I've never been a very good dieter, I'm not going to lie, I love food. The problem with food is we need it to survive, it's such a hard addiction to overcome because you just can't cut it out from your life completely. I needed a solution. Something that would fit into my busy mum life and take away almost all decisions of food from me whilst teaching me how to choose healthier options. In all honestly, I was sure what I really needed was a miracle! But then I found Exante.

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I've wrote about about Exante before I started. I shared the post 'Starting a new lifestyle with Exante #Ad' where I talked about all the reasons I love it and wanted to give it a go. The main one being that there are a few different plans to choose from. Exante 800 where you enjoy 3 Exante meal replacements a day, plus 200 calories of high protein food from the Approved Food List*, 5:2 where you have 5 days of normal healthy eating a week and fast for 2 days on 800 calories of Exante products and Exante 1200 where you have a 1200 calorie flexible diet by enjoying 2 Exante products plus a low-carb meal and healthy snack a day.

 



 

Starting the Exante 800 Journey

I'm not going to lie, those first few days were hard. I went from cooking the family meals and piling my plate (and eating the extra) to limiting what I ate and that was a massive change for me. However the fact that the Exante products were there and needed very little prep at all helped tremendously.

I started day 1 with a Strawberry Jam and Yogurt bar. We were at the girls drama class and this is when I'm usually scoffing my face with some kind of chocolate bar i've picked up on the way, so this seamed perfect. It tasted like a rice crispy bar was a layer of yogurt and strawberry. It wasn't like I expected at all but filled a hole and really stopped me from feeling hungry until lunch (which was a big concern of mine).

I then went on to try all the other things from the box; Butternut Squash Soup and the delicious Raspberry and White Chocolate Milkshake for dessert! (It really did taste like the 'cake mix' as Holly Willoughby stated!



 

For my 200 kcal meal I went through the approved foods list and came up short. I ended up having 2 eggs (dippy style) and frying some courgette, it was a healthy take on egg and soldiers and to be honest I really enjoyed it even thought I didn't think I would. I dipped some of the courgette batons into my soup too for a nice crunch.

Throughout the day, I drank a litre of water and 300ml of Dr Pepper Zero. I also tried a glass of the cranberry water enhancer. I really wasn't expecting to like it at all, but it was so good I will be ordering more!

My notes from day 1: It's day 1, so as expected I haven't really felt hungry. I've been a little dizzy today, but thats likely down to not drinking enough. Usually I don't drink much at all so today has been a challenge that way.

 



 

Continuing With The Exante 800 Journey

As the days and weeks went on, I tried many other delights, I'm totally in love with Lemon Style Pancakes that are absolutely delicious and it was so nice to be able to join in with pancake day! I also loved the Indian Style Curry. I can't stand curry or spicy things, but even though this was spicy, I thoroughly enjoyed it. The taste was perfect and it was so filling I didn't even feel hungry once dinner came.

I joined the Exante official facebook group and found loads of amazing tips and support, I learnt that I could heat up the chocolate bars and they would taste exactly like brownies!

I started getting a bit creative with my 200kcal meals too and with these and the products, I really felt like I was having great meals. I even baked the Exante pizza once with 200kcal of toppings and it was absolutely delicious! I'm so glad I brought a box of those to keep going!

 



 

So what were my final results?

As I mentioned in my original post I didn't want to focus on BMI and weight as I don't feel they are very accurate measurements to go by. Instead, I wanted to focus on how my clothes fit and my health. So my results, while on Exante, I managed to drop a dress size and even fit into my coat by the end of the first week! (No more cold shopping trips for me!) I can now run and officially beat my dog to the top of the stairs too without feeling mega out of breathe which is amazing!

I feel like Exante has changed the way I think about losing weight, It's really helped me to look at the food I eat and understand what I could switch out to get better value out of my food and not help me pile on weight. The fact that the bars, shakes and meals are so easy to prepare and eat on the go has made the whole experience easy for me. Exante really has been what I've needed to stop, take a good look at myself and change things for the better. On top of all this, it's made me drink more and learn what my hunger queues are.

 



 

 

 

Would I continue with Exante?

Well let's just say I already brought more products and will be lapping up all the; breakfast eggs, lemon pancakes, lemon bars and pizza! As I feel better in my clothes and my health has improved, I wont c

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ontinue with the Exante 800 Plan, but I will be changing to the  5:2 or Exante 1200 Plan as a way to continue to improve my health and body.

 



 

 

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