Delivered Diet Food: Diet Chef  

By WLR's Site Manager, Laurence Beeken

Do you want your own personal chef who does all the planning, measuring and cooking?

This is the sales pitch from Diet Chef, a diet delivery service that provides a calorie counted selection of food for each day of the week. The diet food consists of granola for breakfast, ready meals for dinner, and soups for lunch, plus additional snacks. All you have to do is pop them in the microwave where needed.

How does Diet Chef compare to Weight Loss Resources?

From just £6.95 per month (23p per day!) you can use all of the tools and resources available from WLR.  You’ll learn about portion control and how to change your eating habits for life.  We’ll give you the freedom to make you own choices, lose weight and keep it off.

Why not take a free trial and see how you can lose weight and control your own meals.

Take our FREE trial »

How does the Diet Chef delivery work?

The site offers a free personal profile to work out your BMI and daily recommended calories. You enter your body statistics and get a report of BMI, daily calorie usage and calorie requirements to lose 1kg per week. You then order your diet food to be delivered to your door. You will pay extra for additional snacks. You can add additional fruit and vegetables if you need to (again at additional expense).

What is my calorie quota for the diet foods delivered?

For most people this comes out at a 1200 kcal daily allowance. If you require more calories then there is a 1500 kcal option too which includes an extra milkshake each day. If your daily kcal intake to lose 1kg is over 1500 for example 1900 kcal then you would be required to eat an additional 400 kcal per day to make up the extra.

A typical menu for the delivered diet food (3 days)

Breakfast	Lunch	Dinner	Snacks
Treacle & Pecan Granola	Minestrone Soup	Lasagne	Chocolate Chip GI Biscuits
Chocolate Granola	Sweet Potato and Coconut Soup	Macaroni Cheese	Fruit Oat Biscuits
Vanilla and Banana Porridge	Strawberry Milkshake	Chicken Tikka Masala	Cheese Oat Bites

There is also the option to ‘top up’ your Diet Chef delivered food with extra snacks, milkshakes or salads.

What support is offered by Diet Chef?

• There is a 24 hour manned helpline, although after 5pm you will be put through to a call centre where the staff can help with website queries and meal information only.
• The helpline is a 0845 number so check your price plan before calling.
• You can speak to a trained diet advisor between 9am and 5pm, although we could not establish what their qualifications are.
• By creating an account you can submit requests or ask queries of Diet Chef online.
• There are no forums, although you can chat with other people on their facebook page.
• Some people have resorted to using the Diet Chef Facebook page to get queries and questions answered.
• There is a 21 day money back guarantee if you are not satisfied, although there are no further details on the website.

Can I try before I buy?

Diet Chef does offer a free sample meal tester. We asked for one on 05/04/11 but it was never delivered. After a few emails to Diet Chef regarding the whereabouts of the trial meal we eventually received our soup on 03/05/11.

• It was from the Lunch Menu: Lentil and Vegetable Soup (300g)
• The portion was quite small but it tasted like a good home-made soup.
• It took 3 minutes to cook in the microwave so if you have those facilities at work it’s easy to make.
• The soup was thick and therefore quite filling but the portion was just so small. Having to wait 5 hours for dinner was just impossible, and within that time you may seriously struggle to fight off the urges to snack.   
  

Will Diet Chef Work For Me?

The DietChef home delivery diet consists of food which is healthy, tasty and calorie controlled so if followed strictly would result in weight loss.

However, with so little variation in meals it is probable that people would soon become bored of the meals. One especially might get tired of eating granola for breakfast and soup for lunch every single day. Soup would also perhaps not be an ideal lunch in the middle of a hot, sunny summer’s day.

Having the option to compliment their food packages is nice, but it does make you think more about the cost of your food bill. Considering that you will be paying for their meals and then still having to buy additional food to meet calorie requirements.

DietChef might be a good option to get the weight moving for a week or two but it would be difficult to follow the programme for much longer than that.

How much weight could I lose?

Diet Chef claim you can lose up to a stone a month by following their meal delivery programme.

Weight Loss Resources’ View

If you have enough will power to just stick to what is sent to you, then you should lose weight.  The meals are designed to give you 1200-1500 calories, but like any restrictive plan, there will be the temptation to eat more. Without a food diary, you cannot monitor any ‘extras’. You basically just buy the meals and add what you want to them.  However there is nothing to stop you eating the meals and then eating anything else that is lying around – and if you have a family, then there is a chance that you will snack as you prepare meals for the rest of the family.

Although you can generate a personal report, it seems to be more of an afterthought than an integral part of the plan.  

As always, it’s a reduction in calories that will shift those pounds. Diet Chef is just another way to do this and might suit you if you can afford the cost of the Meals.  Ultimately, it’s just as easy – and much cheaper – to follow a 1,200-1,400 calorie diet based on foods from the four main food groups, and eat the things that you enjoy!