EAT healthily and take exercise if you want to lose weight and get yourself fit.

As lifestyle mantras go, it doesn't come much simpler than that, but if you're someone who can feel the burn down at the gym but goes all cold when it comes to getting rid of the fast food and chocolate fix, Nutrichef may be the solution.

Imagine a meal plan that is delivered to your door - home or office - that contains some of the tastiest and most innovative recipes and food combinations you could imagine.

And while you may think you're a whizz in the kitchen, Nutrichef's team will comes up with something that will not only blow you away, but also make you feel energised and, yes, full.

Nutrichef was founded in Poole, Dorset in September 2004 by nutrition expert Barbara and her husband David. She is currently Entrepreneur of the Year for the south west, an award bestowed on the company by the British Chambers of Commerce.

Barbara was inspired to create the Nutrichef diet after spending eight years in Japan, impressed by the delicious flavours and health-inducing properties of the food as well as the country's low levels of obesity, heart disease and cancer.

"I embarked on a course in nutrition and learned about healthy cooking from a top Japanese restaurateur. Keen to pass on what I'd learned, I made it my mission to develop a meal plan that would incorporate the principles of a Japanese diet, yet appeal to the western palate."

But does it work? You bet.

In the four weeks I was on Nutrichef's meal plan, I lost almost a stone in weight, but more importantly, I know the weight won't go back on.

Why? Because the dietary plan has completely changed the way I look at food and the effects it can have on me.

Nutrichef's diet plan is wheat free, dairy free and low in fat, salt and sugar. The food, some of which you probably won't have heard of, let alone tasted, is consistently delicious and in the four-week trial, I was far more alert throughout the day and in almost ten years of early starts at the Echo, I've never felt more alive in the morning.

Meals comprise 187 different ingredients - of which 70 are fruit and vegetables - across a 30-day plan. Customers range from athletes such as six-times British Mixed Martial Arts Champion Jeff Lawson to people who simply want to lose weight, eat more healthily and feel more energised.

But it is that remarkable menu - always being modified and updated - that brings customers back month after month.

Tropical fruit granola, apricot crumble bar, spicy noodle salad, fruit flapjacks, mixed vegetable pizza, Thai chicken curry, Moroccan tagine, chestnut cutlets it all sounds so exotic, but it's delivered to your door each day.

After a month on the Nutrichef plan, I was simply bouncing and believe me, it didn't have anything to do with my size as the weight just kept falling off.