My dieting secretweapon - MyFitnessPal.

Since January 1st 2012 I have been depending on the aid of MyFitnessPal to help me lose weight, by calorie counting. Some may see this as an unhealthy way to lose weight, but it works for me and I can keep it up. I use the MFP app on my iPhone 4S as that way I can keep track of all my foods/drinks on the go.

You enter in your details, such as height, weight, age, gender, etc. and how active you are in your everyday life and it then calculates approx. how many calories you need to consume each day in order to lose weight. I am calculated to eat 1200 kcal per day and for the first year-ish that really worked for me. But after starting the gym earlier this year (that I am currently not doing, due to health reasons, but I'd like to go back soon), I have had to up my calorie intake to 1400 kcal per day, as 1200 just wasn't enough and it was making me ill.

Although this way of losing weight works, it can become seriously obsessive. Since starting using the app I have only ever missed about 20-30ish days (mainly my holidays abroad). I calorie count everything. My good days, my average days and my seriously bad, binge-eating days. I weigh myself once a week too to keep track of my progress (naked, every Friday morning and I place the scales on the same tile in the same room each time - I get paranoid if it's in any other place in case it's slightly inaccurate).

I'd recommend this to anyone trying to lose weight. But I wouldn't try it if you know you aren't going to commit 110% to counting all f your calories (even that one-off, sneaky chocolate biscuit you have with your cuppa). You must log everything in order for this calorie counting diet to work its magic.

I personally LOVE this app, and even though I sometimes have my off-days and bingey-days, I don't think I'm going to stop counting my calories for a looong while. I actually enjoy it and love seeing results!

If any of you have any views, success stories or experiences using this app, I'd love to hear them! :)

The Graze Brownie (plus FREE codes).

As most of you may know, I am a lover of the Graze Box. But for anyone who has not heard of it or has, but wants an opinion from a regular Grazer before signing up, have a read of this. :)

I have been receiving Graze boxes for almost 2 years now, and I still love them now as much as I did when I received my first ever box! A lot has changed since I first signed up... They now have popcorn, tea and cake, puddings, brownie and even beef jerky (although I have not and will not be trying this, but I'm sure meat lovers will love it) as well as their usual punnets. They also occasionally throw in some new more regular-looking punnets too (I LOVE the 'Eleanor's Apple Crumble' punnet they've introduced).

One of the newer one's I've tried recently is 'The Graze Brownie'. Although not super moist and squishy like a traditional brownie, it has all the chocolatey and nutty tastes of one. Sooooo delicious! Great when you're craving a chocolate bar, or just something sweet, but you don't want to give into temptation - this really satisfies that craving. ;) Although the portion is a little on the small side, it makes up for it in taste. Great for a snack, or even a little pudding after a meal. I definitely think Graze's best punnets are the cake/pudding based ones, the brownie being one of the top three!

If after reading this you'd like to try your own Graze Box, using the code below you can get your FIRST graze box FREE! :D Just go to www.Graze.com and enter the code:

JESSIC14P

(If this code doesn't work, try: N6JMVCHD)

If you're already a Graze customer, don't worry. I also have a code for you. If you want to try Graze's breakfast porridge punnets, and haven't done so already, you can get your first box free. Just go to www.Graze.com and enter the code:

ZL5YKHL

(You must already be a Graze customer for this code to work).

If you do sign up, don't forget to rate your boxes (Love, Like, Try and Bin). Also just because you sign up for a free one, doesn't mea you have to get them forever more. You can cancel any future orders if you no long want to receive them. Graze is a very trustworthy company and cancelling is very simple. :)

P.S. My blog has reached 20,000+ page views! I am a little shocked and amazed. Thank you so much to ALL of my readers - regular and even the one-time readers. I'm so grateful for every view. It helps me keep motivated to keep writing my blog. :) Thank you again. <3

Trip to Bake Farm & smoothie recipe!

Last Monday, my best friend, Emily, and I went fruit picking together at Bake Farm. I had never heard of this little place before, but Emily goes quite regularly and I asked if she'd come with me one day. The weather was perfect - nice and hot. It's such a beautiful, peaceful place, tucked away from busy main roads and houses. There are rows upon rows of strawberry plants and sooo many different varieties of strawberries to pick from! There's also gooseberries and raspberries to pick too (there's a couple other plants too, blueberries and runner beans I think, but they weren't ready for picking quite yet). It is surprisingly cheap. Coming to the till, I was expecting the fruit I picked to cost at least £10 or more... I picked a whole punnet of strawberries (mixed varieties) and about half a punnet each of raspberries and gooseberries for under £8! I will definitely be getting all of my strawberries and raspberries from here in the future - they are just too delicious to go anywhere else for them now! I have made mini lunchbox fruit salads and smoothies from the strawberries and raspberries (plus a few other ingredients from elsewhere), and I'll hopefully be making either some jam or maybe a tart with the gooseberries, if I get time to do it.

