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I'm one of those people that wouldn't be caught dead running. Unfortunately I'm also one of those people that suddenly saw his weight increase after a long-term assignment at a customer with an excellent catering service. Within a year I gained about ten pounds. Not that this made me overweight, but it did seem a little too much to me. Friends also began to mentioned to me that I seemed to have gained weight. I stopped gaining weight after the assignment, but getting rid of the extra pounds seemed impossible. After four years, my weight hadn't changed a bit.

I eventually decided I'd have to do something about it, and my girlfriend mentioned Nupo's diet as a possible method. Somewhat skeptical at first, I investigated the claims and did some rough calculations on my own and came to a conclusion that is supported by Nupo's web site. Following the diet suggestion reasonably closely I expected a weight loss of around two pounds per week.

Fortunately I'm a reasonably determined person. When I started my martial arts training I decided I'd buy all of the belt colors after just two weeks of training, and my next graduation will prove that the black belt was not to be forgotten in the back of the drawer. In other words, I filled the kitchen shelf with Nupo products, ready to start on the diet the next day.

The Nupo products consist of basically three kinds of food, two of which are powder based: shakes, soups, and bars. The shakes come in coffee latte, chocolate, and strawberry flavors. The soups are mushroom and aspargus flavored. The bars are chocolate, caramel, hazel nut, and coconut flavored. All of the powder based products are shaked with water, and the soups are heated in the microwave afterwards. The bars don't need preparation.

The preferred flavor is obviously an individual choice. I quickly grew tired of the coffee latte, and the strawberry flavor is beginning to taste like "enough candy for tonight" to me. The bars are edible, and while they're not actually bad, they tend to eliminate my appetite. The first few bites are okay, but then each mouthful seems to grow bigger in my mouth until I really don't want to finish the bar. It's not that the taste is bad, but somehow I grow tired of the taste almost instantly. On the upside, you get the pleasure of chewing something, which is a much desired alternative to the powder-based products.

I like the soups, although they're certainly far from "real" mushroom or aspargus soup. As the shakes go, I prefer chocolate powder and I can stand the stawberry powder. I can probably stand all of the bars, but the coconut flavored bar has the advantage of a somewhat "fresh" taste compared with the other flavors.

I suppose the somewhat bland experience may be an advantage although it is hardly something Nupo would pride themselves of. If their weight loss products tasted as top of the line cuisine, perhaps the unfortunate users would be tempted to squeeze just one more chocolate bar down until eventually they might as well have eaten candy bars. Somehow it seems right that weight loss food doesn't tempt you to eat lots of it.

Nupo suggests different uses of the products appealing to the temperament of the individual users. The hard core version means you eat Nupo products only, and is obviously the most effective weight loss method. Less can do however, such as eating a regular meal once a day and replacing the other meals with Nupo's food replacements.

I've used the products somewhat in-between the hard core and the "one preferred meal" per day, and the weight loss promise by Nupo isn't all wrong. I managed to get rid of the extra pounds gained four years ago in about four weeks, and without feeling tired, particularly hungry, or otherwise feeling like I'm on a diet. And that included an occasional treat in the form of a piece of cake as well as a meal once a day.

Nupo cautions that, like with all weight loss programs, when the Nupo diet is finished you must be careful with your future diet. Research shows that no matter how successful people have been with their weight loss diets, they'll regain all of their weight unless they change their diet permanently.

And the free lunch? You won't get that, of course. Regular food tastes better than Nupo's products, and certainly provides much more variation than three shakes, four bars, and two soups. Nupo's products are reasonably priced, however, and if you decide to start the Nupo diet you may in fact save quite some money since you avoid the expenses on real food.

To summarize, the Nupo diet itself provides you with the nutrition you need, costs less than regular food, and each dish is prepared faster than most quick-meals. It doesn't provide you with the required energy, however, and therefore requires your body to burn fat, reducing your weight at a rate of two or three pounds a week.

The conclusion is evident: once you've reached your desired weight, you can keep your weight down on a diet of a somewhat dull appetizer and cake as the main dish--and still pay less for your food than today.