Friday, 31-07-30; DTU week 2, day 5

Good morning.
Well, yesterday's plans also went head over heels somewhat, not long after I had posted yesterday's effort.

I had expected Beth round for lunch and was going to have pizza while I made a pitta pizza for her.  However, she pulled out because of something that HAD to be done and I got a message from a friend - would I come over, please?

The main problem with my restricted eating window is that it isn't all that 'sociable' so I jiggled meals again.  Instead of a lunch, I had a couple of 'snacks' and a few satsumas.  As I found on Wednesday, if I have a protein bar and a savoury nibble, they do fill me up and it's a sustained full-up feeling.  Yesterday I didn't want anything else until dinner time.

So now I have another full day's DTU food for Sunday; a bit of a pain because I was looking forward getting back to my own cooking again.  I've checked dates and while the kits all say 1-8-20, the meat that goes with those kits is dated 2nd or 3rd so that will be OK.  The vegetables in the kits look sound enough so I'm happy with that.

At SW Zoom, I had lost a pleasing but slightly frustrating one and a half pounds.  Half a pound to go although I want to keep losing because the proper weigh in in a fortnight or so will be in very different conditions.

Yesterday's photos:

Peanut granola and I added some natural yogurt and some blueberries.  It was very tasty indeed.

These were the 'snacks' I had for lunch plus a couple of satsumas.

I've taken quite a fancy to jerky/biltong.  It's ncer than I thought it would be.

The pizza was delicious (I finished off the other half too) and the salad was most satisfying as it contained beetroot, baby corn, tomatoes and cucumber, all home grown in garden or allotment.  So fresh and delicious!

Today's meals:

B:  salted caramel porridge with fruit
I rather fancy adding some strawberries to this and, as it happens, I have three ripe ones in the garden - how lucky!  There might be a few raspberries on the canes as well.
258 calories plus whatever the fruit is

L:  satay chicken and brown rice
It's nice to be having brown rice again.  There are some good reviews of this ping pot.
367 calories

D:  Thai beef massaman curry
In this kit there's a whole pouch of Tilda basmati rice of which, I assume, one is expected to have half.  I will keep the pouch intact and pop it in my store cupboard and instead have some protein rice (not really rice, just like protein noodles but grain shaped) instead.  I can finish that off tomorrow because there's another kit with rice to have, the Chinese chicken curry.
I'm not going to be short on rice over the next few months, am I?
I might also add some extra veg to the curry - I'll count them when I add them.
498 calories minus 179 calories (the rice) plus 27 calories (a dollop of natural yogurt) and fifteen calories for a portion of protein rice = 346 calories

Body Magic:  Not sure.  Watering down the allotment, for sure, as it is supposed to be a very hot day, and I have found some DTU clips on you tube so I fancy trying one of those.

Total:  986 calories plus the fruit and the vegetables and whatever snack I may have to make it up to 1200 calories at least.

Thursday, 30-07-20; DTU week 2, day 4

Morning!
Weigh day and Zoom online meeting today - I think there's only two more online meetings before we go back to face to face (with restrictions) again.


Yesterday's photos:

I love this breakfast and when I make it myself, I will have to add some spice to the beans to make it as tasty - or use spicy baked beans.


Then it all went belly-up, as the saying goes.
Lindsey contacted me to ask could I change my PT to half past two.  Lunch was scheduled for two and I didn't want to bring it forward because I wouldn't be hungry earlier.
So I moved lunch to dinner and will have a left over dinner to use up on Sunday.

Here's what I subbed for lunch.  Light enough to have before PT but fairly substantial, all the same.  I was glad I had saved my snacks as it gave me a good choice.
They came to 330 calories in total so a bit of a saving there.

Dinner (originally lunch) was very tasty, especially with added cucumber and tomato from the garden.

And that was it for the day!

Today's meals:

B:  peanut granola pot 
And I will add some fruit to it, blueberries, probably.
323 calories (including the blueberries)

L:  chicken tikka pizza plus salad
I've heard good reports of this and I did enjoy the meat pizza last week so we will see.  The salad will have a lot of home/allotment grown things - cucumber, tomatoes, baby corn and beetroot - can't wait!
347 calories (including salad)

D:  Thai beef massaman curry
I might also add a dollop of natural yogurt, if it's very spicy.
524 calories (including yogurt)

Body magic:  a walk and some allotment work plus up and down stairs in the afternoon, tidying things up.

