I'm a bit of a rule breaker when it comes to diets. I find the constant calorie or point counting, food group restrictions and bland meals incredibly frustrating and usually end up breaking out within half a day, not through lack of will power but because I can't stand being told what to do, or not do in the case of most diets. So when I was asked to try the Body Chef eating plan, a diet to your door service currently causing waves in the media, I was a little sceptical that I would firstly, be able to stick with it, and secondly lose weight in the process.
How it works
Body Chef is run by its founder, Jayne Ritchie, who wanted to devise tailor-made diets that helped her clients lose weight while retaining their usual eating habits. Dieter's can choose from a range of six diets (soon to be seven when the low-carb diet is introduced) from the highly popular flat belly diet to a cleansing detox plan. I was suffering from the usual signs of lethargy that winter brings, so I opted for the super food diet plan. This plan helps slimmers lose weight while receiving the optimum nutritional benefit, making it perfect for fighting off winter bugs and starting the new year feeling refreshed and rejuvenated.
My diet was delivered to my home the evening before I was due to start so I didn't have to delay my breakfast or worry about being somewhere at a specific time to collect the food. Every meal, snack and drink was contained in handy plastic containers and carefully labelled with the day and time I was meant to eat it. There was no room for confusion and I was thrilled to see that all the food was fresh - no vacuum-packed mass-produced food here - and everything looked absolutely delicious. A bit too delicious in fact, and I began to wonder if I was actually going to lose any weight at all.
The menu
A menu arrived with my food so I could see exactly what I would be eating. Every day consisted of breakfast, lunch and dinner along with two snacks and a dessert, which I was to have after dinner. Every meal was varied so I found I never had the same meal twice and because all of the food was fresh there was no 'diet' food full of artificial ingredients, chemicals and sweeteners, a definite plus in my book.
Breakfasts consisted of low GI food such as porridge, granola, yoghurt and fruit with lunch following much the same theme, with oat cakes, hummus, cannellini paste, salad and tuna. Snacks consisted of small handfuls of almonds and lots of fresh fruit, while dinner was the real shocker with large portions of vegetable chilli, vegetable hash, chicken and sweet potatoes, and even *gasp* curry! After ploughing through my dinner which, although delicious, I actually struggled to finish on a couple of occasions, I had a dessert of either fresh fruit medleys or cubes of cheese, normally a strict no-no when on a diet.
The positives
This diet takes all of the pain and hassle out of dieting, and isn't just for people with hectic lives and are too busy to cook for themselves. Personally, I enjoy cooking but this diet still worked wonders for me because it took away the need to think about food which, in turn, made my habitual snacking vanish. The diet is also designed to prevent you from suffering from any sweet cravings, the most common reason dieters fall off the wagon. But on the super food diet I didn't feel deprived of anything and didn't once crave fatty foods thanks to constantly being surprised by my menu plan.
The negatives
The only negative point I would have to say about this diet is that more information about what I was eating would have been useful. I had a lot of pulses and tropical fruit on my diet and I would have liked to know what vitamins and minerals were in each dish and what benefits I would be getting so I could continue reaping the benefits after my diet had finished.
Did it work?
A resounding yes! I lost three pounds in five days on the super food diet and went from feeling so tired I could barely stay awake on my commute home to having tons of energy, and I found my ability to concentrate improved dramatically as well. The diet also made me realise that I was eating far too much, piling up my plate when actually I could get by on a third of what I was eating and still not feel hungry, so I'll definitely be reducing my portion sizes in the future.
Prices for the body chef diet start at £95.98 for a week on the 7-day plan or £73 for a week on the 5-day city plan (available only inside the M25). Trial hampers are £43.99. Visit http://www.bodychef.com/About-Us/Lose-Weight/ for more information.
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