Trim your tum for Christmas with LighterLife Fast

The festive season has started with numerous parties, and some of us would love to shift a few pounds to trim our tum for that new party dress. My personal favourites for boosting metabolism - which helps with a diet - are a couple of tablespoons of apple cider vinegar in a glass of water and adding sauerkraut to your diet.
Earlier this year I have tested a range of LighterLife Fast range of foods, and I do remember at that time I said I wish the range was more varied. So, I was pleased to find out that the range has indeed been expanded to include new foods and drinks.
If you haven't heard of LighterLife Fast, this is a range of diet products sold at Superdrug, which helps to keep track of just how many calories exactly you consume on fast days. Instead of weighing and calculating the calories in each meal, you have products which deliver nutrition for fast days, and especially the 5:2 diet. It is convenient, as you have all the meals in packets, so no fuss and hassle. The packs are easy to use.
I am the only one in the house who is ever going on a diet, and my guys are all fussy eaters. Sometimes I feel like I own a restaurant as I prepare several different meals to please my men. Cooking a 4th meal for myself is not a very exciting idea, that's why on fast days I am content with a pre-cooked meal from a packet. I have tried quite a few different brands and ranges, not just LighterLife Fast. One day I will do a post about all my experiments, I keep promising myself I'd do it, and have enough photos and note book entries to write it up, if only I had more time.

I have tried two new products from the range: LighterLife Fast Pink Grapefruit drink mix and LighterLife Fast Curry pack.

LighterLife Fast Pink Grapefruit drink mix comes in a box of 10 sachets, and is easily mixed with water to produce 1 litre of drink. I actually mix it in 500ml of water first in a bottle, then dilute it more with water in a glass (50/50).
It tastes really lovely, very refreshing and citrussy. Both my husband and I enjoyed it.
Pros: it is sugar free and fat free, and you can use it as a calorie-free extra on your fast days in addition to the Fastpacks (if you use them), or as a calorie-free drink with your usual meals.
Cons:
The mix doesn't dissolve entirely if you top it up with cold water straight. What you can do to avoid it getting clumpy at the bottom is to add a small amount of hot water first, once the mix is dissolved, top up with cold water.

LighterLife Fast Curry pack is another new addition to the range. There are four sachets in the box, which you mix with the hot water and cook in the microwave or on the hob.
Typically I have a curry with rice, but as the purpose of eating this meal is to fast, I couldn't have rice as a side dish. The flavours are all there, but to be honest, I did miss rice. Actually it would be misleading to say there is no rice, it is there, but at 9% you hardly notice it.
Texture-wise, it is quite creamy and more like a thick paste. It is spicy but not too hot.
LighterLife Fast suggests sprinkling fresh coriander on top of the curry, and I think that is a good idea. Or add a few cucumber slices or sticks (cucumber is only 15 calories per 100g).

There are 17 products in the range, and hopefully there will be more. As someone who is not keen on diet shakes, I would like to see more variety of meals like several kinds of soups, cereals and vegetable dishes.

If you missed reading my original posts, you might want to see them
Get a new figure with LighterLife Fast
and
Joining the 5:2 revolution with LighterLife Fast.

Disclosure: I received two new products from the range for the purposes of testing and reviewing. All opinions are mine. I am not paid to endorse anything.

5:2 fasting with LighterLife (pros and cons)

After reading a few inspiring diet success stories from my fellow bloggers, I took a decision to join in 5:2 diet club. I don't think I will ever be a poster girl for any diet, as I don't have a dramatic result to display. To start with, I am not that big, and when I mentioned to a few people that I was going on a diet, they told me I didn't need to. I somehow disagreed. Since I stopped breastfeeding my younger son, I have started gaining weight and find it difficult to shift it. It might be not a huge amount, but this was the heaviest I have ever been (excluding my two pregnancies). I didn't find it hard to lose weight after the birth of both boys, it came naturally with the sleepless nights and breastfeeding on demand. But as the boys grow up, I have been piling on pounds, thanks to my love of chocolate and also eating the leftovers from my kids. It is a case of no-wasted-food mentality, of course, as I am not hungry, it's just I hate throwing the food. But I had to stop being a "bin".
When LighterLife queried if I would be up to testing their new range available in Superdrug and doing a 5:2 Fast plan for a month, I saw it as a sign from heaven that I should at least try a month of this new diet that so many people were talking about.
Intermittent fasting (i.e. cutting down the calories for two days a week) is a hot topic these days, and I wanted to share my own personal experience, albeit not very long.
I have already written a couple of posts on LighterLife Fast packs (for example, see what I tested on the very first day of my fasting in the post Joining the 5:2 revolution).

