The Toronto Sun

- By Sara Waxman

There are few things more depressing than coming home after a hard day's work to a fridge that only contains condiments and a bottle of Chablis.

In my daydreams, I imagine having a personal chef who does the shopping, shlepping, chopping and cooking. I would say, "I want to be on the Atkins Diet for two weeks or the Zone or CarbLogic or Healthy Living" and 'presto' meals would magically appear. I search for a way to make this day-dream a reality.

I call Joan Embury, marketing manager of The Specialty Gourmet Delivery, and put myself in the loop for a five-day program in order to compare all the food plans for flavour, presentation and emotional satisfaction. I answer all the general health questions, food allergies and dislikes, and choose from an exciting menu selection.

How does it work? Each night, a sleek cooler is delivered to my door with the next day's meals in neat microwaveable containers.

My days always begin with a huge omelette, my breakfast of choice, filled with Italian-style veggies in tomato sauce or Mexican or curry. This is way more breakfast than I'd normally eat and only the clock, not hunger, reminds me it is time for lunch.

One day, there seems to be two breakfasts. Scrambled eggs and veggies and a bagel with cream cheese. I cannot force myself to eat the bagel. Too much food!

Snacks are varied. Chicken and celery salad or a special no carb/no sugar 'chocolate' bar; a granola bar or sliced fruit.

Dinners, without exception, satisfy me in every way. Moroccan rosemary chicken, chunks of chicken with chick peas in a fragrant rosemary/spice tomato sauce. And one day there is a roast lamb with steamed artichokes. The portions are larger than I would usually eat, but alas, no dessert. The habits of a lifetime die hard and I try to satisfy my craving for dessert with Peppermint tea.

The Zone means eating five times a day. The breakfast omelette with Italian vegetables is so filling, I can't eat again until mid-afternoon. Fortunately, lunch is a light salad of Jicama, a cross between an apple and a potato that is refreshing and crunchy, and goes well with crabmeat and a spicy, creamy dressing. After a banana chocolate chip muffin as a snack, I work through an enormous portion of chicken cacciatore.

The Atkins Diet on days four and five is my favourite. The omelette du jour is filled with mushroom, onions and fresh herbs. I love today's lunch: a very large filet of halibut, baked with ginger and mild Asian spicing, and it comes with mesclun salad. Normally I'd eat half this fish. I am probably packing on the pounds, but I must be true to the program.

Dinner is easy going: A grilled chicken breast, tasty and juicy with some steamed cauliflower and red pepper rings. Caffeine is probably forbidden, but what the heck. I make a long espresso. I yearn for dessert!

The last day, I'm treated with two poached eggs, sliced tomatoes and a cup of berries. I have my coffee anyway, though if I were really orthodox I'd cut out caffeine.

Lunch is a grilled chicken breast, broccoli and cauliflower in a zesty lemony sauce. Dinner of a whole fish, with its hot spicing and saute veg in tomatoe sauce is almost too much food for the dinner plate, and certainly too much for me but I eat it all, in the interests of research. My kingdom for dessert!

Day six brings the moment of truth. The scale does not lie, it will tell me what happens on a strict (well, almost) five-day diet. I can't look, fearing the worst. Shock and disbelief. I have lost a solid five pounds. I love you, Specialty Gourmet. I call to register for a second week. Turns out the cost is the equivalent of my week's shopping for one at the supermarket.

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