Here's the recipe for one of the smoothies I've made using the fruit I picked. I've called it 'Bake Farm Smoothie':

This recipe makes 1 smoothie (roughly a pint glass worth) at approx. 250 kcal.

Ingredients:

- 200ml almond milk

- 1 banana

- 80g strawberries

- 35g raspberries

- 25g porridge oats

- handful of icecubes

Method:

1. Put the almond milk, banana, strawberries, raspberries and porridge oats into the blender. Blend until smooth.

2. Now put all of the icecubes in and blend again until smooth. Pour into a glass, serve immediately and enjoy!

I made another smoothie, very similar to this one, using more of the strawberries and raspberries I picked from Bake Farm. I used the same recipe as above, but I removed all of the porridge oats and added in 1 small avocado. It was delicious, very smooth and creamy! Just in case you want to give this a go, this smoothie serves 1 (roughly a pint glass worth) and is approx. 300 kcal.

Sunny Magaluf, June 2013!

Last month (5th June - 13th June), my boyfriend, Jago, and I went to sunny Magaluf together. We booked it only three weeks before we left for the holiday (very last minute for us)! We booked a week, self-catering, in the Mallorca Rocks Hotel. I hadn't read any reviews on it, but out of curiousity, two days before leaving, I decided it'd be a great idea to read the reviews about the hotel on TripAdvisor... Seriously bad move! I then got myself in the biggest panic as every other review seemed to be extremely negative and talked about getting their rooms broken into, getting their money/passports/etc. stolen, being mugged on the way home, prostitutes hanging around the front of the hotel, etc. etc. I wish I never read them! I get pretty nervous when leaving home without my Mum anyway, so having this to worry about too felt awful.. Having come back now though, I'm not too sure why I got so worked up, as I had an amazing time!

Whilst rather intoxicated at the 2wenties welcome meeting (hard to turn down free, unlimited jugs of cocktails) we bought a package deal. The package included a foam party, a carwash party, tickets to the Pirates Reloaded show (which was AMAZING to watch!), tickets to BCM, a pub crawl and a booze cruise. This made us really start to get in the mood and excited for the week ahead! Also as we were staying at Mallorca Rocks Hotel, we had access to their gigs and W.A.R. nights. We saw Baauer, Rizzle Kicks, Ms Dynamite, Mistajam, etc. live, which were all pretty good! All things we booked with the package were epic and so much fun! I have never drank so much alcohol in such a short space of time. 8 days in a row I was drinking... I blame the free bars for this (after midnight, until 6am)! Outside of the package deal, we went down to the beach, went on a banana boat, dipped in the hotel pool, spent hours and hours sunbathing, went for meals together, went on the bungee ball ride thing (not sure what it's called), went on a 'bucking bronco' ride (which I was totally awesome at) and went to Western Water Park. The water park didn't have many slides, but the ones that were there were a tad crazy! One was terrifyingly high, but I managed to push myself to do it (after having a panic about how high we were half way up the stairs to the top). I'm proud that I did it, but I doubt I'd ever do it again!

Being a pescitarian, I did not have much choice in what food I had to eat. Most days we just bought food from the Spar shop to eat at lunch times, and then we ate out for tea. For lunch, every single day, I had brown bread sandwiches filled with tinned tuna and sweetcorn, mixed up with mayonnaise and slices of cheese. By the end of the week, I was sick of the sight of tuna! Meals out had a bit more to pick from, but nothing that exciting... The majority of most menus were meat dishes. I tried calamari, which I'd never tried before, but that was about it. Everything else was things that I could easily find in England. There was so many takeaway places! We had a takeaway most nights (bad, I know.. But I mainly blame the alcohol for this).

All the food and stupid amounts of alcohol throughout the week made me gain a total of 5 and a half lbs! I was a bit upset by this, but wasn't expecting much else really, considering the amount I drank each night. I have now lost all of this weight since coming home, so all is good again, and I am back on track! Last year, after returning from our holiday to Turkey, it took me a seriously long time to get back on any kind of track... I didn't manage to get back to the weight I was before leaving for Turkey at all. But this year it's going a lot better. I also came back from Magaluf with the worst chest infection (I think I may have caught it on the plane as their were a lot of sick/coughing people on the plane back). It's pretty much gone now though, thank God!