What do I think now, after a couple of months of fasting on the 5:2 diet as well as LighterLife Fast packs? (Just to clarify I had a month's supply of packs, which I used for longer than a month, as I mixed and matched them with the other diet products)

What are the pros and the cons?

Pros: .
1. Ease and convenience, all the packets come with the nutritional information and calorie count, you do not have to calculate everything you are eating and consult the list of products and calories.
2. There are no artificial colourings.
3. The ingredients are from non-GM sources.


Cons:
1. I missed the fresh fruit and vegetables. For three fasting days I ate only the products from LighterLife Fast packs, then decided to swap one of the meals for a piece of fresh fruit or salad. I later reduced the amount of packed products to one or two per fasting day, substituting the others with a variety of different snacks or fresh fruit & veg. That worked the best for me.

2. I wish the selection of meals was more varied. For example, I don't like the diet shakes. Of any brand. I have tried in the past to drink the diet shakes produced by different brands, and found them all not to my taste. It might be also psychological, but I don't feel like I had a meal, if I only drink a shake, so that's a No for me.

So my kind suggestion to LighterLife Fast brand would be to expand the range of meals, perhaps introduce more soups; cut down the salt; I would also prefer a shorter list of added vitamins, as it reads a bit like a Mendeleev's Periodic Table.

You may ask if I had any result, and the answer is:

I lost 1.5kg in January, following 5:2 diet. It might be not a drastic change of weight, but it made me feel in control. I keep fasting twice a week, and if you want to know more, watch this space for more diet foods and recipe suggestions.

Additional information:

"About LighterLife Fast 

LighterLife Fast is a plan for people who either wish to lose a little weight, or who want to manage their current weight more effectively. People eat normally five days a week and for two ‘fast’ days a week have LighterLife FastpacksTM. Having four LighterLife FastpacksTM on each ‘fast’ day guarantees 100% of the recommended daily allowances and full nutrition for only around 600 calories, which would be virtually impossible to have if eating conventional food restricted to this calorie allowance. 

LighterLife FastpacksTM are specially formulated nutritional food options that contain all the protein, fibre, vitamins and minerals required without the extra calories. They are available in a range of convenient and easy-to-use meals, including pasta carbonara, vegetable soup, porridge, banana shake and nut fudge bars as examples of the product range, from as little as £7.99 per box of four FastpacksTM (or per fast day). "


Disclosure: I received a month's supply of products for testing and reviewing. All opinions are mine.

Ryvita crackerbread

Are you stuck for ideas for healthy snacks that don't taste like made of cardboard? Following my 5:2 diet, I had my feel of boring rice cakes which taste of nothing much, and only serve to fill you in, but they are so dull-dull-dull. But of course, low-cal snacks don't have to be boring or flavourless. My latest addition to the list of products I can use on fasting days is Ryvita Crackerbread. This range from the well known and much loved Ryvita has two new delicious flavours: Pepper and Cheese. They taste lovely and what's even better, each crackerbread is only 19kcal, how fab is that?!

Ryvita crackerbread with babaganoush and roasted sweet pepper

Pepper Crackerbread from Ryvita is light and crispy, and is a perfect base for all kinds of healthy (or not so healthy, if you don't count the calories) toppings. These crispy snacks surely melt in your mouth.
Loved them, my kids loved them, especially the little man.

These crackerbreads are low in fat and have no nasties in them like artificial colours or preservatives. When you are feeling peckish, add a topping of your choice and enjoy: from virtuous low fat cottage cheese with coriander to more naughty guacamole or babaganoush.

Ryvita crackerbread with low fat cottage cheese and coriander

Cheese Crackerbread is the second new variety, with the same low count of calories.
Make your own guacamole:
Mash the ripe avocado with a dash of Tabasco or some chilli flakes. half a teaspoon of garlic puree, a teaspoon of freshly squeezed lemon juice, and top up with sliced cherry toms. For being a fruit, avocados are pretty high in calories (160kcal per 100g), it is a healthy food, which helps to lower cholesterol due to most of its fat being mono-saturated.

Ryvita with guacamole

For today's lunch, I had a couple of Ryvita crackerbreads with the chicken leftovers and some roasted garlic on low-fat hummus.

Babaganoush is another delicious dip which is easy to prepare. For the authentic smoky flavour, you need to blacken the skin of the aubergine over the hot flame or on the grill. Then wrap the aubergine in foil and cook at 180C for about 40 minutes or more, until soft. Once not too hot to handle, remove the skin and mash the flesh with a fork. Add 1tbsp of tahini, 2tbsp of olive oil, lemon juice, salt and pepper, and crushed garlic clove or two. To be honest, I could eat the whole lot, it is so tasty. But not on my fasting days. Add some grilled sweet pepper and radishes, and enjoy.

