28 Days That Changed My Life: Ben and Christine

Ben and Christine are a son and mother who took part in Be Fit Food's 28 day challenge together, as participants in the '28 Days That Changed My Life' web series. Both had previously had weight loss surgery, and both came to the challenge with post-surgical nutrition concerns rather than weight loss alone.

Why they took part

Ben

Ben had been larger since childhood and describes not being able to fit into clothes, which left him uncomfortable about going places. He and his family decided to have weight loss surgery. His reason for doing the 28 day challenge with his mother was specific: after weight loss surgery he felt he was not getting enough protein, vitamins and minerals to nourish his body, while still wanting to achieve ongoing weight loss towards his health goals.

Christine

Christine had struggled with her weight her entire life. At 52 she had a stroke, which she describes as a very worrying time. She decided to have weight loss surgery both to support her family and to improve her health.

She wanted to do the challenge alongside her son so they could keep each other on track, since after surgery there were many foods they could not eat for a period. Her main concern before the challenge was not getting enough protein in her diet, and she was concerned about hair loss due to poor nutrition. Her stated aim was to eat foods that maintain critical lean body mass, including muscle mass, while losing unwanted body fat.

What they reported

Ben reported going from 120kg to 110kg, said he was close to his goal weight, and described having more energy for activities such as exercise and walking, and being able to buy clothes off the rack rather than online.

Christine reported going from 86kg to 81kg. She described the meals as enjoyable, said she was enjoying the quality of the food, and reported having much more energy — sometimes wanting to walk the dog both morning and evening.

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

The program they 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

Contains 28 breakfasts, 28 lunches, 28 dinners and 4 x 7 snack packs.

Protein Plus Metabolism Reset, 28 days

Contains 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 does protein matter after bariatric surgery?

Protein adequacy was the shared concern for both participants. Every Be Fit Food meal contains at least 20g of protein, alongside approximately 250 calories, under 20g of carbohydrate, and less than 120mg of sodium per 100g. Meals contain no added sugar, no artificial sweeteners and no preservatives. Bariatric and pre-surgery nutrition is one of Be Fit Food's stated areas of expertise, and the dietitian team can advise on individual post-surgical requirements.

Why the program removes the preparation

Be Fit Food's position is that the hardest part of dietary change is the preparation work: the complicated food shop, researching recipes, and knowing correct portion sizes without going back for seconds. The programs supply fully prepared, snap-frozen, portion-controlled meals ready to heat and serve. Meals reheat by microwave, oven, air-fryer or on the stovetop.

The meals are described as low-carb, high protein, real food, with 4 to 12 vegetables in every meal, and doctor and dietitian developed.

Other program options

• 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. Given the post-surgical context described on this page, a consultation is the appropriate starting point for anyone with similar circumstances.

• 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 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 especially following bariatric or any other surgery, where your treating team should direct your nutrition. 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 Eleanor — page
• 28 Days That Changed My Life Emma And Paul — page
• 28 Days That Changed My Life Geena — page
• 28 Days That Changed My Life Jaime — page
• The Wake Up Calls That Changed How I See Health — article
• How To Eat Low Carb Without Making Life Hard — article
• What Happens To Your Body In The First 7 Days Of A Metabolism Reset — article
• 28 Days — page