Overall it was a really fun, fantastic holiday. The mega-hangover I suffered when I got back was well worth it. We made some really great friends whilst out there too, which is a bonus! Only tiny downside is that the tan I got is rather pathetic compared to tans I've had from previous holidays, despite frazzling in the sun for hours on end.. Oh well. I would definitely love to go somewhere like this again! I really don't know what I was worrying for. Note to self: Next time, don't judge holidays by just focusing on solely the negative reviews on TripAdvisor - go experience it for yourself and make your own opinion on it!

Vegetarian chickpea burgers.

Flicking through last month's issue of one of my favourite magazines, Healthy Food Guide (issue April 2012), I came across this recipe and I just had to give it a go (page 40).

Since being a vegetarian, I have found it extremely difficult to find nice tasting veggie burgers. In my opinion, Quorn burgers are horrible and I will never touch them again (although I like almost all other Quorn products). I've tried Tesco's meat-free burgers too and they are equally as disgusting. So I have always kept an eye out for an easy-ish looking veggie burger recipe to try and I have finally found one that has taken my fancy (I have tried making my own experimental bean burgers before - blog post here - but they didn't turn out so good.. Bit of a disaster really..).

These chickpea burgers are really delicious. Mine didn't turn out quite as neat looking as the ones photographed in the magazine, but I don't mind... As long as they taste good, that's all that matters. A couple of them burnt a little (although I couldn't taste any burntness) and others crumbled into pieces, but both my family and I really enjoyed them. They felt like the perfect meal to enjoy on a sunny day like today. They'll also be great for barbecues in the Summertime. The burger looks so appetising when assembled with all the garnishes, and it definitely tastes as good as it looks. The lemon and sweet chilli dressing is incredible. If I were to make these again, I'd definitely make two batches of the dressing as I just want to smother everything in it!

This recipe serves 4 people and is approx. 295 kcal per serving with the garnish, but without a roll. (I've not included the roll because you may use different rolls as I've used.. Just add on how many calories 1 roll of your choice is worth to the calories above, which will give you an approx. amount per serving with garnish and your roll of choice). The chickpea burgers on their own are approx. 210 kcal each.

Here's how it's made:

Please note: You will need a food processor for this recipe.

Ingredients:

For the burger/dressing:
- 400g sweet potatoes, peeled and chopped
- 2 tbsp sweet chilli sauce
- 1 tbsp fresh lemon juice
- 1 x 400g tin of chickpeas, drained and rinsed
- 2 spring onions, finely chopped
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- 1/4 tsp dried crushed chilli flakes
- 1 tsp lemon zest
- 2 eggs, beaten
- 2 tbsp flatleaf parsley, chopped
- Low-kcal cooking oil spray

For the garnish:
- 4 x rolls, halved and toasted, if you wish (You can choose whatever rolls you'd prefer. E.g. sourdough, pita bread, wholemeal, soft white, etc. I chose "Warburton's Sandwich Thins" for our burgers, which are 100kcal per Thin).
- 100g spinach
- 1 large tomato, sliced
- 1 small avocado, sliced
- 50g reduced-fat feta/salad cheese, crumbled

Method:

1. Cook the sweet potatoes in a large pan of boiling water for about 8 minutes, or until very tender. Meanwhile, in a small bowl, combine the sweet chilli sauce and lemon juice to create the dressing and set aside.

2. Drain the potatoes, then whiz in a food processor with the chickpeas until roughly crushed. Add the spring onions, cumin, chilli flakes and zest and whiz to combine. Gently stir in the eggs and parsley, then divide the mixture into 4 x 10cm patties.

3. Heat a little low-kcal cooking oil spray in a frying pan, then cook the patties over a medium heat for 2-3 minutes on each side until golden and cooked. (Don't worry too much if they fall apart like mine did - they'll be a bit messy but they'll taste just as good).

4. To serve, top the bottom half of each roll with spinach leaves, a chickpea burger, tomato and avocado slices, then the feta/salad cheese. Drizzle over the lemon and sweet chilli dressing, then add the roll tops.

Enjoy! :D

Refreshing springtime smoothie.