Total:  1194 calories


Edit:  since writing this, things have changed a bit.  I'll cover that in tomorrow's post!  :-)

Wednesday, 29-07-20; DTU week 2, day 3

Morning!
I went onto the site and cancelled my 'membership' of DTU, explaining why and adding that I'd definitely be buying some of their meals for a mix and match strategy in the future.  Back to SW and calories on Sunday and I must start to enter my favourite recipes into Weight Loss Resources - an easy way to store the calorie values!  :-)

Yesterday's photos:

These were really nice and I'd get them again except that - you know - buying pancakes???
I flavoured the yogurt with a bit of stevia and some lemon essence and it was lovely.  Lemon goes so well with blueberries.

Lunch.
The lasagne was nice, especially the base.  The sauce on top was the classic SW scrambled-eggy textured thing with cottage cheese and I'd prefer a proper cheese sauce and pay the calories/syns.
The vegetables were lovely although, me being fussy here, I'd have a salad for choice.
Filled me up good and proper though!

Late afternoon I had a bag of lentil crisps for 96 calories

This was gorgeous.
I didn't really follow the instructions while cooking it.  First I put the sausages with the marinade into a small dish and promptly knocked it onto the floor.  The dish shattered (one of my favourites too, darn it) and, while I was able to salvage the sausages by rinsing them well, the marinade was lost.  I quickly knocked together a sauce using bbq sauce and sweet chilli sauce and it was rather good though I say it myself.
I decided to do the potato and carrot as chips in the actifry and added a shake of Cajun spice to the one tsp of oil I had allowed.  I swapped out the green courgette for a yellow one fresh pulled down the allotment and roasted some of that with half the onion and the sausages in the oven using spray oil.
In the pack was a stock cube and the other half onion to make an onion gravy but stock cubes and just onion don't wing it for me as a gravy so I just left it out and didn't miss it one little bit.

Today's meal plans:
B:  sausage, bean and potato pot
I had this last time and liked it very much.  Definitely one to continue with in the future
374 calories

L:  honey mustard chicken mozarella bake with slaw
I read good things about this one so decided to give it a try.  There loads of veg provided to make the slaw; all I have to provide is my dressing of choice (which will be super light mayo).  It's a kit so I will have the fun of making it too.
438 calories (including 30g mayo)

D:  ultimate burger bowl with wedges plus an added salad
I've heard varying reports of this one.  As I like my mince rich and deep flavoured and slow cooked, I'll do it my-y-y-y way and will be happy to throw in some bbq sauce or whatever, if I think it necessary.  The salad is my added extra
451 cals (including 30 cals for the salad)

Total 1263 calories

Tuesday, 28-07-20; DTU week 2, day 2

Morning.

The box for week two arrived slap bang in the middle of the predicted time slot.  Instead of a list, I took photos this time.  Sorry about the dullness; the light was very bad.

 The snacks - all but two in a bag and away out of sight because they are very more-ish.
Of those two, one's in the freezer and one needs to go into the fridge.  The one in the fridge (cheese and pepperoni)  is pretty much the calories of a meal so I might treat it as that and have it as a lunch with a nice salad next week.

 Breakfasts.  Nothing startling there.

 Lunches.  I ordered a lot of meal kits this week because I like cooking. . .

. . . and ditto for the dinners.  Also, scraping a bit of frugality from the bottom of the barrel, the kits provide fresh veg and you don't always need all of the veg so it can go back for another meal!

Yesterday's meals.
I didn't take a photo of breakfast.  It was a pot of kvarg and an apple.

Lunch was the burger and a home made salad.  The burger was . . . OK and no more.  The M&S skinny burgers are much nicer.  I enjoyed it but can do better myself.

The salad was lovely, including fresh picked mini cucumber and tomatoes.

I also had a bag of salt and vinegar popcorn because the calories are a bit low today.

Dinner was chilli beef noodle stir fry.  It was quite hot, hence the dollop of yogurt in the middle but it was nice, very tasty, loads of beef and loads of veg - a whole green pepper, five mushrooms and two spring onions and I had the lot.

