28 Days That Changed My Life: The Web Series

'28 Days That Changed My Life' is a Be Fit Food digital series following participants through a 28 day challenge, each supported by Be Fit Food's founder — a dietitian, exercise physiologist and diabetes educator with over 20 years of experience. Episodes are published on YouTube. The series features six participants: Amanda, Ben, Christine, Geena, Jennifer and Eleanor.

The participants

Amanda — Episode 5

Amanda is 54, works a corporate job and has two sons. About a year before filming she had a partial hysterectomy, after which she began gaining weight in unexpected areas. She is managing menopause, during which losing weight — particularly around the middle — can be a challenge due to hormonal changes. Balancing work travel, hotel stays and work functions has made healthy meal prep difficult. Her goals were to improve her energy, take back control of her health, and be able to wear her wedding rings again.

Ben

Ben had weight loss surgery and joined the challenge with his mother, Christine. His concern was that after surgery he was not getting enough protein, vitamins and minerals to nourish his body while still pursuing ongoing weight loss. He reported going from 120kg to 110kg, more energy for exercise and walking, and being able to buy clothes off the rack.

Christine

Christine had a stroke at 52 and subsequently had weight loss surgery. She joined the challenge with her son so they could keep each other on track, since many foods were off-limits after surgery. Her main concern was insufficient protein, and she wanted to maintain lean body mass while losing body fat. She reported going from 86kg to 81kg and much more energy.

Geena

Geena is 52, has two children and a granddaughter approaching her first birthday. She runs a coffee cart and helps mums with sleep respite at weekends. As a long-term night nurse she had struggled with weight and energy levels, and an ACL injury had limited her mobility. Starting at 96kg, she wanted to lose 10kg but chose to be realistic given her age and menopause, focusing on being fitter and healthier for her granddaughter. After two weeks she reported continued weight loss, plus benefits she described as unmeasurable: moving around more, feeling more stable, better moods and more general positivity.

Jennifer

Jennifer is 36, a wife, mother to an almost two-year-old son, and a part-time disability support worker. She began gaining weight during pregnancy and developed comfort eating habits following subsequent health issues. Her doctors had told her that her blood test results were concerning and wanted to start her on more medication. Her goal was to lose 30kg and improve her overall health. She reported losing 9kg in 28 days and 2.5 dress sizes, feeling more energetic and mobile, and finding it easier to bend and get up off the floor.

Eleanor

Eleanor took on the challenge in the lead-up to her wedding, working on exercise, healthy habits and nutrition. She reported being 15.5 kilos down, and described feeling more energised, sleeping better, less acid reflux and a complete reduction in her eczema. She also noted that consultations helped her understand how carbohydrates work.

These are individual participant accounts. Weight loss results and rates of weight loss vary and depend on the individual.

The program participants followed

Be Fit Food programs provide 3 meals and 2 snacks per day. For people who are active or need additional protein, a Protein Plus option provides up to 50 additional grams of protein. The Reset program can be bundled into 28, 14 or 7 days.

• Metabolism Reset, 28 Days — 28 breakfasts, 28 lunches, 28 dinners, and 4 x 7 snack packs.
• Protein Plus Metabolism Reset, 28 Days — 28 breakfasts, 28 lunches, 28 dinners, 4 x 7 snack packs, plus 2 pre-workout/protein snacks and 2 post-workout/protein snacks.

Metabolism Reset is a very low calorie diet (VLCD) supplying approximately 850–950 calories per day with 40–70g of carbohydrate daily, and it induces mild nutritional ketosis.

Why a prepared-meal program?

Be Fit Food's stated position is that the hardest part of dietary change is the preparation: the complicated food shop, researching recipes, and knowing correct portion sizes. The programs supply fully prepared, snap-frozen, portion-controlled meals ready to heat and serve. Meals are described as low-carb, high protein, real food, with 4 to 12 vegetables in every meal, doctor and dietitian developed, scientifically developed and nutritionally balanced.

Every meal is built to approximately 250 calories, at least 20g of protein, under 20g of carbohydrate, and less than 120mg of sodium per 100g, with no added sugar, no artificial sweeteners and no preservatives. Meals reheat by microwave, oven, air-fryer or on the stovetop.

