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Issue 2015 - November

Box diet

Two of my friends mentioned a box diet(škatulková dieta). However, neither of them had any experience with it. I was kind of curious and went on to investigate what it is. I believe I've picked one site on random, read through what it is about, how much it costs, did some calculations on my own, and then decided to spearhead the experience.

I've picked http://www.jezkovykrabicky.cz/ for this test, although it's possible(I'm sure) there are other providers/operators.

What is it about and the works

Box diet is a food for a whole day divided into 5 meals. It promises, or used to promise, to deliver weight loss 3-4kg in one month. This isn't the main goal of this test, though. Menu is balanced, different for men and women, and rather unsurprisingly almost every meal has vegetables as a side dish. If you have allergies or don't eat fish, there is a space for adjustments.

You can either order delivery or pickup food by yourself at one of the pickup points. You get a thermo bag with meals. There is a cooling medium inside the bag to keep the food … cool. Meals are sealed in plastic containers. I guess this could be issue for “go green” people. You're supposed to return thermo bag and cooling medium the other day in exchange for a new delivery. No, it's not a gift or included in price! Be good! :)

There is no delivery over the weekend. However, I believe you could place two or three orders for Friday. You're supposed to eat the food within 48 hours. Personally, I'm going to keep my modest diet over the weekend.

I do recommend at least some kind of exercise if you want to shed some weight. Go for a walk at least. 30 to 90 minutes a day will do. Also, don't expect to lose weight in blink of an eye. It took you some time to gain weight, so it will take you some time to lose some as your body has to adjust. Also, losing weight rapidly isn't exactly what one would consider to be healthy.

Test subject

I hope this is going to be set of articles with some conclusion in the end. Therefore, let's set some baseline about test subject. That's me.

  • 85kg with 21.9% of body fat(estimated)
  • I do sit around all day(office job)
  • I do exercise(Freeletics) on regular basis
  • I do eat one Protein bar(60g) per day
  • I do drink coffee which affects digestion and what not
  • I have one Coffee Latte per day on average
  • Weightloss isn't an ultimate goal of this test. Quality and sufficiency of the food is.
  • I'll try to stay away from sweets and Chinese takeaway

And another set of less admirable facts:

  • I usually, or used to, go for sweets
  • I like fish, but I don't like bones(= don't eat fish very often)
  • I don't seek out vegetables on my own
  • I don't mind to eat a “mountain” of food like a Chinese takeaway
  • I don't like mushrooms and eggplant which is going to be issue with box diet

As for the goals, the number one is to checkout this service and report to others. Number two is to checkout whether I could replace my regular diet with this/such service. You might be asking why? Well, I suspect that I'm not eating enough, to be honest, and nowhere near healthy. And yes, local cuisine became somewhat heavy to digest for me. Sadly, I have only limited amount of time for this test which is a little over two weeks.

Day#1

Finally something about the food itself. Day#1 started with unknown amount of muesli, because I get up early and pickup is from 07:10AM which is too late for me. We've kicked off with bean salad with corn and I like beans very much. Bonus points right there. Beware, though, that beans can be lethal to your coworkers! Salad was followed by pieces of rabbit(I had no idea it's rabbit) with buckwheat. Again, yummy. Cucumber in the afternoon and chicken with potatoes for dinner. I had some soy milk for late supper, because there are 4 hours between dinner and sleep which is too much to go without any food.

Now, let's settle some things. First of all, microwave is sort of a must have which I don't have. Therefore, frying pan to the rescue. It sucks, but it's better than to eat cold food all day every day.

Next, is it really enough? Yes and no. It really is hard to tell, to be honest. I believe it rather is psychological thing. If you're used to mountains of food, then it's not going to be enough psychologically. Also, your stomach is probably big from all that food you've been stuffing yourself with. My advice is to cut little pieces of food and chew and chew and chew … like you're supposed to do anyway! In other words, if you commence you're usual “attack” on food, then you will definitely walk away hungry. I'm also a bit biased here, because I eat protein at some point of the day and I do exercise. Both things affect hunger(digestion) in positive and negative way.

