A diet food plan made specifically for foodies, Wedding Magazine

Good food and good wine are the two things I love the most in the world, and the thought of giving them up for a life of rice cakes and protein shakes terrified me, which is why I was overjoyed when I stumbled across a diet food plan made specifically for foodies.

Bridal Bliss by Carrie Mitchell

Tried: The Pure Package Food Plan

Despite dreaming of one day losing that spare tyre and having legs worthy of baring in a flirty 1950s-style wedding dress, I’ve always had a problem trying to adopt a healthy lifestyle.

The Pure Package offers freshly prepared, highly nutritious meals and snacks delivered direct to your door and is popular with celebrities, including supermodel Erin O’Connor and X-Factor winner Alexandra Burke. There are number of eating plans to choose from, but the new Bridal Bliss programme promises to help you slim down ahead of your big day, increase energy levels, flatten tummies and give skin a radiant glow. Each programme is custom made, so you’ll first be contacted by The Pure Package experts to discuss your current lifestyle, eating habits and goals. After our chat, I was told to expect all my food for the following day to be ready and waiting in a cool bag on my doorstep the next morning. Lo’ and behold, when I awoke at 7am, there it was – as if delivered by elves during the night. So what was on the menu? First up there was fresh grapefruit, organic rye bread and nut butter. Not a fan of chewy rye bread or peanut butter, I wasn’t optimistic about this but, surprisingly, it was delicious. Usually I have no time to make breakfast before work and end up with a muffin and a latte on my desk at around 10.30am, but I had to remind myself to eat my mid-morning snack of an apricot and a handful of pecans.

When lunch came around, I was positively smug when I opened my neat little package to find perfectly pink slices of rare roast beef atop a luscious salad of watercress, beetroot and sweet potato. I was so full afterwards that I skipped my afternoon snack of artichokes and bean dip with corn chips, which meant I got to tuck into them after dinner, when we settled down to watch a DVD. It felt like a real treat, given that dinner itself – char grilled aubergines in a tomato sauce with cous cous and roasted courgettes – was huge and just as tasty as lunch.

The next day’s menu continued to satisfy, and as I settled into the programme of protein-rich breakfasts, fruit and nut snacks, salad for lunch, a filling hot dinner and a healthy treat, I quickly began to feel much more energetic than usual. Plus, for the first time ever, I wasn’t craving my guilty pleasures of chocolate, biscuits or even wine. After just five days I lost 4lb and vowed to eat like this forever. Unfortunately, at nearly £40 a day it’s a financial impossibility for me (and more brides-to-be) to sign up for The Pure Package for anything longer than a few weeks. But as a final fix to shift those last few pounds, it’s definitely worth the money – particularly as the time you currently spend slaving away in the kitchen can be dedicated to ensuring every aspect of your wedding day is planned perfection.