I had my doubts, I really did.
I know the adverts are there to try to convince you to sign up to this long term goal of losing weight – I do live in a very obese population.
My partner, Jeanette, wanted to try this one and, after some deliberation and an escape clause or three, I agreed to test the food.
Now, I’m not a small man, I have a large appetite to go with my size and all. These meals could not possibly fill me, even if they did surprise me and taste better than I was expecting – I’d have to supplement my food intake too.
We ordered the meals online – Lite n Easy, you really need to work on a more user friendly system for ordering. OK, the meals arrived as promised, and very nicely presented too. But the taste test was going to be the big decider here. I’d ordered enough for both of us to have one meal (dinner) a day for seven days.
The dreaded date was 20091001 (that’s First October 2009) I thought “Here goes nothing…”
SURPRISE!!!
(Yes, there are three exclamation marks in that word – don’t talk to me about over emphasis).
The meals were not just good, they were great. The quality and flavour were fantastic. I was even satisfied without having to get something else out of the fridge.
I decided to keep a database on what we ordered and what we thought of each meal, grading them from 0, meaning “disgusting”, through 5, meaning “indifferent”, to 9 being “excellent” (I have a 10 rating but nothing is ever “perfect”). Over the next few weeks (yes, we continued to order the meals but in 28 meal (14 days each) lots as it is cheaper) we rated every dinner we ate. We would buy any of those that rated at 6 “ordinary” or higher.
Let me state that “ordinary” is what I would class an average family no frills meal. It is nice and filling but might need a little spicing up with condiments etc. Every rating above that is worth buying again.
Quite surprisingly only one meal rated a 3 (“not again”), two rated at 4 (“bland”), and two more at 5. The next six were “ordinary” at 6, but the majority, and we are talking well over forty meals here, rated 7 (“good”) or higher – six were in the 9 category!
We did lapse a little, when money grew tight, and we thought we could do the same thing with those frozen meals bought from the supermarket freezers – what a let down that was. First, unlike Lite ‘n’ Easy, the meals are not a uniform weight, so you may have to buy two to get the right amount. Second, the quality is abysmal and they had no flavour at all – they mostly rated below 4 on my database scale. We couldn’t wait to get back to Lite ‘n’ Easy meals.
So, yes, the food is worth buying.
Another desired, but wholly unlooked for effect was the loss of weight. Both Jeanette and I are avid walkers, thinking a three to six kilometre walk as a mere stroll. Admittedly, after my motor scooter accident I’ve had to slow down a lot, and Jeanette does more walking than I, due to my shift work times, but we both lost weight.
I used to weigh 110kg (about17 Stone), but now weigh around 96kg (15 stone). I’ve had to get rid of my baggy jeans, buy new clothes and belts, and I feel much better. My weight is still reducing.
And Jeanette! Wow, her weight loss is incredible, she has to buy a new wardrobe – and she’s worth it.
So my judgement on Lite ‘n’ Easy meals is in – do yourself a favour and give it a go; you’ve got nothing to lose but your weight!
