I’m one week into the So Shape Challenge and wanted to do a quick update. I’m doing the challenge for 2 weeks, so this the half-way point for me.

To see a bit of an overview of the challenge, you can view my original post here.

The Food.

So here are my thoughts on the foods/shakes I had picked.

Chocolate Shake: I enjoyed this and had it both hot and cold. I prefered it cold, tastes like Nesquick!

Cappuccino Shake: I didn’t like it as much as the chocolate shake, but it was nice enough. I preferred this one warm.

Spicy Bol: This was my favorite of the foods, although it was more like a soup with pasta in.

Indian Curry: I really liked this one too, it was a bit thicker than the Spicy Bol, but still a bit soupy.

Tomato Soup: Not a massive fan of this one. The first time I didn’t put enough water in it. Salt and paprika did help.

Cheese Pasta: This looked like baby food and wasn’t great if I’m honest. I had to add salt so I could eat it.

If I had the chance to pick again, would get rid of the soup and cheese pasta and try the mushroom risotto and hazelnut.

I made a bit of a mistake when ordering as I ordered 4 meals and 2 breakfast items which meant I have a lot more meals than breakfast.

Because of this, I substituted the shake for a small can of beans and scrambled egg with 1 egg + 2 egg whites one day. It was similar macros.

The Open Foods.

As I mentioned in my last post, there’s a list of open foods you can have as you please. I’ve been making the most of these.

I work long hours and only get two breaks. My first break, I have the sweet shake and on my lunch break, I have one of the smart meals. Alongside this, I’ve been having cucumber and tomatoes with tuna or prawns. Ideally, I would have this a couple of hours after lunch, but this doesn’t work with my work schedule. I found it important to do this as I go to the gym after work so the meal on its own isn’t enough for my energy levels. I felt hungry in the mornings, but after a few days, the morning shake seemed to satisfy me more than it did at the start. I felt fine at lunch with veg and tuna – even full from 1pm – around 6:30.

I also roasted some courgettes, leeks, and aubergine on an afternoon when I was a bit hungry between meals.

I also had 0% yogurt a few times.

The Free Meal.

Because I eat dinner with my boyfriend in the evening, I went for my free meal in the evening rather than lunch as it’s not really fair to him if I had my smart meal. We eat pretty healthily anyway, here’s the type of things we were having:

• Roast vegetables with salmon and rice.
• Chilli and rice with cheese.
• Lamb chops with veg and sweet potato.
• Flatbread with egg and avocado.
• Quinoa salad with chicken.
• White fish with rice, tomatoes and olive tapenade.

Exercise.

The plan doesn’t recommend hardcore exercise, just muscle building and moderate cardio. I guess because the meals are only around 200 calories each you don’t want to put yourself into too much of a deficit and either get ill or give up on the plan due to diet.

I went to the gym 6 times in the first week, but also made up for it by having the open food.

Weight.

So here is the one you’re probably wanting to know.

In the first week, I’ve lost 2.5lbs! I did lose 3, but the put half back on.

I’m pretty happy with that considering that I’ve been unable to lose anything for the past few months, as you can see from my fitness updates!