Whilst I was in my local Tesco store, I picked up their free magazine "Tesco Magazine, For Real Living". It's always an interesting read and usually includes some pretty good recipes. Well, I was flicking through the "January - February 2013" issue and came across their 'Perfect Blend' recipes (page 115). They all look so colourful and appetising - I just had to give one a go. I chose to try the 'refreshing kiwi fruit, apple, grape and lime' smoothie, firstly because it sounds delicious, and secondly because I already had most of the ingredients at home and if I didn't do something with them soon, they'd probably get chucked away. The sun was out this morning (for a change) - this smoothie felt perfect to enjoy in this wonderful weather. It's got a sharp citrusy taste to it that literally tickles the taste buds! A great start to my morning - I feel refreshed and ready to tackle the day!

This smoothie serves 2 and is approx. 138 kcal per serving. (The two servings are very small though, so if you like a big smoothie, like me, this would only serve one). The only things I did differently are using a Gala apple instead of the ones they suggested, as it's all we have in our house at the moment. I also used plain soya yoghurt instead of vanilla yoghurt.. But I'm sure these tiny changes wouldn't have made much of a difference to the taste of the finished smoothie.

Ingredients:

- 3 kiwi fruit, pealed and cut into pieces

- 1 apple (such as Cox or Golden Delicious), cored and cut into pieces

- Large handful of green grapes

- 1 lime, juiced

- 100g low-fat vanilla yoghurt

- Large handful of ice

Method:

1. Put the fruit into a blender, then add the lime juice, yoghurt and ice. Whizz for about 1 minute until smooth, then pour into glasses and serve.

I've joined a gym! Plus an update on me.

On the 9th January, this year, I joined a local gym. I was a bit hesitant at first, because the last time I joined a gym, I lost interest pretty quickly, wanted to quit, but ended up having to pay £26+ once a month for a whole year as it was a yearly contract.. But this gym is very different. It's only a 5 minute walk from where I work, so pretty convenient for me really. It's a rolling contract, rather than a yearly one - at any time I no longer want to go, for whatever reason, I can give one months notice and leave, with no further payments! Also it's the cheapest gym in town - £15 per month, plus two one-off payments of £20 - can't go wrong with that really. It's not too big or two small, it's well equipped, it's open 7 days a week, and the staff are incredibly welcoming, friendly and knowledgeable. It's a very laid back atmosphere, which I really like. It also offers lots of different classes per day (such as spin, pilates, zumba, self defence, boxing, etc.), which are free to MyGym members - so I've been taking full advantage of those since joining. On the whole it's one amazing gym that's great value for money (an absolute bargain in my eyes).

Since joining I have been to the gym about 4 times and I have really enjoyed myself. So far, I have tried classes such as spin, LBT (legs, bums & tums) and boxing basics - I enjoyed them all but my favourite is definitely spin! It's hard work but makes me feel really great afterwards. I spend a lot of my time in the gym on the crosstrainer, the treadclimber, the exercise bike, the rowing machine and sometimes the stepping machine. I went to lunch with my friend, Tom, and he helped me decide on some kind of routine to stick to, to begin with. He has also advised me on good foods to eat before/after workouts. Tom, along with my boyfriend and family, are supporting my decision to do this all the way, which is great and helps to keep me going! :)

Starting weight/measurements:

My starting weight for the gym is: 8 stone, 13 lbs.

I put on weight after my first week at the gym - I was NOT a happy bunny. But I didn't let it get to me too much and I've already lost all of the weight I'd put on! :)

My starting measurements for the gym are (in inches / cms):

Bust = 30" / 76.2cm

Waist = 28" / 71.1cm

Hips = 32" / 81.3cm

Neck = 13" / 33cm

Left bingo-wing = 9.7"/ 24.6cm

Right bingo-wing = 9.7" / 24.6cm

Left thunder-thigh = 21.5" / 54.6cm

Right thunder-thigh = 21.8" / 55.4cm

The majority of these measurements have improved ever so slightly since my last measurements (click here for post), but one has actually increased and one has stayed exactly the same. Finding this out was a little heart breaking as I worked so hard all year to get these measurements down.. But oh well. I will measure up again soon and update you all on any changes.

Starting/"before" photo:

I want to lose the bit of fat at the bottom of my tummy and I want my thighs to be a lot smaller, as they are a part of my body that I particularly dislike. I then want to tone up absolutely everything. I WILL acheive that bikini body this year! I've got this far with next-to-no exercise, so imagine what I can do if I introduce it into my healthy lifestyle (this thought is my main motivation)! I will post updates on how my body changes after a while of going.

