M&S Simply Fuller Longer & Diet Chef- Any thoughts?

MrsCD20

I've been doing some research into some easier ways to stay on my calorie count. I've been good with trying to stay on target, but to be honest, unless I make the food I go over my 1,200 calories since my Hubby has less calorie worries (as he's got a good amount more per day than I do).

I looked at Diet Chef, but I was a little put off by some reviews I had seen. Also, aside from dinners & snacks, the diet chef plan is very similar to many of my breakfasts and soup lunches (although it seemed to have a wider selection of soups and was cheaper than my current grocery shop costs). So if anyone is using that I would love to know how you found it? I like the price of it, but if we don't eat it then the price is too much!

One of the reviews for Diet Chef mentioned the M&S line of Simply Fuller Longer (saying it was better). I instantly went onto M&S website to find out more information since I don't usually shop at M&S. It didn't say anything about cost; so how much is this on average? Like average/range of cost per meal maybe or even per day?

If anyone has general thoughts about taste for either plan, please share! I was leaning towards Diet Chef, but the lack of commitment with M&S is quite appealing and I may be leaning that way now. M&S is a bit out of the way for me, so I'd prefer to know more about it before thinking about switching from making meals.

Thanks everyone!

Nix143

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2209739/So-lose-stone-month-eating-M-S-Fuller-Longer-ready-meals-Amanda-Cable-nearly-did--wants-packaged-food-again.html?ITO=1490

Hi, link above has got some pricing in it

MrsCD20

Thanks! That is very helpful!

smiffy645

I use the fuller longer meals most days for lunch. at the moment they are on 2 for £6.

MrsCD20

Thanks! I think my husband really wants us to try this diet chef meal plan We're giving it a good go and should get the meals Monday to start Tuesday. It would be a lot easier to maintain my weight (with full calories) but to have 1,200 calories it's just time consuming to always make the meals and even pre-making didn't always turn out well (if the dish wasn't any good then I wasted hours cooking and usually a large amount of food). Plus, my hubby really prefers quite a bit of variety and that becomes time consuming to keep finding loads of low calorie meals. I'll put a post about how it works out (taste wise, results, cost, and overal thoughts) when we get into a bit. So far the experience has been top notch as the customer service has been great, but that's not the most important part! So we'll how it goes; fingers crossed this turns out to be a good venture!

slimjoycenow

I looked at diet chef last week, decided I wasn't going to pay someone vast amounts of money to send me sachets of food, and found MFP the same day :-) I did decide to do M&S Count on Us for the first two weeks, mainly to give me a real sense of what a portion looks like. My diet was already pretty healthy, just WAY too much. I have an Oats So Simple for breakfast every day, home made soup for lunch, an M&S meal for dinner, and fruit and veggie snacks. Only a week in, but so far so good. To be honest, if I could have just had dinners only from Diet Chef, I probably would have done it, but I didn't want their breakfasts or lunches.

gymbunny1962

Only problem about using diet ready meals is that once you reach target weight, you may end up reverting to your old eating habits to a degree. Much better to try and change the way you cook and the type of foods you eat. Weight Watchers have a great range of books available that helps - and the food is really good even for people not on a diet. I was previously a yo-yo dieter but I lost nearly 80lbs and I've probably been in 'maintenance' for 18 months now largely through changing my eating and exercise habits. I used to love crisps - now I'll have the occassional bag but really don't miss them. I still have things like fish and chips but the fish is baked in the oven and the chips are made in my actifry.

That said, I've just had a M&S Fuller Longer salad for my lunch!

smiffy645

Thanks! I think my husband really wants us to try this diet chef meal plan We're giving it a good go and should get the meals Monday to start Tuesday. It would be a lot easier to maintain my weight (with full calories) but to have 1,200 calories it's just time consuming to always make the meals and even pre-making didn't always turn out well (if the dish wasn't any good then I wasted hours cooking and usually a large amount of food). Plus, my hubby really prefers quite a bit of variety and that becomes time consuming to keep finding loads of low calorie meals. I'll put a post about how it works out (taste wise, results, cost, and overal thoughts) when we get into a bit. So far the experience has been top notch as the customer service has been great, but that's not the most important part! So we'll how it goes; fingers crossed this turns out to be a good venture!

The recipes on the BBC good food website can be specified by calorie content and there is a reasonable variety, but good luck with the diet chef stuff!

gymbunny1962

I use BBC Good Food website as well - lots of good healthy recipes! When I find one that we all like (hubby and two fussy kids), I print off and save in a ring binder. Also do the same for any recipes I may find in magazines - now on my second ring binder! Also makes it easier for planning ahead.

MrsCD20

GymBunny: The most difficult part is more that I have to make my meals because my hubby will make meals with less restriction since he has many more calories on his than I do. So, if I want to make sure I stay on calories I have to make the meals. The meals I've been making (or even that he makes) aren't terrible calorie wise by any means; however, it's just harder to keep under 1,200 calories when you have a 500 calorie dinner. We even have little fruit packs that we eat (it's not dried fruit- it's more like canned). To make sure it's always on hand to stay on track better. No pop, and most of the bad stuff has been removed. We've also had nights out which taught us to stop when we're full (we overcame that in the first part of dieting). I've actually made some of my favorite foods into recipes, but it's just making sure I make them. Some of the easier ones that are less time consuming are usually more calories (go figure).

Slimjoycenow: We were doing the Simply porridges for breakfast and made frozen fruit ice cubes to pop in on the go but there was a small variety that we liked. Eventually we had to change the morning meals. Currently we're on 35g of Rude Honey Nut Granola, 150g of Fruit, and 100g of Activia Pouring Yogurt (vanilla or strawberry). Soups have been good to us for lunches, but we have favorites and sometimes the store doesn't always have a good selection.

Smiffy645: Thanks and I will take a look at that site. I'm always trying to collect more recipes (especially quick and easy ones!).

MrsCD20

GymBunny: An added note about WW, we were on that about a year ago and while we were very strict and even running 20 miles a week I didn't see nearly the results I've seen when calorie counting (and not running 20 miles a week). On here, I've tried to get back to more natural foods, more home made tomato sauces for foods and getting lots of protein & fibre, then trying to cut down sodium. I wish I could find low calorie flour tortillas!