The New You Plan Day Four : Mixing Things Up

It's day four and so far I've stuck to plan 100%. I have been tempted, but I know how successful this diet is for people who don't cheat on it, so I've been able to stick to my four products a day with the image of fitting into my too-tight-for-now M&S jeans in my mind. 

My hazelnut shake, frozen into lollies last night, didn't go entirely to plan. They stuck in the mould and the handle came free. So I put both of them into a bowl and ate it like an icecream. Now you know I'm being brutally honest on this plan, so I have to tell you it doesn't compare in the slightest to a big bowl of Ben & Jerry's, but it isn't bad either. I'm definitely going to either freeze, or make mousse from my remaining shakes, because when I'm eating this little a day, I don't want to waste any calories on drinks. 

The New You Plan is a total meal replacement diet, and where some delivered diets let you add your own fruit and veg, this diet does not. You must stick entirely to the four products a day (plus a very occasional snack, also from the plan) and not add anything except the odd spice. This has its pros and cons.

The pros are the weekly price you pay is absolutely all you'll personally spend on food that week. You don't receive your parcel then have to shop for another £30 of ingredients to add. Another pro is you know exactly if you're doing things right or not, as you aren't wondering have you eaten too much fruit and taken in too much sugar. If you stick on plan then you can't get it wrong in other words.

The cons are that you can't snack on even a carrot or celery if you have a hunger pang. You can opt for the broth water flavouring, but apart from that you've to stick to just the four items a day. Another con is if you are eating out with family or friends, you are either going to have to break the diet, or bring along a meal replacement bar & face the awkwardness of that! 

Another potential con, long term, is that you'll find yourself eating the same meals over and over. Successful slimmer Dawn has come to the rescue though.  Over on the New You Plan blog she has shared her New You Plan 'hacks' as it were. Using just the shakes, meals or soups, she's combined and tweaked products to make tempting treats like cupcakes (from the porridge & a chocolate shake with the snack mousse as topping) and savoury inventions like cottage pie sticks and even crisps made from the soup mix! Can't wait to try that.

The Secret Slimmers Facebook group also share recipes, and I'm left smiling at how even on such a strict diet women have been able to be creative with the products and make a whole new range of meals and snacks. I'm definitely going to try some of Dawn's recipes before the plan is over.

I have to confess though readers, I emailed Grant, my contact at The New You and answerer of my endless questions, and asked him are any of the products on the Yo Sushi menu fit in with the diet and keep within the ketosis plan. I know, I know, I'm only four days in, and I sort of knew the answer before I whizzed off the email, but with it being Bank Holiday Monday and Michael being off school, AND it being Yo Blue Monday, I was weak! Any off plan eating is going to effect the success level I have at the end of week one, so before he even answered I had talked myself out of sushi anyway. Once I finish my diet there will be many more Mondays for sushi, and because it's so low fat & calorie it'll be a great option for maintaining.

So no Yo Sushi for us this week, sorry Michael. He had a treat in going to W5 today anyway, and when he had a snack in their cafe, I was able to have one of my New You bars. The diet was saved from a moment of madness!

Michael is back at school full time tomorrow, and I'll be left to my own devices. Eating lunch alone will make things a bit easier as I won't have to cook and smell his food and be tempted that way. Almost half way through week one!