I finished off with a choc and hazelnut shot which was OK, I wouldn't get it again.

Total calories for yesterday were roughly 1110.  I swapped the dried noodles provided with the chilli beef with some protein noodles and that made a big difference.

Today's food:

B:  pancakes with blueberries and natural yogurt
Pre-made pancakes sound - er - interesting!  I've added 50g blueberries and 50g natural yogurt.
276 cals (including the add ons)

L:  beef lasagne with Italian vegetables
This is a ping meal and fingers crossed.  I haven't had lasagne in an age.
471 cals

D:  sticky chilli sausages and vegetable bake
I think this sounds really nice.  Basically, cook the sausages in a sticky chilli glaze and roast potato, carrot, courgette and red onion.  I might do that in the old actifry, that would be nice.  It looks as if it will be enormous!
503 cals (including 1 tsp oil for the actifry)

Total calories:  1250
(plus any fruit/snacks)

Monday, 27-07-20: DTU, week 2, day 1

Morning!
I'm so pleased with how the weekend at Dad's went.  No wine, no snacking on naughty stuff, just sticking to the planning.  There's nothing like being close to target to keep the motivation up.
I can'r guarantee I've lost anything, of course, but it won't be my fault if I have gained.


Today's plans (assuming the Muscle Foods box arrives this morning - it came in the morning last time)

B:  fruit and kvarg
Because it certainly won't have arrived in time for breakfast.
SW:  half a syn

L:  beef quarter pounder with cheese, side salad
The side salad is extra, not provided by Muscle Foods
371 calories plus the salad
SW:  seven and a half syns and - shock horror - not a wholemeal roll although it is a 'high protein bun', whatever that may be.

D:  chilli beef noodle stir fry, side salad
I may replace the noodles with protein noodles and, again, the side salad is an extra
Can't find any info about this

Snacks:
None.  They are all going away in a bag somewhere (all eighteen of them) and when I have either a very hungry day or a not hungry day, I can have one, either as a snack or instead of a meal.  I'm being flexible this week.

BM:  a step routine from Lindsey, maybe a walk too, depending on the weather.

Must remember to resume taking photos.

Sunday, 26-07-20

Morning.

No food photos - and there probably won't be until Tuesday.
A piece of nice news though - I was our group's Slimmer of the Week this week!  That's encouraged me no end.

While shopping in Teco yesterday, I noticed they had some kvarg (flavoured quark), something I've noticed before but not bought.  Why not, thought I, give them a go.  So I did and you know what - the one I had for breakfast was really very delicious!  They're about the same calories as the Mullerlights and half a syn as well so more or less the same.  Have you tried them?

Today's food:

B:  kvarg and fruit
Looking forward to this after yesterday.
SW:  half a syn

L:  cold meat and salad
Pretty much the same as yesterday - Dad likes it and I like it.
SW:  a syn for some mayo and maybe a heB for some bread.

D:  lamb chop, roasted beetroot, runner beans, new potato
beetroot and runners are from Dad's garden and the potato is from the allotment.  It's that time of year.  Lovely.

SW: probably a couple of syns for some gravy


Tomorrow the DTU meals start again.

Saturday, 25-07-20

Good morning.  It is stupid o'clock but I'm wide awake so thought I would do something to pass the time.

I don't have any photos from yesterday but I stuck to plan and didn't indulge in any of the goodies Dad keeps around the place.

Today's food plans:

B:  yogurt and fruit
I'm so looking forward to both the yogurt and the fruit after five days without!

SW:  half a syn for the fruit

L:  ham salad
I'm taking an early morning trip to Tesco to get some yogurt as I left mine at home, annoyingly.  The ham might change to another cold meat in the process.  :-)

SW:  one syn for some mayo, perhaps one heB for some wholemeal bread

D:  Spanish chicken, protein noodles, broccoli
The recipe for the chicken contains chicken, chopped tomatoes, onion, red pepper and the spice mix and I will add some mange tout and a yellow courgette from the garden.  I don't make a habit of taking protein noodles to Dad's but I had half an unopened pack which needed using.

SW:  one syn for the noodles and  maybe two syns for oil in the chicken dish

S:  fresh fruit, if any

Body Magic:  I suspect this will be a 'rest day' as the weather forecast really isn't great.