An update on me:

What I haven't mentioned is this last week or so I have been feeling extremely weak and over-exhausted on such a low amount of calories (1200 per day, plus slightly more with exercise), since getting back into my calorie counting super strictly again at New Years. Well I had to go to the hospital for blood tests because I was feeling so bad and looking so ill and very pale. But I found out that my blood tests came back perfectly fine, and it's probably being caused by anxiety.

But before receiving my results, I had a chat with my spin instructor about my health, what I'm eating, my calorie intake, my sleeping pattern and such alike.. He advised me to up my calorie intake to at least 1500 per day (well he actually said he'd prefer me not to count them at all any more, but I just can't break the habit). He also said to turn my TV off at night to help me sleep as I should be getting at least 6 hours of sleep per night to be able to go to the gym (I usually sleep with the TV on and only get around 4-7 hours sleep a night). He also said to eat 5 meals a day rather than my usual 2-3, as my body will start to starve itself otherwise and I need the energy if I want to go to the gym regularly (I've attempted this change but I'm only managing around 3-4 meals most days). I also need to eat a meal, full of protein, within 1 hour after finishing any work out (this is the one step I'm struggling most with).

Since I've tried applied these changes, as much as I can, I have been feeling slightly more energetic than usual and I no longer look really ill and pasty all the time. I feel my body has a bit more power, to push myself further, when I go to the gym. I'm still counting calories religiously, but I have upped my daily allowance by 300kcal, from 1200 to 1500 (this has been extremely hard to get used to)! So hopefully making all of these small changes will help me get bigger and better results from the hard work I put in at the gym.

Vegetarian sweet potato & Quorn dopiaza curry.

I do really love an Indian takeaway from time to time! My family are more keen of a Chinese but I much prefer a spicy Indian! But with the amount of grease and fat in it, I don't like to have them very often. For a very long time I have been meaning to create a healthier curry for me to enjoy, without feeling the guilt. And I have FINALLY got round to doing it! I've put together a vegetarian dopiaza curry (medium heat) and it's absolutely delicious! I picked to do a dopiaza curry because that's one of the ones I often order at my local Indian and I love it - it's a little hot, spicy and heart-warming. But, just so you all know: I have never ever made a curry before; I didn't look up a recipe; and I used a pre-made curry sauce (as I would have no idea where to start, without a recipe at hand to follow).

This recipe serves 4 people and contains approx. 218kcal per serving. So here's what I did:

Ingredients:

- 1 jar of 'Tesco' dopiaza sauce (450g)

- 500g sweet potato, peeled and cut into small cubes

- 1 whole small/medium brown onion, chopped largely

- 150g portobello mushrooms, cut into large pieces

- 85g frozen 'Quorn' chicken style pieces

- 1 packet of 'Just Add' one shot chilli (15g) (or 1-2tsp fresh finely chopped chilli)

- 'Fry Light' 1 kcal cooking spray

Method:

1. Firstly, fill a medium-large saucepan with water, put onto a hight heat and bring to the boil. Once boiling add in the sweet potato. Boil until the potato starts to turn soft (test with a knife - you should be able to just about push a knife through it, but no super easily). Once ready, take off the heat, drain the potato and leave to one side.

2. Now put the Quorn chicken pieces, along with the onion and mushrooms, into a medium-large wok and put it onto the high heat that the saucepan was on. Spray it all with Fry Light, stir regularly and cook until the Quorn has cooked through (taste a little or cut in half to check) and the onion and mushrooms have started to brown.

3. Now add all of the sauce into the wok and turn the heat down to medium (to help stop the sauce spitting). Stir occasionally. Now stir in all of the chilli. After 2 minutes, add in the sweet potato. Cook for about 5-7 minutes, stirring regularly, until all is pipping hot.

4. Share it all equally into 4 and serve immanently. Enjoy!

As no one else in my house likes mushrooms, sweet potatoes or chilli so I separated the curry into 4 containers - I've eaten one and froze the other 3, to enjoy another time.

TIP: meal prepping in advance is a great way of keeping your healthy eating on track! Whenever you are low on food in your cupboards, having a naughty day and are in need of a quick, healthy meal to give you a boost or are just craving an Indian takeaway, take it out of the freezer and heat it up - sorted!

Christmas Graze giveaway!

With Christmas only 8 days away now, I thought "why not do a little giveaway for all my lovely readers, as a little thank you?". So here it is!

