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Saints & Slimmers Review – diet meal delivery

Tuesday 20 August 2013

Saints & Slimmers aim to help you to lose weight by supplying you with ready-prepared calorie-controlled meals (and meal replacements like bars and shakes). After a few months of only very loosely following the Weight Watchers plan after a big weight loss I was looking forward to trying out a more structured diet plan for a few days. I was provided with three days worth of food to trial which followed three different plans. 

I have never tried any plans like this before and I always aim to prepare my food myself although I occasionally have a ready meal if I'm in a hurry so I was a little worried about not being able to chose what I ate or if it would suit me. 


Saints & Slimmers Nutritionist Charlotte Mullins says “We recognise that one diet plan does not fit all so we have designed several different plans. We all gain weight differently and we are all different in our approach to weight loss, so it stands to reason that not every diet plan should be the same.
“We offer sensible diets that provide healthy meals and tasty meal replacement products that are scientifically proven to help people lose weight. Key products contain active ingredients such as green tea extract and L-Carnitine and are enhanced with protein and fibre meaning followers stay satisfied and fuller for longer so no excessive food cravings which often see us heading for the biscuit tin.” 

So what did all of this mean for me and how did I get on with the plan? 

Day 1.  The VLCD   600 kcals a day (average 4lbs weight loss in a week)

Breakfast : Meal replacement product - 100% natural shake
Lunch : Meal replacement product - Chocolate Milkshake 
Evening : Meal replacement product - Soup


I was a little worried about day one because if i didn't like any of the products I wouldn't be able to replace them and I find it difficult to drink milkshakes if I don't like the flavour (banana, gross) but I didn't need to worry. I liked the shake I had in the morning which I added fresh milk to and the soup and other shake were both very palatable. I loved having extra time in the morning because I didn't need to make breakfast or prepare a packed lunch. I made sure I drank plenty of water and didn't feel hungry on day one at all.


Day 2.  The VLCD 800 kcals a day (average 3lbs weight loss in a week)

Breakfast : Muffin
Mid morning : Summer Berries Cereal snack bar 
Lunch : Meal replacement product - Sinless Meal bar Chocolate 
Evening : Meal Replacement Product - Strawberry heavenly Milkshake



I found day two a bit of a struggle. All the foods are high protein and fibre and very filling but I have an hour lunch break and found it a little odd to just eat a bar. The milk chocolate bar was so very filling but I found it a little hard to eat as the texture was unusual. I really wanted a huge milky coffee in the morning with my cereal bar and it was hard to say no to a Costa. I also met with friends after work this day and had to settle for a glass of water rather than a gin and tonic which was a little heartbreaking. Again, despite the amount of food appearing to be quite small I was full all day.

Day 3.  The Complete  1200 kcals a day (average 2lbs weight loss in a week)

Breakfast : Porridge 
Mid morning : Deluxe Chocolate 

Lunch : Meal replacement soup

Evening : Low calorie ready meal 

You can also add up to 200 kcals of vegetables / fruit and dairy to The 'Complete' plan.


Day three was by far the best day on the plan. I liked all of the foods on this day and the ready meal was a welcome break from sweet bars and shakes. I was also able to add fresh food this day and had a lovely fruit salad with my soup for lunch. I really didn't feel like I was eating diet food on day three and could easily follow this plan for three/four days a week and go for lower calorie options on the other days.

Overall, it's great resource for people who struggle for time to prepare foods and who have to find the time to eat on the go. It's easy enough to snack on a meal replacement bar at lunch or drink your milkshake on the way to work. I found the lack of fresh food a little odd and difficult to get used to but if you prefer to cook your own meal in the evening like I do you can, having two meal replacement bars/shakes for your other meals. I think this would suit me much better and would allow for things like cooking for friends and making sure I can sit down with my family and eat the same things as them. 

They also have a range of tools, advice and online support available to help with your weight loss. Saints & Slimmers allow you to access their tools, information and advice, and interact with their online community without any purchase required. If you do decide to purchase food from Saints & Slimmers you can just try a few days to see if you like it before you commit to a month. I think the price of the plan is reasonable for the products you receive and levels of support you can access. 


I was surprised that I got on with the plan so well and I lost 2lbs in the three days. I would seriously consider buying the Breakfast and Lunch plan for £2.14 per day and making my own evening meal.


Have you ever tried meal replacement products? What are your thoughts on these types of diet plans?

16 comments:

  1. Honestly, my thoughts on these kind of weight plans are not good. Yes, they sometimes work because they are perfectly controlled for caloric intake. But they don't teach anyone how to really eat, and they are the most processed and chemical foods possible. It is about as far from learning to eat healthily and naturally yourself that anyone could get. Im not necessarily saying that the products themselves are UNHEALTHY, just that they are a really unnatural way of these ingredients co-existing.

    Please don't take this as an insult against you, if it worked for you that's gret. I just really don't believe they are healthy or sustainable as plans.

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    Replies
    1. I only tried the plan for three days and found the lack of fruit and veg a little strange at first.

      I love the weight watchers plan which encourages portion control, high fibre and protein diets etc but this was a great quick fix for me.

      You can also adapt this plan and cook your own evening meal and use the bars/shakes for other meals which seems far more balanced.

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    2. I was just about to say the same thing! Looking at the food for each day, it just seems mad that these kinds of packaged, processed foods could in any way be considered a healthy, nourishing diet. Personally I feel that this kind of eating plan encourages people to view food as different nutritional elements rather than as a whole - adding vitamins and protein to a chocolate muffin doesn't make it good for you! And that chicken ready meal has so much sugar and salt in it - yikes. Eating food that your great grandma would recognise as food is a handy rule of thumb.

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  2. To be honest I'm not sure this kind of thing works (well for me anyhow) I found when on a similar plan that I did lose weight, but once I went back to eating 'normally' (still healthily!) I just put a lot of the weight that I had lost back on. I think its great for a quick fix: before a wedding or summer holiday maybe, but long term I don't think it is a sustainable way to lose weight and keep it off.

    ...although the time saved prepping meals is rather appealing I must admit!

    Jen xx

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  3. Day two looks like a complete sugar-fest!

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    Replies
    1. Yeah, the lack of fruit was killing me. I always have fruit for breakfast and it felt odd just opening packets and not prepping anythinng.

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  4. I detest these kinds of things, I really really do. In those three days you could have eaten the same calories in veg and lost weight without a company profiting from people who are desperate to lose weight fast.

    The reason people lose weight on these things, and you can bet most people who have a lot of weight to lose won't do it just for 3 days, is that the extreme calorie restriction gets their body to drop lean tissue as fast as it can to survive. Once they eat normally again, because they've lost the tissue that drives their metabolism they put the weight back on and more because their metabolism is firing at a lesser rate than when they started the stupid diet. Then they decide to do it again, and do more damage.

    I've never had a weight problem, a dear friend of mine has, I get the need to do it, I see why people starve themselves on these ridiculous VLCD but honestly they are a money making scheme no better than any other diet company or snake oil.

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  5. I've done Exante which is the same as this diet and I think there's definitely a place for it. For someone who is anything less than obese I don't believe products like this should be available, they just need to learn to cut down and move more if they want to lose weight. However someone who's gone beyond that and their eating has become and addiction, something like this can help.

    This saints and slimmers doesn't look like it teaches calorie control because they're literally handing it all out on a plate. Like I said level 1 is good for someone with a food addiction however level 2 should make you calorie count your own snack and level 3 should make you calorie count your own evening meal and so on through the programs until you're on a maintenance plan of calorie counting everything (the same as many other meal replacement programs)

    Just my 2 cents, take care x

    ReplyDelete
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