I have definitely decided that next week, when I do the next six days of DTU, I will put the snacks away, out of sight and also I will be counting the calories out of interest.  It won't be hard; the packs all have the calorie count on them.

Friday, 24-07-20; DTU day five

Good morning.
It's the last day - well, half day really because I did half last Sunday - of my first, five day go at Muscle Foods' Do The Unthinkable.
I weighed yesterday for Slimming World and, taken from Thursday last week, I have lost one and a half pounds (more when you realise I gained over the weekend).
I weighed today for DTU and, taken from Sunday morning, I have lost three and a half pounds.
This means you can tell how much the Saturday night pizza and too much cheese put on, if you are inclined to work it out!

I'm happy with that and I'll do a review at the foot of this entry so it's easy to skip.  No point boring people who aren't interested!

Yesterday's food:

Breakfast with added blueberries.  Nice, warming and more filling than it looks, but no nicer than home made porridge.
I must look up some recipes because this was part quinoa, presumably to cut down the carbs.





Below is lunch - the nduja pork.  It was gorgeous.  Very spicy; I'm glad I made a salad and I also added a dollop of natural yogurt and it made too much for lunch.  I saved some for the four o'clock snack so I didn't have what I'd planned which was the Chinese chicken.  I think I might pop it in the freezer and use it with a salad some time in the future.

Dinner was the lemon pasta thing.  I had protein noodles instead of the pasta as pasta twice in a day just felt too much.  I cooked some courgette (from the allotment and yum) and I forgot to sprinkle over the crumb and herb topping - ooops.

Nevertheless, it was very tasty.

The snacks.
The protein balls were gorgeous.  Lemony, a hint of coconut and I could happily have eaten double so it's just as well I didn't have any more.

I swapped the bakes for mountain chips so the bakes are tomorrow.

As mentioned above, I didn't have the chicken and that's now residing in the freezer where it will make a most satisfactory lunch at some point in the future.

Today's plans:

DTU officially finishes after lunch today but I have one extra snack because I made the protein bar last two snacks.

B:  a chocolate caramel protein bar

L:  teriyaki salmon stir fry

Snacks:  olives and sweet chilli mountain chips

D:  something at Dad's

Body Magic:  step exercises and another of Lindsey's video clips

I may not be posting about meals over the weekend, it really depends how much I can plan beforehand but Friday will be something quick from whatever Dad has in, Saturday will be Spanish chicken, using a jd seasoning pot and Sunday will likely be something more conventional in the meat and two veg line.  Dad's runner beans and courgettes are now producing so they will feature, for sure.

Review of Do The Unthinkable

First of all, it is important to say that this week has not been sponsored by Muscle Food in any way, shape or form.  I bought the food myself and my opinions are not affected by anything but my own opinion and experience.

Positives:
Generally, the food was delicious, and the one I wasn't so fond of was because I think I just don't like that meal - I had another brand of the same meal earlier in the month and didn't like that either.
A great use of spices and seasonings generally.  One could never call their meals tasteless.  They had character.
The meals were filling, presumably because of the bias towards protein, and the variety was great.
I particularly liked the kits as there was more 'engagement' than just popping a pot in the pinger.  Instructions were clear and precise and because the recipe cards were laminated, they can be kept for another time.
There were no problems with quality although I know that occasionally that slips.
Customer service is good, I think.  There's a Facebook group and a page.  The group is for general comments while the page is for queries and issues and messages are private.  I got into a bit of a muddle with my second order and they responded very quickly.  And sorted it out!
The exercise programme that comes with it is very much a dip in sort of thing and that works for me.  It's not compulsory but one is encouraged to participate.

Less positives:
I think it is quite expensive.  I usually make just about all my meals and have an eye to cost as I do so.  However, if you are someone who gets a lot of ready meals, pre-cooked stuff and take aways, then it's much more reasonable.
The snacks.  Don't get me wrong, I loved the snacks, they were delicious but I've pretty much cut out those sorts of things from my diet so it went a bit against the grain.
Fruit and veg.  There was more veg than I expected which was good and the kits provided fresh veg of good quality.  I missed my fruit.  They say you can have two extra portions of fruit and two of veg a day but crispy/chocolate snacks AND fruit - no!
Breakfasts.  It goes against the grain to have chocolate, however protein packed, for breakfast and, while the porridges were nice, it is no hardship to make porridge!  I missed my own breakfasts - the waffles, for example.

