Looking for a way to lose weight without the hassle but can’t afford a personal chef? Sue Heath discovers a way to drop a dress size without having to cook meals from scratch.

I’D always thought that, if I won the Lottery, I’d employ a team of experts to provide meals that were low in calories, nutritionally sound and deliciously tasty.

On a budget, that might seem a long shot, but that is exactly what Diet Chef does. And the even better news is that the menus they provide are sourced in the North-East, so you’re doing your bit for the local economy as well.

Diet Chef offers breakfast, lunch, dinner and a snack, delivered to your door at weekly, fortnightly or monthly intervals, in convenient vacuum packs that stay fresh without a fridge.

That doesn’t mean the food is reconstituted though – you just pop the pouch in the microwave for two or three minutes, add your choice of veggies to your main course, and enjoy. Among the main course choices are Cumbrian Lamb Hotpot, Beef in Black Porter and a truly yummy Pork Sausage Casserole. I found myself actually looking forward to my tasty diet dinner! There’s an imaginative menu of soups for lunch, too – Goat’s Cheese and Red Pepper, Parsnip and Honey, Spicy Beef and Tomato, for example – all made from real, wholesome ingredients and tasting like home-made, only better.

I’ll never touch another dehydrated, cellulose-enhanced ‘slimming soup’ again. For warmer days there are milk shakes in various flavours, but I wanted to experience ‘real food’ and left those alone.

Breakfast seemed less than generous on the first morning, as I emptied the sachet of granola with four different flavours into my cereal bowl.

I’d previously been having a big bowl of Sugar Puffs, and even if I felt healthy and opted for Fruit and Fibre I would always fill up the bowl. Because of its GI (glycaemic index) value, though, I found that even a small amount of granola kept me going until lunchtime. If a snack is needed there’s a selection of fruit and cereal bars, and some savoury alternatives – sweet chilli flavour oaty crisps, for example.

I promised myself I would stick to just the foods supplied for a trial period of two weeks. The diet provides 1,200 calories a day, including the addition of whatever fruit and veggies you fancy (most of the main courses include a carbohydrate such as potato or kidney beans).

You can also have semi-skimmed milk in your tea and coffee as long as you don’t overdo it. I’m a food lover and I don’t like to feel deprived, but I can honestly say that I hardly knew I was dieting. There was something about the foods I was eating that put a stop to my customary ‘snack attacks’, when only some biscuits or a bar of chocolate would do. Maybe it’s the GI aspect – I confess I’m not very well up on that score – but throughout the twoweek period I didn’t have any of my usual cravings for sweet stuff.

Another downfall in previous diets has been getting home from work hungry and then having to think what I’m going to cook and whether it fits with what I’ve already eaten during the day. Too easy to bung a couple of slices in the toaster while I’m waiting! Diet Chef’s main courses take three minutes in the microwave, so that problem was blown away.

The soups and main courses provided by Diet Chef are from a company in County Durham, called Look What We Found!, who like to provide “convenience without compromise”.

It’s gourmet food for lazy people, available in your local supermarket, but because Diet Chef has the purchasing power you’re paying less than if you went out and bought it yourself. And of course, breakfast and snacks are included in the price of a week’s menus.

So, it’s real food, deliciously tasty, convenient, nutritionally sound and not outrageously expensive. It’s suitable for women, men or expectant mums. It’s easily available via Diet Chef’s website (dietchef.co.uk), where you can share experiences with others travelling the same road, which is useful, and professional advice is also available.

But I’ve been saving the best bit for last – did I actually lose any weight in my first fortnight? Yes I did. To my astonished delight I lost nine pounds and dropped a dress size, just before Christmas. Then I did another two weeks after Christmas and lost the four pounds I’d put on, plus another four.

Brilliant. I’m a believer. At this rate you could get to a target weight and then just use Diet Chef occasionally to keep within your ideal weight range. I love it!