So I am now at number 358 on the very long list of 'ways to diet and ultimately balls it up' options.
And No.358 is called Diet Chef – or is more fondly known as 'Food In a Box'.
With a bit of encouragement from various (slim..) girls I went ahead and coughed £245 for a month's worth of ambient – yes ambient (but if you put it in the fridge you can sort of kid yourself it's fresh?) breakfasts, lunches, dinners and the all important daily snack.
And so far – it's actually not that bad. The dinners and soup lunches have all been pretty good with the exception of the cottage pie (a strangely pinkish potato on top and a slight smell of sick) and the truly appalling 'bulgar wheat thingy in a pot you pour water on'. That was RANK. And I'm so pleased I ordered about 4 of those and I think some of its couscous friends, which I have yet to try.
One week in and it's 3 pounds down so far. And that's despite a cracking roast lamb at the coot this Sat (preceded by a rather nice home-made thai on the Fri) which certainly didn't come out of a purple-y box…. Bloody delicious.
Am going to try and keep it going till the Java trip, which kicks off on 11th August – so my three quarter length holiday trousers might actually do up.
We'll see! Smile on, you slim buggers and spare a thought for the box-noshing lard arses of our world x