Ryvita with babaganoush.

For more recipes and ideas visit Ryvita Recipes page.

Disclosure: I received two packs of Ryvita for the purposes of testing and reviewing. All opinions are mine.

Joining the 5:2 revolution with LighterLife Fast

07/01/14 Today is the day, I am starting my new challenge with LighterLife Fast packs (see my yesterday's post for more information on the diet).
They are easy to prepare, portable and you don't need to count calories. All that has been taken care of. You choose your selection of four packs a day.

Getting my guys ready for school, I only had a chance to have a quick cup of tea (Earl Grey with lemon). By the time they left, I was feeling peckish. I typically have a couple of slices of toast or bread with cheese or ham for breakfast, occasionally a bowl of cereals or porridge.

For breakfast I opted for a bowl of Original porridge. As I don't have a microwave, I cooked my porridge in a small pan. First impressions: the porridge looks finely milled, almost like the baby porridge. Once cooked, it was very smooth in consistency, and quite creamy. I would have liked a bit more texture and bite. Original porridge is made of oats, skimmed milk powder, soya protein, wholemeal flour and quite a long list of vitamins.
It contains no artificial colourings and is suitable for vegetarians. Ingredients are from non-GM sources.
It was mildly sweet.

I have skipped my usual cup of coffee at eleven-ish, and had a glass of water instead. By 12.30pm I was already thinking what I should have for lunch, I had a choice of two types of pasta, a vegetable soup or a milkshake.
Actually I have just been reading more about Fast on LighterLife Fast site, and they say: "You can have tea and coffee, either black or with a splash of milk. In fact, coffee may be beneficial during a fast – one study found it could help reduce appetite. Tablet sweeteners and calorie-free drinks are also fine."
So I could have had a coffee after all. Next day I fast, I won't deny myself a little cup of coffee with skimmed milk.


Pasta Carbonara looked appetizing on the photo of the pack. The small sachet contains pre-cooked pasta with vegetable proteins, oils and flavourings as well as buttermilk powder and again a selection of vitamins. The portion size was quite small, as I would expect from a diet food. Each serving of pasta comes at 153 kcal. I think I would have liked more pasta and less sauce, which was quite creamy but too salty to my taste. As it is a diet product, it would be unfair to compare it to the authentic pasta carbonara which is calorie-laden (made with pancetta or bacon, cheese and eggs) and tastes completely different.
As it comes in a sachet, it might be a reasonable diet lunch option for someone who works (as long as they have access to the microwave). It is very easy to make.

I still felt a bit hungry and wolfed down a Toffee flavour bar. Just looking at the list of ingredients: milk chocolate, whole milk powder, soya protein, milk protein, butterscotch pieces, rice crisps etc and again lots of vitamins.
I could definitely taste the wheat malt. I am in two minds about this bar, it is not bad at all, but there is a salty lingering aftertaste. I felt quite full after eating it.

By dinnertime, as my younger son likes to repeat "now my tummy's beginning to rumble, and my favourite food is Gruffalo crumble". But instead of the Gruffalo crumble I had a bowl of Vegetable soup (onion, green asparagus, carrots, green onions, parsley). It would have been my favourite meal of the day if it were less salty. As for the consistency and texture, it is just like any other powdered soup with rehydrated vegetables.
In fact, I am not sure if it is my personal tastebuds that don't appreciate the salty taste, and if someone who tried these meals, didn't find them as salty. Would love to compare notes.

All in all, I am pleased with myself that I didn't sin and have any biccies, chocolate or nuts today.
On top of the four packs of LighterLIfe Fast, I had two cups of black tea with Hermesetas sweetener, one cup of Golden Rod & Knotgrass herb tea blend from A.Vogel,  one cup of Lemon tea, and will most likely end the day with a cup of peppermint tea.
I also missed having any fresh fruit or vegetables. I think I would need to look into the calorie count for apples and carrots, and perhaps swap a bar for a piece of fresh fruit.
I will definitely continue testing the range, and will be trying new Lighterlife Fast packs later this week. It was convenient to have all the packs at my disposal.

Additional information:

"About LighterLife Fast 

LighterLife Fast is a plan for people who either wish to lose a little weight, or who want to manage their current weight more effectively. People eat normally five days a week and for two ‘fast’ days a week have LighterLife FastpacksTM. Having four LighterLife FastpacksTM on each ‘fast’ day guarantees 100% of the recommended daily allowances and full nutrition for only around 600 calories, which would be virtually impossible to have if eating conventional food restricted to this calorie allowance. 