My conclusions:
I actually really enjoyed this week.  I enjoyed it so much that I have booked another week, six days this time and I'm looking forward to trying out my different choices.  I may very well cut the snacks though at, at least, reduce them.

It's done what I wanted.  It had given the last bit of weight loss a good kick up the backside.  Maybe, by the end of next week, I'll have hit target - that would be splendid.  This last stone has taken so long to shift.

What about after that, moving forward?  I have been exploring the muscle food site and notice that pretty much all the foods and snacks are available as single items or as small packs (especially the snacks).
As regular readers will know, recently I have been trying out ready meals from supermarkets and have been remarkably unimpressed.  This week's ones are way and beyond even the nicest one I tried before at pretty much the same price.
So . . .
I will go back to making my own breakfasts with some relief.
I will cut the snacks completely.  Yes, they were tasty, but unnecessary.
I will return to fruit and yogurt (I also missed yogurt) for desserts and if I don't want a dessert I can have it later, as a 'snack' but not as anything extra.
I'm going to make an order for some of their ready meals which can be kept in the freezer and will mix and match my own meals with their readies.  The garden and allotment vegetables will be in soon and I want to make good use of them!
I will have much more of an eye for protein, definitely.  It does keep you full for a long time.  I've been casually noticing proportions and will aim to continue them.

So, after next week it is back to following SW (although I don't think it's been all that far out, in fact) and I will also be counting calories although I won't be giving as much detail as before, just totals.
And in the future, depending on things, I may do another week on Do The Unthinkable.

Thursday, 23-07-20; DTU day 4

Good morning!
All going well and it's Zoom meeting this evening.

Yesterday's food:

Breakfast - a 'crunch' bar.
I expected it would be like a rice crispy cake inside but it wasn't, it was solid, like the protein bar, but with a few 'bits' that could be called a crunch with an extreme stretch of the imagination.  It was nice, a real chocolate flavour hit and I nibbled at it to make it last.  It didn't feel like a breakfast but, really, that's just me, I think, and what I am used to.

Lunch was bbq pulled pork with vegetables.
I couldn't detect very much barbecue flavour at all but, all the same, it was very nice.  Maybe a dollop of Crucials bbq sauce would have helped. 

You could add some passata and seasoning and make it into two portions of a chunky, meaty soup very easily.  Lots of meat and lots of veg.  Yum.

 These were the ingredients for dinner (I'd already prepped the chips which were in the bag as a potato!), all except for a little bag of panko breadcrumbs that was hiding under the fish.  I actifried the chips and I added the last of the allotment broad beans to the peas and edamame beans.

It was a delicious dinner.
The potatoes went that colour because of their type - they weren't Maris Pipers or Kind Edwards which are the two easily available kinds that I think make the best roasties and chips.

The snacks were interesting.
The soft baked brownie was just another protein bar in disguise;  it most certainly wasn't a brownie.  It's just as well I really like the texture of the protein bars and the chocolate flavour does give a good hit.
I had some sweet chilli chips earlier in the week and these were also very nice.  A great crunch.
The fruit, seed and nut snack was the most 'normal' one I have had so far and, as I love nuts and seeds, I really enjoyed this.
All the portions are pretty small which is perfect for me.

Today's food plans:

B:  porridge with blueberries (and added blueberries)

L:  nduja (n-doo-jah) pork pasta

D:  shredded lemon chicken pasta
(hmm, rather a lot of pasta today - I may replace one portion with protein noodles)

Both lunch and dinner are a little short on vegetables so I will add some courgette to the lemon chicken (from the allotment, yum) and a simple salad to the pork pasta

Snacks:  lemon drizzle cake protein balls, Chinese chicken on a stick, salt and vinegar bakes

Wednesday, 22-07-20: DTU day three

Good morning.
SW weigh day is tomorrow and DTU weigh day is Friday morning so I'll know for sure then but so far the signs are good.  After some encouraging comments (thank you), I've decided to continue this for another week after this week.  That should sort any weekend problems out, I hope.
Delivery is on Monday.

