
Jack added: “The plan was based on a study that found that 800 calories a day for 12 weeks, this rapid weight loss, can reverse their diabetes, which was not thought possible before and if they kept 10kg of weight off, they could keep their diabetes in remission.
“It progressed from there to be this overall lifestyle support system for people who want to have this rapid weight loss and improve their metabolic health but also, there’s people who want to do it more gradually by fasting, like the 5:2, which my dad famously popularised.
“It’s also there to help people with other aspects that we know are so important in your health like exercise, including aerobic, and also mindfulness. It’s this real complete support system and helps provide people with a group of people to do it with who are on the same page.”