LighterLife FastpacksTM are specially formulated nutritional food options that contain all the protein, fibre, vitamins and minerals required without the extra calories. They are available in a range of convenient and easy-to-use meals, including pasta carbonara, vegetable soup, porridge, banana shake and nut fudge bars as examples of the product range, from as little as £7.99 per box of four FastpacksTM (or per fast day). "


Disclosure: I received a month's supply of products for testing and reviewing. All opinions are mine.
Please keep in mind that all offensive comments will be deleted. I am not paid to review these products or try the diet.

Get a new figure with LighterLife Fast

They say nobody diets for seven days a week any more. 5:2 Diet is so popular that books and blogs on the topic appear with an increasing regularity. Today is the day when many people start dieting, and many health food brands are behind campaigns that encourage you to eat healthy meals. Losing weight or eating healthy is one of the most popular new year's resolutions.

Many of us have enjoyed an indulgent festive season. It's not the Christmas meal alone, but endless drink and mince parties at work or with the neighbours and friends, when you think it's OK not to count calories and just enjoy oneself (a concept I subscribe myself to). I knew when January came, I would need to re-think my eating plans, and do a proper detox.
When asked if I might be interested in testing and reviewing new products for 5:2 Diet, I gladly accepted the challenge. I have wanted to try this diet for quite a while, seeing some scrummy recipes on the blogs.
In the past, when I was in my 20s, I regularly had a fast day, when I had no food at all, and it was actually very liberating and made me feel in control of my body. Twenty plus years later, I would love to have some fast days. It's not the matter of finding it hard to eat less, but knowing the amount of calories you consume.
If you are unsure about the calorie intake, and would like some help, there is a new range of diet products coming to the British hight street - LighterLife FAST 5:2 products launching at Superdrug
to take the hassle out of intermittent fasting.

"LighterLife Fast has signed an exclusive deal with Superdrug to launch the very first 5:2 product on the British high street that delivers 100% nutrition on fast days minus the calories – and complementary media trials are on offer now for those who wish to sample the products first hand.
On sale from 26th December, the revolutionary new LighterLife Fast plan is designed to
make 5:2 intermittent fasting easy and nutritious and with no cooking, no food shopping, no calorie counting, it’s a no fuss approach to 5:2.

Intermittent fasting generally involves cutting calorie intake to around a quarter of what you would usually eat, for just two days a week. On the remaining days, you eat as you would normally. It’s perfect for either shifting a few excess pounds or for simply keeping your weight in check.

By eating four LighterLife FastpacksTM on each of their fasting days, 5:2 followers will be consuming 600 calories on fast days while getting 100% of their recommended daily allowances (RDAs) of key minerals and vitamins, together with plenty of protein and fibre.

Dr Kelly Johnston, LighterLife Fast’s scientist, comments: “In addition to weight control, there is mounting evidence that intermittent fasting brings with it a range of other health benefits and this is currently a hot research topic. However, on fasting days it can be tricky to get your daily dose of the key nutrients your body needs when reducing your calorie intake in food.

“The new LighterLife FastpacksTM offer a very easy solution – as with the exception of energy, they are nutritionally complete, providing a full quota of your daily vitamins and minerals.”

Available exclusively at Superdrug stores across the UK and Ireland, the new range start at £7.99 for a box of four FastpacksTM – which is enough for one day of fasting. The FastpackTM options include: 

Savoury meals such as spaghetti bolognese and pasta carbonara 

Porridge – the breakfast favourite! 

Four delicious shakes – vanilla, strawberry, banana and chocolate 

Four scrumptious bars in nut fudge, crispy peanut, cranberry & raspberry and toffee flavours ".

This week I am starting my new diet, and will be reviewing the products as I go along and will let you know what I think of the products, whether I still feel hungry or not, and of course whether my weight would go down as expected.

I am dreading checking my current weight, as going to after-Christmas sales and buying all those reduced boxes of chocolate and biscuits didn't help.

What about you? Will you be joining me and going on a diet this week? Would you like to compare notes?

Have you seen new LighterLife Fast packs in Superdrug? Each bigger pack has a special code printed inside, which you can enter online at Lighterlifefast to win a lovely prize. The competition will run for 52 weeks, and each week will disclose a new prize to win, how's that for an incentive?


Disclosure: I received a selection of LighterLife Fast packs for the purposes and reviewing. All opinions are mine.