Yesterday's food photos:

This was very like the breakfast bake that I've made before.  It was a ping meal but I picked off the potato cubes and gave then half an hour in the oven to crisp up before reheating the beans and sausage and then popping the potato back on top.  Very tasty indeed.

Lunch was fine.  Chicken chow mein - loads of chicken and tasty as well.  No complaints.

This was lovely!  I don't know what they used for the pizza base; it certainly wasn't a bread dough.  It was loaded with topping and what you see here was half of it.
So good.

 And the snacks.
The other half of the protein bar went down a treat in the morning - I cut it into lots are tiny pieces to savour every bit!
It is quite filling, surprisingly, and I can see how a whole bar would work as a breakfast meal, especially with a hot drink.

The other two were crispy things.  I love crispy things and was worried that they might be a trigger but that doesn't seem to be the case - not yet, anyway.
The zippers were a nicer texture than the bakes but both tasted good.

Today's plans are . . .
B:  chocolate crunch bar (I'll let you know!)

L:  bbq pulled pork and veg - a ping meal

D:  fish and chips - a recipe kit and it looks great - a nice piece of fish, real potatoes (I can use the actifry!), fresh peas and little sachets of mint sauce for the peas and tartare sauce for the fish.

Snacks:  fruit and nuts, brownie, bbq mountain chips.  The brownie feels - er - solid!

Tuesday, 21-07-20: DTU day two

Good morning.
Things are good and I am seriously pondering on putting in another order to come next Monday after the weekend at Dad's.


Yesterday's meals

This was one of those add water, stir and leave things and I added some chopped up strawberries too.  After five minutes I popped it in the microwave for thirty seconds because it had gone a bit cool.
 It was fine.  Nothing outstanding but perfectly acceptable and very filling.

The oriental chicken pad Thai didn't look great and I had my doubts as the last pad Thai I had wasn't very nice.  However, it was a lot nicer than it looked and the chicken was flavoursome and tender.  A filling lunch.

Dinner was chicken fajita with a nice, crunchy salad (allowed on this plan).
It was really nice and spicy, the rice wasn't hard (something you can get in ready meals and which I very mush dislike) and there was loads of chicken.
(The salad was pretty good too, though I say it myself!)
Another fill-me-upper.

And here are the infamous snacks.
The protein bar was very solid, like nougat in texture but less chewy, and I decided to have just half of the bar and save the rest for today.  It was lovely and sweet.
The chicken on a stick was a bit disappointing as I had read such good reviews of it.  It was fine, very tender but I wouldn't call it spicy in any way, shape or form.
The beetroot chips were delicious - I love vegetable chips anyway.

Today's meal choices are . . .

B:  sausage , bean and potato pot which I remembered to get out of the freezer yesterday evening

L:  chicken chow mein with noodles (ditto re the freezer)

D:  meaty pizza with salad

Snacks:  the other half of the protein bar, bbq zippers and salt and vinegar bakes

Monday, 20-07-20: DTU day one

Morning (and the name change is just temporary)

Today's the first full day so I'm calling it day one, even though I actually started yesterday afternoon.
I've discovered a few more bits of info after reading the booklet.

I can have extra fruit and veg - two portions of each per day.  Tomatoes count as fruit - fair enough, that's what they are.
I can have yogurt - up to 200g of natural yogurt per week so I will keep that for cooling the spicy stuff, if necessary.
I can add pasta/rice in measured amounts but that seems to be defeating the purpose of 'low cab' so when I feel it is needed I will add protein noodles which fits the ethos so much better.

I've also discovered the the introductory exercise thingy is a killer!

First of all, though, yesterday's photos.

 Breakfast was slightly bigger than planned as I realised I also had peeled allotment new potatoes in water.    I cooked them, sliced them, sprayed them in oil and popped them into a medium hot oven for about half an hour, adding the uncovered salmon marinated in the teriyaki sauce for the last fifteen minutes.

It may look more like a lunch or dinner than a breakfast but wow, it was delicious.

I didn't really want any lunch.  Breakfast, plus the effects of a large meal yesterday evening meant that I wasn't hungry but there was the ham to use up and you can't have ham without some tomatoes.
It was nice.

