Soulmatefood review

Each New Year brings an inevitable round of diet tips and, while I’m sure the aim of these articles is to guide and inspire my post-Christmas indulgence weight loss efforts, I’m usually left with one overriding feeling of confusion.

When I get up on the first morning of the diet it feels like Christmas Day; someone has paid a visit in the night and left me a selection of lovely surprises. The insulated box on my doorstep contains two days worth of food – three meals and two snacks per day, all neatly packaged in individual pots and trays.

Imagine my joy, then, when I discovered Soulmatefood - a company who take all the hassle out of dieting by delivering fresh, nutritionally balanced meals to your doorstep.

After a quick consultation to confirm my vital statistics (slightly podgier than I’d like), my goal (to be eight stone something, please), my likes/dislikes/allergies (I’m not fussy but my husband has a phobia of apples – don’t ask) and my details are sent to their Harley Street nutritionist and head chef, who then designs my menu for the week.

I’m distinctly excited at the prospect of losing weight without having to lift a finger in the kitchen. More than this, though, I’m thrilled that I can expect to lose between three and four pounds without having to worry about whether I am all the while eating the wrong balance of food and inadvertently encouraging the onset of a terrible disease.

When I get up on the first morning of the diet it feels like Christmas Day; someone has paid a visit in the night and left me a selection of lovely surprises. The insulated box on my doorstep contains two days worth of food – three meals and two snacks per day, all neatly packaged in individual pots and trays.

On top of the box is my personalised menu and I wonder at the delights that await me. A power shake for breakfast will be followed by chicken skewers with red pepper salsa at mid-morning. For lunch I will be eating spicy Thai quinoa salad and my afternoon snack is homemade soft cheese with a herb, raisin and walnut crumb. Dinner is rolled plaice and salmon mousse with vegetables.

My expectations are met as the food is uniformly tasty and incredibly fresh. There’s just one small problem which, as I am eating five times a day, I didn’t initially consider. I’m hungry.

The portions are undeniably small but I ignore the rumble in my tummy that lasts throughout the day in the interests of flattening the blasted thing out once and for all.

The second day brings another varied menu, although less to my taste – watermelon jelly with ham, anyone? – but I’m still hungry. I persevere, today in the name of journalism, but by the time I receive my next package I almost cry hot tears of relief at the sight of the slightly larger portions and more substantial sounding meals. A huge bowl of pumpkin seed muesli with raspberry milk sets me up for the morning and my lunch of spinach spaghetti with chicken and a nutmeg and tomato compote transpires to be one of my favourite meals of the week.

I spend the next few days eating dishes and ingredients that I would never normally eat at home, such as tabbouleh and tinkerbell peppers, and generally enjoy the many different foods and tastes that I am experiencing.

Food for two days

In amongst are some old favourites like lasagne and tandoori chicken curry, but of course all have been given a healthy Soulmatefood twist. The convenience factor is high, with the most preparation required being pre-heating the oven and popping the container in for the specified length of time.

On the down side though, some of the dishes do have a distinct air of aeroplane food. Take the lean beef and mustard sausages with scrambled egg and grilled tomato, for example. The sausages are somewhat dry, the eggs a tad rubbery and the tomato watery – just the way British Airways like to serve it, in my experience. Meanwhile, the worst item on the menu award goes to the cranberry, spinach and ginger smoothie I have mid-morning on the fourth day. The green sludge looks disgusting and tastes worse. The look of fear and sympathy in my friend’s eyes as I glug and gag in equal measures just about says it all.

All in all, though, to say I had barely any input into my entire week’s diet, I’m not complaining too much. The variety of food is amazing and something I could never emulate on my own. I do however continue throughout the week feeling more hungry and less satiated at meal time than I would normally like. Perhaps inevitably, then, the weight loss goes to plan and by the end of the week I am four pounds lighter and feeling much more comfortable in my high-waisted pencil skirts that (shhh, don’t tell anyone) I’ve spent the last few weeks wearing unbuttoned.

Overall it’s great news about the weight loss, but unfortunately Soulmatefood just wouldn’t work as a long-term solution for me as I found it strange eating completely different meals to my husband every night. I also have a feeling that my willpower in avoiding the temptation to top up on other foods might not have lasted much longer.

The other, more immovable obstacle, is the cost. The weight loss plan that I followed costs a cool £25 per day and I’m guessing there can’t be many who could afford that kind of outlay long-term. However, for my short-term goal of kick-starting weight loss in a healthy and balanced way, Soulmatefood certainly delivered with minimum hassle and excellent results.

For more information on Soulmatefood visit www.soulmatefood.com

Soulmate Food Box