On February 4th 2018 I weighed 19 stone 10 lbs, the heaviest I've been in my life. On October 8th 2018 I weighed 13 stone 3 lbs. I went from a 42" waist to a 32" thanks to Diet Chef.
I had noticed my weight had started to (slightly) hinder daily things like playing with my kids. I was still agile enough and still jumping around and rolling on the floor with the kids etc, but the belly did get in the way a little...my visibility was high so to speak. In my mind I was 'Fat James', I just wanted to be 'James'. But ultimately, I did it for my kids.
I heard about Diet Chef through a special offer advertised, the cost of a month’s worth of food was pretty similar to what I would spend at a supermarket and on takeaways in a month, so I decided to give it a go. The website made it very easy to calculate my daily calorie intake and off I went. The food was genuinely much nicer than I was anticipating, the Lamb Hotpot was a favourite of mine, as were the Beef Meatballs.
The range on offer was also much more varied than I had anticipated. You choose you breakfast, swipe right, choose lunches, swipe right, choose dinner, and so on...then a day or two later, a box arrives at your house with a month’s worth of low-calorie tasty food.
The first week was tough as portion control was always my problem so it was a bit of a shock to my body I think. However, despite how tough it was, I lost 10lbs in the first week then I averaged about 1 stone per month. I ate pretty much 100% Diet Chef food in that first month, and then in month 2 and 3 I slowly started introducing other food as well, remaining conscious of calories to stay within my allowance. After 3 months I had lost just under 3 stone, and then I added exercise into my weekly routine.
Here is what helped me achieve my weight loss, in order of how much they helped.
1. Diet Chef
2. MyFitnessPal for keeping track of calories
3. Subway sandwiches (there's always a Subway around so I would bypass McDonald's and find a Subway whenever I was out and about as they have so many low-calorie options)
4. Friends & family
5. PureGym (with the help of my friend Chris who is a Cluster Boss there)
I would 100% recommend Diet Chef to anyone trying to lose weight. While I would say I have completed my weight loss journey, I wouldn't hesitate to get another hamper here and there, say after Christmas if I've gained a bit. As a single dad, it's hard to find the time to cook so the convenience alone of Diet Chef makes it worth it.