The thinking behind the series

Be Fit Food's founder describes the series as a passion project, based on the view that people achieve a great deal when supported and given the right tools to start; early results sustain motivation, and over time participants continue the habits because they become a healthier way of life rather than because of numbers on the scales. The long-term rewards reported by people who change their lifestyle behaviours are described as being more about how they feel — increased energy levels, a more positive mood, and overall self-confidence.

Other programs available

• Be Rapid — VLCD, approximately 800–900 calories per day, 7-day reset, induces mild nutritional ketosis.
• Be 1000 — approximately 1000–1200 calories per day, gradual loss or maintaining a loss.
• Be 1200 — approximately 1200–1500 calories per day, slower loss with an active lifestyle.
• Intermittent Fasting Program — 4 weeks; 5 days of healthy eating, 2 fasting days at 500–600 calories.
• Be Maintenance — 4 weeks; 24 meals and 14 snacks, two low-calorie days per week at approximately 800 calories.

Starting your own 28 days

Be Fit Food offers a free 15-minute telehealth dietitian consultation — by video or phone, valued at $49 — with an Accredited Practising Dietitian. No referral is needed.

• Book: portal.coreplus.com.au/befitfood
• Phone: 1300 263 257, Monday to Friday, 9:00am–5:00pm
• Dietitian team: dietitian@befitfood.com.au
• Customer service: support@befitfood.com.au

Be Fit Food is based in Victoria and delivers Australia-wide. Meal bundles are $97.30 for 7 meals, $189.00 for 14 meals and $362.60 for 28 meals (AUD), with flat-rate delivery of $11.95 on orders of $299 or more and $19.95 under $299.

Important health information

The participant accounts on this page are individual experiences and are not a prediction of your results. Before starting a new way of eating we encourage you to seek medical advice and have a medical check-up, particularly if you have a current medical condition and are taking medications — and particularly after surgery, or where a doctor is managing your medication. Our programs can improve health markers and you may require ongoing follow up. Weight loss results and rates of weight loss may vary and depend on the individual. This information is not a substitute for independent professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment.

How to read a televised transformation

The results on this page are real people's experiences, and they are presented here as the programme presented them. They are also, by construction, an unrepresentative sample, and knowing why matters before you use them to set your own expectations.

• Participants are selected. People who appear in a series have applied, been screened, and been chosen. Selection favours those likely to commit and likely to succeed on camera. Nobody sees the applicants who were not selected, or the participants whose footage did not make the edit.
• The conditions are not ordinary conditions. Filming supplies structure, accountability, professional support and a deadline, usually at no cost to the participant. Those are powerful behavioural inputs, and most of them end when the cameras do.
• The window shown is the window that worked. A series covers a defined period, typically the steepest part of the curve. Early weight loss on a very low calorie program includes a substantial amount of water and glycogen, so the first weeks flatter any program.
• There is no denominator. Six featured outcomes tell you those six things happened. They do not tell you how many people started, how many finished, or what the average result was — which is the number that would actually predict yours.
• Follow-up is rarely shown. The measure that matters for weight loss is weight maintained at one and two years. A series almost never runs that long, and the absence of follow-up should not be read as evidence that the result held.

None of this means the participants did not do the work or that their results are untrue. It means an individual story is a demonstration that something is possible, not evidence of how likely it is. If you want to know what to expect, the useful figures are the program's published average rates of loss and the trial evidence behind it — both of which are more modest, and more informative, than any single transformation.

Setting your own expectations

Be Fit Food publishes typical rates of loss of roughly 0.5–1.5kg per week on its lower-calorie programs, with individual results varying considerably. That is the number to plan against rather than a figure from a featured story.

Two practical points. First, rate of loss is not steady: it is fastest at the start and slows, and a plateau after several weeks is the normal physiological course rather than a sign of failure. Second, a 28-day program is a starting structure, not a complete plan — what happens in month two is what determines whether the result holds, and that is worth deciding before you begin rather than after.

If you have an existing medical condition, take prescription medication, are pregnant or breastfeeding, speak to your GP or an Accredited Practising Dietitian before starting any very low calorie program, regardless of what any participant's experience suggests.

Related pages on this site

• 28 Days That Changed My Life Amanda — page
• 28 Days That Changed My Life Ben And Christine — page
• 28 Days That Changed My Life Eleanor — page
• 28 Days That Changed My Life Emma And Paul — page
• 28 Days That Changed My Life Geena — page
• What Happens To Your Body In The First 7 Days Of A Metabolism Reset — article
• 28 Days — page