Boxed Detox

AND so it begins. Waking up on day one was like waking up on Christmas morning. Rushing down the stairs with all the elegance of a baby rhinosceros, pillow creases still on my face and eyes all full of sleep, I actually couldn't wait to open my present, hmm hmm, serious journalistic food review box.

Years of excessive alcohol, coffee and sugar consumption have left my body a little worse for wear, but in a month's time (and four detox diet programmes) I'm expecting no less than a temple.

Yoghurt pot

The diet: spill the beans
Soulmate Food is an individually tailored diet plan, designed according to each different clients needs by Soulmate's head chef and a Harley Street nutritionalist. Its addictive-free, organic and award-winning programme is perfect for the extremely allergic (or extremely fussy) client, as it works with your personal goals to create a calorie-controlled diet that ensures you eat the correct foods (excluding any intolerances and dislikes) in the correct portion size for your body type. All are nutritionally balanced and fad-free to help clients change their eating habits for life, rather than just for a week.

The menu: gourmet or gloop-ay?
Soulmate food is delicious and extremely fresh; it is prepared the evening before delivery, so nothing is ever frozen and is completely colouring and preservative free.

Here is an example of a day's menu:

Breakfast – free from Soulmate muesli
AM snack – vegetarian strawberry mousse
Lunch – Texas ginger squash with southwest salad
PM snack – vanilla spiced nuts with antioxidant boost
Dinner – deep south jerk vegetables with chilli baby corn cobs

Packaging

The packaging: mum's been to Whole Foods or shameful Sainsbury's Basics?
Two days worth of food delivered every two days for one week in temperature-controlled vans. They have removed all non-recyclable packaging from the range so it is totally biodegradable. Even the bags are reusable!

The difficulty factor: Cheat-free breeze or desparation pizza on speedial?
Breeze! Well almost. Although a single miso soup for lunch may as well have been half a raisin for all the good it did my hunger pangs. And on day one, when I went to pick up my box from the front garden, a few little snails were casually sunbathing on top and I almost considered adding them to the snacks...

The price: Stinking rich stilton or budget brie?
Prices start from £25 a day, which isn't bad when you consider the variety and quality of the ingredients.

Contact: Get your own!
www.soulmatefood.com or call 0870 8033833

Click here to continue to part two