I signed up to ‘Graze’, a company who send out snack-boxes in the post so that you, I suppose, don’t have to worry about snacking. Snacking is pre-arranged. Now I must state from the beginning that I am not big on snacking – I don’t have crisps or sweets or biscuits in the house, and I’m not one of those people who will constantly be looking for something to nibble at. If I have some kind of crazy mid-morning low, then I’ll eat a banana. If, at three o’ clock, I can’t concentrate and have no energy, I’ll drink a pint of water, see how I feel after that, and then maybe have a bit of cheese or whatever is lying about in the fridge. I don’t ever ‘factor’ snacks into my diet and I don’t ever pop to the shops to pick up ‘treats’. That’s just the way I am – and it’s probably partly down to self-preservation because I can’t go gaining and losing weight all the time in my particular line of work. (I’m a model, by the way, for those who are new readers and who also happen to have missed the huge logo saying ‘A Model Recommends’ and the URL, which includes A Model Recommends.)

I think that snacking does somewhat destroy willpower and also your ability to properly gauge how much you have eaten throughout the day. On the other hand, the ‘grazing’ method works for many people and helps them to keep their blood sugar stable over the course of the day – I suppose it all depends on what you’re eating. If you’re eating small sections of a healthy meal, then great – if you’re eating crisps, chocolate and Twiglets, then not so great.

Back to the Graze box – I bought four boxes for £5 on Groupon a week or so ago and my first one arrived yesterday. I knew what was in it before I opened it because Graze emailed me – spoiler alert! – with a ‘sneak peek’. This wasn’t so much a ‘peek’ as a full-on exposé – you can see the screen-grab at the top of the page! I had a vague idea anyway because I had spent an enjoyable hour picking through the menu on the website, ticking things I liked the look of and crossing off things that I really didn’t. There’s plenty to choose from and you can go super-healthy (nuts, seeds) or not-so-much (flapjack, chocolate raisins) or a bit of both. I went for ‘a bit of both’ which could potentially spell disaster for my eating habits. But this is the plan: to eat the contents of the box over a number of days and to share them with Mr AMR, who enjoys a good snack. If I get just one or two boxes a week, I’ll be sorted for little emergency energy fixes.

I’ll admit that ticking ‘flapjack’ on the website was something of a rookie error – if it’s there, then it’s a temptation, surely? I may have to remove flapjack from the options for future boxes and keep it all strictly savoury. After I have donned my hair shirt and whipped myself with a length of knotted rope.

If you’ll take a look at exhibit one (above), you’ll see a close-up photo of my actual Graze box. The Hot Mango Salsa compartment had already been devoured (I have no idea how that happened) but there are three to go. I’m putting the olives into tonight’s salad and saving the naughty flapjack for the weekend. The ‘Wasapeas’ (nice name!) will do nicely for a little Thursday afternoon pick-me-up.

I do think that the Graze boxes are a good idea – good value for money, really, when you work out how much you’d spend on something similar from Pret or M&S. Each box costs £3.49 with delivery and it’s brilliantly convenient. I like that I can constantly adjust my preferred snacks – I’ll perhaps try one of the nutrition plans next – and that each snack is self-contained so that you can pop it into your bag. Most of the snack options would last a while out of the fridge, too, so they’re quite good for picnics. For those who don’t snack, it’s possibly insane to begin snacking now (I’m doing it for research purposes, obviously!) but for those who find themselves reaching for the chocolate digestives in the afternoon, this is a brilliant alternative. So long as you have the willpower not to eat everything in one go – I’d say there’s some pretty hefty calories going down in a Graze box.

You can order a free Graze box by clicking here: FREE GRAZE BOX or using the promotion code TM48RT8