And what about food quality? No complaints, really. None. It was delicious. Pictures of all meals from Day#1 are at http://imgur.com/a/AOIxA in their respective order.

Day#2

I've kicked off Day#2 with breakfast from Day#1. It's ok. You're encouraged to do this. Egg felt a bit heavy in the morning. Yeah, I'm really used to start day with small heap of sugar :) Cream cheese pudding was alright. However, I had half of protein bar just to be sure(and Coffee Latte with extra coffee to wake up later). Fish and rice pancakes for lunch, English salad for afternoon snack and Roman cauliflower for dinner. Everything delicious and no issues with quality. I actually and honestly don't know what to tell you about the food. :\ I've finished the day with yogurt slashed with muesli.

However, I remember always looking forward to next meal. There is one issue on horizon for me, though. Risotto with mushrooms. I'm not sure how I'm going to handle it. :( Pictures of all meals from Day#2 are at http://imgur.com/a/DQUXe in their respective order.

Day#3 and Day#4

No boxes during the weekend. These two days were in spirit of homemade “Chinese” with couscous and rice.

Day#5

I've started day#5 with some muesli which I haven't even finished. I found out later that my stomach isn't feeling well. Nothing unusual to report about day#5 except stomach issues. As a result, I ate two protein bars. Pictures of box diet are at http://imgur.com/a/e39GD.

Day#6

I honestly do miss something sweet for breakfast. I always did and I guess I always will. So, uh, yeah, that's a downer. Nothing unusual to report except I feel like it's too much (vegetables) at times. :) Pictures from day#6 are at http://imgur.com/a/VAgFO. Have I mentioned I miss something sweet for a breakfast? Oh, and lasagna was great and really light!

Day#7

Well, day#7 is here. 5 days of boxes done. Now, I have to admit that I believe a vitaminosis is real and it's close to get me. :) I mean, vegetables for breakfast aren't really my thing. It's not that I need sugar to wake me up. It's just weird to have (cold) vegetables for breakfast. Also, since you “carry over” breakfast from the previous day, it may happen you end up eating two similar dishes in a row. But don't get me wrong as I'm quite happy with the meals despite the fact it's a strain at times. I don't have sweet-tooth for the majority of the time, although I get my protein bars and coffee latte. Pictures from day#7 are at http://imgur.com/a/AKxqQ.

Day#8

Pictures from day#8 are at http://imgur.com/a/dvKuO.

Day#9

Pictures from day#9 are at http://imgur.com/a/GFYcO. My nemesis has arrived. Risotto with mushrooms. I'll have to skip that, because I really, really don't eat mushrooms. I don't like the smell and taste and I'd probably hurl :)

Day#10 and Day#11

No boxes over the weekend. I went for “sweet” breakfast, Chinese for lunch and tuna and couscous for dinner and a protein bar(s). I did miss boxes except for breakfast :)

Day#12

Pictures from day#12 are at http://imgur.com/a/38elg.

Day#13

Pictures from day#13 are at http://imgur.com/a/7voyJ.

Day#14

Pictures from day#14 are at http://imgur.com/a/1BWN5.

Day#15

Pictures from day#15 are at http://imgur.com/a/teRe5.

Conclusion

I believe some conclusion is in order, although it's 2 years later. No, I didn't lose any weight thanks to box diet. However, looking back I'm not surprised. I did quite a lot of P.T. back then and either it wasn't just enough food(could be, because if I remember correctly, I felt hungry here and there) or I've violated diet by protein or some candy. There were no issues with quality of food as far as I remember and I'm fairly sure I'd have noted it here. Also, such diet during winter or cold times isn't nice, because vegetables have cooling effect. In other words, I feel it's better suited for summer or warm days. Last, but not least, not a big fan of vegetables in the morning, but that's me :)

bloglike/2015-11.txt · Last modified: 2018/01/09 07:03 by stybla