I have 3 Graze box gift vouchers up for grabs! There will be one winner who will receive a gift voucher entitling them to two free Graze boxes, and two runners up who will both receive a gift voucher entitling them to one free Graze box each. Unfortunately, if you already receive Graze boxes, these gift vouchers won't work - they only work for new customers! Also this is only open to people from the UK - as Graze only delivers to the UK.. I'm sorry!

All you have to do, to be in with a chance of winning, is email:

skinny-wish@hotmail.co.uk

with your name - simple as that. After the giveaway closes, I will put all the names into a hat, mix it up and pick 3 at random. The closing date for the giveaway is Monday 31st December at 11:59pm GMT. The winners will be drawn out and contacted by email between the 1st and 3rd of January 2013! Have any questions? Just ask.

Most people who read my blog will know I pay to receive a fortnightly Graze box. I've now been receiving them since January 2012. They weren't very well known, but are growing more and more popular, they even have their own TV advert now. They send out a box with 4 healthy, natural snacks to people all over the UK. Such a big range of punnets to choose from - there's something for everyone! Rate their punnets with 'Love', 'Like', 'Try' or 'Bin', and even select 'Send Soon' to ensure you get exactly what you like. A very trustworthy company - I have never had any delayed deliveries or any issues cancelling/postponing boxes. Just excellent! Please have a browse of their website to see what all the fuss is about: click here.

P.S. To the winners: these should be one-off boxes, but I am not entirely sure - so just incase, make sure you check online, on the Graze website, after you've received all of your free boxes and if it says you'll be receiving another after that, just cancel your deliveries and you'll never receive them again (I know it's easy to cancel them, as I have 2 friends who have in the past and have had no issues).


EDIT: THIS GIVEAWAY HAS NOW ENDED.

Shapers meal deals!

I think I may have discovered the best food meal deal offer ever - "Shapers"! It's found in a store called Boots. Great for lunches - they have the biggest choice of foods I've ever seen; sandwiches; wraps; salads; fruit salads; crisps; chocolate bars; popcorn; juice drinks; energy drinks; soft drinks; etc. etc. For £3.29 you can pick up 1 main, 1 snack and 1 drink. They're tasty, filling, quite cheap and - best of all - they're low-kcal (all Shapers combinations are supposedly under 500kcal). Also if you own a Boots advantage card you can collect points too - bonus! ;) I've only just found out about these meal deals and I've already tried 4 different combinations, and I will definitely be having many more!

Here are 3 of them to show you (I don't have a photo of the 4th one..):

My Shapers meal deal #1 - £3.29 - total calories: 219.

In this meal deal, I enjoyed an 'Around the World' Latino style roasted vegetable & rice salad with salsa (170kcal) and a melon & mango fruit pot (29kcal). I also had a can of Relentless - Libertus energy drink (20kcal) (not photographed), as I had a very very long day at work, but I didn't actually like the drink and ended up throwing half of it away anyway. Other than that, this meal deal was lovely! Lots of exciting flavours in the rice salad and the salsa was lovely! The fruit pot was nice and tasted fresh, but I wish it had a more even ratio. You'd expect melon 50:50 mango, but it was more melon 80:20 mango..

My Shapers meal deal #2 - £3.29 - total calories: 289.

In this meal deal, I enjoyed an 'Around the World' Thai style vegetable jungle wrap (250kcal), a pineapple fruit pot (36kcal) and a sparkling cream soda drink (3kcal). The wrap was sooo good! The spices were strong and very tasty and very well wrapped (normally I find most wraps fall apart and more filling ends up on the floor than actually in your mouth)! The pineapple was delicious! The drink was strange, but I really liked it! I had never tried "cream soda" before so I thought I should give it a bash, and it was actually surprisingly nice - very sweet! I will probably buy this drink again.

My Shapers meal deal #3 - £3.29 - total calories: 316.

In this meal deal, I enjoyed an 'Around the World' Oriental style king prawn, mango & sweet fire chilli wrap (267kcal), a crunchy & juicy grape snack bag (48kcal) and a bottle of Diet Coke (1kcal). The wrap was lovely! A crazy combination of flavours! The mango and chilli sauce is very tangy, but very tasty! The apple and grape snack bag was okay.. The apple was lovely and had a great taste to it, but the grapes were a little off and squishy in my opinion - I'll probably avoid this snack option next time.. And Diet Coke is just awesome anyways - yummm!

I would recommend these meal deals to anyone! Find your nearest Boots store and please give them a go! You won't be disappointed - there's something there for everyone! :)

(EDIT - 4 more meal deals that I've had since making this post):