Twelfth Night has come and gone, the sad dry Christmas trees that lay abandoned on the streets of London have been taken away and even the Bountys have been eaten from the last box of Celebrations. All that's left from the festive period is that one item of decoration that you forgot to pack away (there's always one) and a bloated feeling from all of the Christmas overeating. So when I was invited to review a detox diet, I thought it would be the perfect opportunity to kick-start a healthy eating regime in 2014.
Mention detox diets to me and I initially think of those diets that require you to eat cabbage soup for a week or to drink two litres of liquefied kale on a daily basis (neither of which is particularly appealing to a girl who enjoys proper food and has an unhealthy attachment to potatoes). So when I heard that there was a detox diet that would allow me to not only eat three meals, but also two snacks each day, I was keen to see whether it could do anything to help me feel a little less Michelin Man and a little more Miranda Kerr.
Feng Sushi is a company with eight restaurants across central London. They offer both takeaway and delivery of a range of sushi, sashimi, salads, soups, hot dishes and desserts. Now, they have also introduced a number of diet plans, including the Feng diet, 5:2 Plan, Protein Fix and Veg Plan.
The Feng Diet combines lean proteins with wholegrain carbs and plenty of vegetables to help blood sugar levels balance and help cleanse the body. Although it is very fish-based, the Veg Plan offers a vegetarian alternative for those who either are vegetarian or aren’t that keen on fish.
How does the Feng Diet work?
The Feng Diet is not advertised as a diet designed to lose weight or detox but at around 1,500 calories a day and containing a mix of fish, vegetables and complex carbs it is said to be likely to aid with both.
The instructions that came with my first delivery instructed me to drink two litres of mineral water a day and to avoid caffeine and alcohol during the plan. It also advised at least 30 minutes of exercise a day and eight hours of sleep. So far, so sensible.
Delivery
All meals are delivered direct to your door (currently central London postcodes only). For the three day Feng diet, the first delivery (breakfast and a mid-morning snack) takes place on Day 0, ready for Day 1. After that, you receive two deliveries a day; lunch which comes with a mid-afternoon snack and then dinner which comes with the next morning’s breakfast and mid-morning snack.
Day 1
Day 1 didn’t get off to the best start as I hadn’t received my first delivery (my breakfast and mid-morning snack) the night before. However, I did get a call from Feng Sushi in the morning apologising and offering me two options. I could either postpone the start for a day or add the missed breakfast onto the end of the three days (Day 4). Rather than delay the start of the diet, I opted to have it at the end instead.
So my first meal on the diet was lunch – tuna sashimi and salted edamame. The tuna was meltingly beautiful and I spent the afternoon popping edamame into my mouth.
At first I wondered how a little bit of fish and some beans could keep me full until dinner, when my usual sandwich and packet of crisps leaves me hungry by late afternoon. But surprisingly it does, although if it’s not enough for you, that’s where the afternoon vegetable sticks and dip come into their own to help tide you over until dinner is delivered.
Dinner was smoked mackerel, spinach and soba noodle soup which left me feeling full and (most importantly in January) warm without the usual guilt that comes with winter comfort foods.
Day 2
Day 2 was the first day I started with breakfast. Breakfast each day is porridge with carrots, sesame and shiso cress. Although it came with instructions, there were only instructions for cooking in a saucepan. I’m not a lark and can’t get up early enough to have breakfast at home so tend to eat at work, where we only have access to a microwave. I do normally have porridge at work so I used the same method for making it as I normally do, but it would have been useful to have instructions for making the porridge in a microwave too.
My mid-morning snack was Salmon Maki made with brown rice rather than white. Salmon Maki are my favourite type of sushi so I was very happy with my elevenses.There was more sashimi for lunch (scallop this time) with a soba noodle salad. The sashimi was lovely and although I was worried that the noodle salad would be quite dull, the dressing (served on the side) really livened it up and it was a nice dish to accompany the sashimi.
Dinner was the Heavenly Salmon Donburi and was the meal on the plan that I looked forward to the most as it sounded delicious. Unfortunately though it did leave me a little disappointed. The word ‘donburi’ is a general word for ‘bowl’, it commonly refers to a rice dish with other ingredients (usually fish or meat) served on top. So whilst the various types of salmon (ikura, braised salmon, hot smoked salmon and salmon sashimi) were lovely, I was expecting the salmon to be served on a bed of rice rather than the shredded daikon radish that they came on (then again, I suppose it is a diet).
Day 3
Breakfast was porridge as before, but my mid-morning snack was a mushroom onigiri made with brown rice. However, it could have done with being thinner and maybe having the filling inside, rather than on top. I also would have preferred the nori wrap to be crispy. As it was, it was rather messy to eat, albeit tasty.
On Day 3 I had a lunchtime meeting so ordered the food to arrive half an hour after I was due to finish. Unfortunately my meeting unexpectedly ran over so by the time I got my lunch it was an hour since it had been delivered. However, I was surprised to discover that my Detox Broth had been kept warm by its packaging and was still a perfect temperature for eating. I was very impressed.
Although lunch came with Salmon and Tuna Bites, I actually nibbled at these throughout the afternoon and the spicy fish was perfectly balanced by the cucumber base.
Spicy Cuttlefish Soba Noodle Soup was delivered for dinner. At first taste this was unbelievably spicy and I wondered how I was going to get through it (I’m a bit of a spice wimp) but after stirring it through a bit, I think the chilli flakes in it became much more evenly distributed and it was lovely. It was accompanied by a nice, fresh green salad.
The meals
All of the ingredients for the meals on the diet were fresh and tasty. It’s the perfect diet for anyone who loves fish or Japanese food. The meals mostly require no preparation, save for putting the food in a plate or bowl if you’d rather not eat it straight from the box/tub.
How did I feel after?
Spending Christmas and New Year (and let’s be honest, December generally) eating far too much and far too many bad things left me craving something healthy that wouldn’t leave me feeling guilty. After three days on the Feng Diet, I felt cleaner and like I was ready to continue to put good fresh food into my body. Although the diet isn’t marketed as a weight-loss diet, I did weigh myself before and after and lost 1.25lbs over the course of the three days which was a pleasant surprise, especially as I’d felt like I was constantly eating.
By the end of the three days I realised that I’d become very used to having all of my meals delivered. I enjoyed not having to go to the supermarket on my way home to pick something up for dinner, I liked not having to get bundled up to go out in the cold to buy some lunch. By the end I definitely wished that it could continue for longer than three days, there’s a certain decadence that comes with not having to do something as fundamental to daily life as food shopping.
The Feng Diet can either be purchased as a three day plan (£95) or as individual days (ranging from £41.50 to £48.75). At first glance it seems eye-wateringly expensive for three days of food, but when you consider the prices of the dishes individually and then factor in that it all gets delivered to you, it’s actually not unreasonable for what you get. If you’re looking to jump-start a diet or healthy eating regime, this would be a good way to start with minimum effort.
Having completed the Feng Diet I feel like I’m ready to go it alone in terms of planning and eating healthy balanced meals. However, if I’m in the vicinity of a Feng Sushi restaurant in the future, I will definitely be popping in for some of my favourite dishes from the diet.
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