Can Greggs' New Minimise Me Plan Help With Weight Loss?

Hands up who loves a Greggs sausage roll or a Yum Yum?

You do? Me too!

In fact, I have to really turn on the willpower when I walk past a Greggs. If I have the spare calories, all is right in the world.

If not, step away from the pastry!

So when I heard Greggs had created their own eating plan experiment, I had to investigate.

The Plan

The plan is called Minimise Me, great name! Created by dietitian Laura Clark, it was used for 30 days by 4 people wanting to shift some pounds.

Greggs don’t give any information on how the 4 people ate before or what exercise they did but here’s how they got on . . .

Priscilla lost 2 dress sizes. She increased her steps and went to the gym alongside the plan.

Hannah lost 1 stone 3lbs. She also increased her steps and did regular home workouts.

Michelle is an emotional eater. She struggled a little but really wanted to fit into her wedding dress. She lost a total of 9cm from her waist.

John struggled when it came to socialising with his friends. He stuck to the plan and lost 10cm from his waist.

The results sound good don’t they? But how does the plan stack up calorie-wise and how nutritious is it really?

Let’s have a look...

Greggs Minimise Me Example Day

 

Breakfast: Red Berry Porridge & Fruit Medley

Lunch: Margherita Pizza

Dinner: Ham Salad Sub Roll

Snack: Summer Berry Pot

Most of the meals have been taken from the Greggs Balanced Choice menu where everything is under 400 calories. A good start!

We had a look at grab and go food a couple of months ago and featured some of this menu in that article.

Here is the plan that Greggs have available on their website. Unfortunately, it’s only a week’s worth but it could just be repeated.

I input the food for the week into the WLR food diary and it averages out at 1230 calories a day.

Calories in Greggs "Minimise Me" Plan

Day	Calories
Monday	1207
Tuesday	1127
Wednesday	1179
Thursday	1239
Friday	1352
Saturday	1288
Sunday	1214
Daily Average	1229

Depending on how much you have to lose and what your weight is now, that calorie allowance could work well for you. 

It includes 200ml of semi-skimmed milk and is reasonably balanced with 29.6% fat, 18.9% protein and 51.6% carbs across the week.

It does include salads and fruit – yes, Greggs sell something other than just sausage rolls and Yum Yums! There is also porridge, sandwiches and subs. The participants seemed to enjoy the food in the plan.

All good so far then?

It seems fairly balanced, reasonably calorie-counted and it got results for the 4 participants. So a thumbs up from me. 

I do have a few concerns though . . .

The cost and planning needed to follow the plan

You’d need to visit a Greggs daily at worst or every other day at least, to make sure the food you were getting was nice and fresh. And the cost for may be a factor for you. The food would cost just under £58 for the week for one person from our local Greggs, but their head office told me prices vary across the country.

Getting bored

Would you get really bored eating from the same place every day? There aren’t any hot evening meals included and most meals are bread-based or salads. That could get a bit tedious after a while.

What you could do is use this plan but swap the suggested evening meals for your own favourites as long as they are within calories allowed. Or, you could use the evening meals from one of our ready-made plans like the Super Tasty Diet Plan or Mediterranean Diet Plan.

Those with a bigger calorie allowance

If you have more calories than 1230 to play with each day, you could end up feeling hungry and needing a snack. The plan does allow for one snack a day included in the allowance but, that may well not be enough for you. How would you know what you could have to eat without scuppering your chances of success?

Want to know my verdict?

It’s calorie counted, balanced and, if you have a Greggs near you or on your way to work, reasonably convenient.

Ultimately, the Minimise Me plan from Greggs may well be a good kick start to help you shift some pounds. I’m not sure I could stick to it in the long term though.

It might be better to incorporate some of the meal options into a meal plan you put together yourself. That way, you can include some of your favourites from other places as well as your own go to meals to mix it up a bit. That would bring down the cost and keep you interested.