So Bec & I have become that annoying couple next door, certainly me who can be seen coming home often in tight sweaty gym kit, water bottle in one hand Apple in the other, generally making you feel bad about your lifestyle choices. Believe me, I’m fckn surprised too!

You know, I’m ‘that’ guy who judges what you eat at lunch in the canteen, will bore you about diet & marathon talk, show off my latest running shoes & don’t get me started on the dangers of drinking to excess….

Picture on the left – because we all want to be just like this guy right?

So, a caveat here before I start – Just because I’ve lost a bit of weight doesn’t make me the font of knowledge when it comes to health & diet, and I know that. The above and all my posts/comments are somewhat tongue in cheek and besides, who doesn’t love a pizza slathered in cheese and 10 beers on a Friday night? I am however interested in lifestyle change & as a lot of people ask for my opinion and how I’ve done it, we opted to review some diet plan meals over the last few months.

I’ve wrote a couple of articles on clean eating & what it means to me, and a bit of a review of my training plan here on my blog. Check them out if you have the time.

You’ll have seen these companies, there’s a consumer affair review on a bunch of them here

Bec received her free bulk of meals to test recently from @everdineuk then. You know the company, all glossy & promoting the fact within weeks you’ll have abs to die for, and a healthy glow to rival the sun.

Simply spend £35 a time for seven meals (yes that’s right, £35) and you too can beat obesity, high blood pressure and imminent death through a range of both healthy & nutritious meals. Your glossy white LED back lit kitchen with SMEG appliances will continue to stay clean & showroom standard, all you’ll need is a Microwave and an award winning Colgate smile!

I was highly sceptical to say the least.

Firstly we’ve tried no end of these, from Progain, Hello Fresh to Gousto, to Jane Plan and often they are super expensive, taste questionable and whilst I see their place in the market, as an avid and somewhat experienced cook and home grower of produce never saw the need for them personally. Some come fully prepared and others (like Hello Fresh or Gousto) come with picked ingredients you cook yourself. All great in principle, but often with practicality problems.

Without a doubt EverdineUK make the best tasting prepped meals I’ve had though without a doubt, and well worth the money (if you can afford it). Here’s some of the meals we had to name a few;

• Chickpea and Vegetable Tagine
• Lamb chops & Feta with Beetroot & Cous Cous
• Mediterranean Cod
• Cajun blackened salmon
• Pulled Pork

They look excellent (have you seen my Instagram feed?), look premium, come in great packaged boxes & have all the nutritional information on them. Now, I question the amount of sugar in these things, and if you’re a diabetic I’m not sure you want to be relying on these (I could be wrong, there’s a great article here on weight loss and health benefits / cons of ready prepped meals) but from a taste & practicality perspective, they are absolutely superb.

It’s clear the menu designers have thought about the ingredient composition in each box. Avoiding a sloppy lump of congealed nothingness after you’ve microwaved it for twelve minutes. Each meal comes out superbly cooked, identifiable and pleasant looking. We messed the first one up by trying to cook it in the oven & dried it out, but stick to a Microwave & they are amazing.

The Product

So overall then excellent, I can’t identify a favourite because they are all amazing (really), and I’m not equipped with the adequate vocabulary to describe how good they taste.

The Cost

I do however question the cost. Unless you fit nicely into the ‘DINKY’ socio-demographic, how one justifies this cost is beyond me!? For two people, for a month, you’re looking at minimum £280. You can’t put a price on health & convenience I guess, but this cost wouldn’t even cover the rest of your shopping. I can cook each of these meals for half the price, but the rub is you need to be able to and have all the raw ingredients in your store cupboard or larder. So I do understand the product, I just don’t think many people will be able to afford this which is my overall commentary for all these diet plan products. For pricing from Everdine UK please see the link below;

https://www.everdine.co.uk/checkout/select

The Website

The website is nice, clean and contains an interesting blog & lots of easily accessible guides to healthy clean eating, recipe ideas and just enough information about the company to make you feel comfortable in ordering. Again, fitting this product into a long term lifestyle plan I’m just not sure the numbers stack up, but if you’re busy & have the money they are excellent.

I’m yet to cancel a plan or experience any auto-billing mistakes from them, time will tell I guess but if I’m still being billed when I’m 75 in my care home, I’m coming for you Everdine, I’m coming for you!

Joking aside, their support is good, they are responsive over email and social media and I always appreciate that in a company. It is very much a lifestyle company and this oozes throughout the website, I almost am made to feel bad by not viewing it in my spandex whilst munching on Kale and drinking a sweet pea smoothie, and I’m not sure the legitimacy of the testimonials on their home page either, (sorry Everdine, only messing) but if you can’t cook/won’t cook & have the money as I say, great product.

Overall

In the words of that fabled Poet Tina Turner, they are Simply the Best. I have no other words. Sugar and cost aside, I know of no other ready-prepped meals on the market.

Disclaimer

I was not given these meals to review, my partner Becca was, however I have an opinion, and this is it. I am not linked to Everdine and nor received any compensation for this review. The meals however were given to Bec to review for free. This post is my true opinion, and I think it’s clear when we’re talking about me & my opinion, no one is going to skew it. Do you have an opinion? Had some of these meals or are on a diet & not sure what to do next? Contact me on Twitter or leave a comment below.