Hmmm - I'm not sure presenting the photos like this works.
Anyway, this was dinner - chinese chicken curry and rice.
The first photo is the kit.  See how huge the onion is?  I replaced it with half a small to medium sized red onion that I had in the fridge.  And the rice - a whole pouch of Tilda basmati rice for one?  No way!  I had a third and the rest is now in two portions, quick chilled and in the freezer.
I added some green beans which I cooked first (because they take ages to cook and I don't like them hard).
While it was wok-ing it smelled gorgeous and the finished meal was, I think, very, very good.  Satisfying and full of flavour.  Lovely!
Definitely one point to DTU.

That's better - so two photos, not three.
Anyway - the controversial snacks.  They're not very large portions which is good and the two I had yesterday were very tasty.  The mountain chips were crunchy and with a bit of a spicy bite to them and the lemon olives were . . .  well, lemony.  I love lemon and I love olives.  Win-win.

Today's meals:

B:  porridge with added raspberries or blueberries

L:  oriental chicken pad Thai

D:  chicken fajita pot (and a little salad on the side, I think)

Snacks:  protein bar, air dried beetroot chips and a spicy chicken on a stick.

Body Magic:  It's supposed to be a rest day but seeing as I didn't complete yesterday's, I'll do something.  It might be something from Lindsey.  I'm off to the allotment this afternoon as well

I've decided eating times will be more or less like this.  Breakfast at ten, snack at twelve, lunch at two, snack at four, dinner between six and seven and the final snack at about seven thirty.  That should work for me.

Do The Unthinkable - start up afternoon!

Morning!

Well it has arrived, on the doorstep exactly when they said it would.
Very well packed, loads of 'ice block' things with the chilled and frozen stuff packed away from the other stuff.

It may be easy on the culinary side but you have to put in some work, all the same.  I had printed off my order and ticked it all off (all complete), adding dates where appropriate.  The four frozen items went straight into the freezer and the rest is either in a box or chilling in the fridge.
I now have to read through the instructions and then plan when to use up the few meal kits that won't last out until Thursday.

 The stuff that came with the food

In the plastic and therefore disinfectable file are loads of recipe cards, all laminated, for future use.  Impressive.











First impressions are very favourable.


This is what I have for five days:
Breakfasts:
sausage, bean and potato pot
oaty quinoa porridge pot with cranberries and chia
golden syrup flavoured oaty quinoa porridge pot
milk chocolate crunch bar
protein bar

Morning snacks:
chocolate caramel protein bar
lemon drizzle cake protein balls
sweet chilli mountain chips
fruit, nut and seed
soft baked brownie with white chocolate chunks

Lunches:
bbq pulled pork and potato pot
chicken chow mein noodles
oriental chicken pad thai
nduja pork pasta meal kit
teriyaki salmon stir fry recipe kit

Afternoon snacks
air dried beetroot and apple cider vinegar crisps
spicy marinated chicken on a stick
Chinese marinated chicken on a stick
salt and balsamic vinegar bakes
smoky bbq zippers

Dinners:
ultimate fish and chips recipe kit
high protein mighty meaty pizza
chicken fajita rice pot
Chinese chicken curry recipe kit
shredded lemon chicken pasta meal kit

Evening snacks:
sweet chilli mountain chips
mountain chips
lemon and thyme halkidiki olives
chilli and rosemary halkidiki olives
salt and balsamic vinegar bakes


First thoughts:
It looks pretty varied, which I was aiming for in order to give it a good try out, and, although some of the morning snacks are sweet, all the others are more savoury based which suits me better.  I have to say, though, that my first feelings are that I would much rather not have the snacks and substitute some fresh fruit at those times but, on the other hand, the snacks do look rather good.

I'm glad I have so many meal/recipe kits.  I enjoy cooking and would miss it if I stopped entirely.  Bunging things in the microwave or oven to heat up really doesn't count, does it?  So really it is down to the quality of the meals and opinions seem to be varied on that.

Assuming I have the snacks, and I really must as a) I have paid for them and b) it won't be giving DTU a fair try out if I don't, I might play lucky dip with them sometimes.  You know - all in a bag and take pot luck.

I will be eating more calories than I have been doing recently but, (it says), the content is very high protein and low carb which (it says) makes a difference.  There will be the exercising as well, of course.
We will see, won't we?

I weighed yesterday morning and made a note of it in my diary.  It has five days to work some magic, starting with the first snack at four 0'clock.