A delicious project to try
11:31am Wednesday 9th April 2008
IF, like me, you loathe supermarket food and feel that you are under-achieving in the balanced diet department, Project Delicious could be the answer to your prayers.
For six days a week, you will not have the what shall I have for dinner dilemma', as all of your culinary needs will be met in the form of wonderfully packaged refrigerated food parcels, delivered twice a week.
Taking Meals on Wheels to another stratosphere, these boxes contain so many colourful and tasty delights that you will be pushed to resist tucking in there and then.
Each recyclable plastic pot inside is labelled to tell you what it is and when to eat it. If you need to heat something, idiot-proof instructions tell you how.
Special diets can be catered for and your food is prepared to your personal needs, whether those be to lose weight, increase energy or whatever.
I was a very willing guinea pig for a week and in all of my 30 years - since eating solid food at least - my Project Delicious week was my healthiest.
Based upon the principle that five small meals a day are better than three larger, breakfast, lunch and dinner were provided, as well as mid-morning and mid-afternoon snacks.
I found it a little difficult to incorporate the snacks into my professional routine as a barrister but if you are in the sort of job that gives you breaks, you should have no problem.
As a keen cook, I missed cooking but the menu gave me lots of new ideas, many of which I have since adopted.
If you dislike cooking and think that bergamot was a programme starring John Nettles, try Project Delicious.
It can be hard to follow the discipline of nil by mouth, other than what has been provided' - especially when your partner insists on munching crisps in front of you (just because you have said you have a craving) or contemplating a takeaway (Well, what am I supposed to do?') - but the benefits for me were worth it.
And I was still allowed wine.
Not only did I lose weight - an unexpected bonus - but I rediscovered my knee caps. I also felt more mentally alert in the evenings at a time when I am usually quite tired.
Project Delicious has many clients, some of whom use them all the time, some of whom dip in and out (for example, when busy at work, or approaching a holiday).
I was very impressed with the quality and variety of the food provided and miss the ease it brought to my life for that special week.