Diet Chef Review

I have been very fortunate to have been chosen as a member of #TeamDietChef, reviewing the Diet Chef food plan to report back to all of you.

Diet Chef Hamper

How Does it Work?
The way that  Diet Chef works is that you buy calorie and portion controlled foods from them and use these to make up the bulk of your daily food.You do of course add fruits, vegetables and two low fat sources of dairy are recommended daily. With your hamper comes a very handy “All you need to know” guide which details how the plan works, how much you should be drinking, a seven day meal planner and more.

Anyone struggling with portion sizes (a big thing for me, I eat like a horse) will find using the plan alongside the MyFitnessPal app / website a big help. MFP is a partner of Diet Chef and all of the DC foods are in their database. Scanning the bar-code of each food or searching quickly and adding to your diary helps you stay within your daily calorie level and so lose weight (I lost 2lb in a week).

Support
Despite being a “diet from home” plan there is plenty of support available. the website is packed with information as well as a forum, there is a Facebook page and their Twitter account is brilliant for news, getting a quick answer to any queries and for getting to know and share experiences with other Diet Chef-ers.

There is also a dedicated customer service line which I have called once and certainly the lady I spoke to knew her stuff, was really helpful and wished me well with my weight loss.


The Food
It really is all about the food and here are just a few of the meals I enjoyed as part of my review.

(Click pics to enlarge)

The sweet and salty popcorn, macaroni cheese (with REAL cheese in it) and the sweet potato and coconut soup are amongst my favourites.

Didn’t I Say I would Test for 28 days? What Happened?
Originally I had planned to test Diet Chef for 28 days rather than 10 however I’ve decided with DC’s approval to cut the trial short.

I have spent years at a slimming club, attending groups and having a consultant to talk to me personally, and face to face because that is what I need. Staying motivated without that is something I find incredibly difficult. This coupled with the fact that I am a kitchen goddess, or rather a kitchen goddess wannabe and live to slave over my Rangemaster, cooking up meals from scratch means means that I haven’t enjoyed the heat up and eat up part of this review. That said the convenience is undeniable!

 

My time on #TeamDietChef has been fun but the plan simply isn’t for me. Treated as a “real” customer from the beginning rather than simply a reviewer I discussed my decision with Diet Chef who informed me of their 21 day money back guarantee. You see, this isn’t a company who sells you food and lets you get on with it, this is a company that wants you to succeed, wants you to get to your dream weight and who are on hand pro-actively to help you every step of the way.
So, I am calling time on my review and yet would still recommend Diet Chef as they offer exactly what they advertise, a way for you to lose weight at a healthy rate without complicated pointing. For someone leads a busy life, who struggles with portion control and who needs a more prescriptive diet plan this really could be the answer.

 

*I received a Diet Chef hamper or free in exchange for an honest and open review, this is what I’ve provided. Diet Chef have no editorial control here and so what I have reported is based purely on my own experiences and beliefs.

Undercover Office Disorganisation

When it comes to online tools, keeping a diary, keeping on top of my emails, social media, clients and everything else business-wise I am a queen. I’ve even written articles giving advice on these very things. I haven’t however before now shared my ridiculously disorganised office space.

I know pretty much where everything is, I have fabulous hidden filing cabinets and everything; I just don’t have a very effectively organised office. I’m the woman who sits down to print off a load of invoices to find that I’ve given the last of the naff supermarket printer paper to the kids to make paper areoplanes or that I’ve chewed my way through the last working biro (a filthy habit, I know!).

A bookcase which has become a dumping ground, a dump box on the desk, and a pitiful filing effort. I would dare open the two hidden filing cabinets or show you the rest of my "organised chaos" out of pure shame
A bookcase which has become a dumping ground, a dump box on the desk, and a pitiful filing effort. I wouldn’t dare open the two hidden filing cabinets or show you the rest of my “organised chaos” out of pure shame

Viking Direct, the well-known (and now much-loved) business and stationery suppliers have taken pity on me and have sent me a care package to get me back on the road to a haven-like office space once more.

A range of items from reams of paper, pens, tapes, and paperclips alongside files, folders and the mother and father of all desktop sorters soon arrived, securely packaged yet without bothersome wasteful packaging. Here are some of the  items that arrived.

My absolute favourite has to be the Desktop Sorter though….

viking desktop sorter
Perfect for me as an in-tray, out-tray to kep important documents and paper to hand. I’ll be ordering another shortly to use for the boy’s arts and crafts papers!

After letting the office organisation slide I’m now back on top form and better yet have kept everything the way I like it (as in not scattered from one side of the room to the other) for some time now. Everything has a place and I know where that is!

Aside from the fact that the care package (which would have come in at just under £50) had everything and more I needed to get organised this review gave me the opportunity to learn a little more about Viking Direct and have a decent nosy around the website and their ranges.

Previously I’ve always gone for the supermarket office items when replacement has been needed, primarily because I assumed they would be cheaper however I wrong on this. Viking Direct came out significantly cheaper than where I was buying from before and to my surprise I didn’t need to buy in bulk to qualify for discounts as many online business stationery retailers I’ve looked at in the past insisted upon.

With the office looking and feeling great I can stop wasting time looking for things and enjoy my working space again. If you haven’t in the past it could well be worth you looking at the Viking Direct website to see if they would be able beat your current supplier’s prices or help you restore your office to its former glory!

Viking Website