I will start off with the Morphy Richards Soup Makers. There are quite a few good ones but there are two which seem to stand out when everything is taken into account.

MORPHY RICHARDS SAUTE AND SOUP 501014

Ease of Use      9.5 out of 10
Value                 9.5 out of 10 (currently £54.99 on Amazon)
Easy to Clean   9.5 out of 10
Functions          9 out of 10

There is another Saute and Soup which is available but as it is more expensive but has consistently similar reviews to this model there does not seem to be much point in buying the other one. This is very easy to use and the saute function is very handy if you want to cook any ingredients first before incorporating them into the soup. This comes in particularly handy for people who want meat in their soups. The fucntions are easy to use. This can also be used as a blender and smoothy maker. There are smooth and chunky soup options. Overall a great soup maker! For more reviews on Amazon click here or on UK Argos site click here

You can also purchase used and new saute and soup makers on Ebay

MORPHY RICHARDS 48822 SOUPMAKER

Ease of Use      9.5 out of 10
Value                 9 out of 10 (currently £52.95 on Amazon)
Easy to Clean   9.5 out of 10
Functions          8.5 out of 10

This soup maker has all you need if you want to make soup quick and easily. There is the same functions as the saute and soup but no saute option so this is perfect for someone who just wants a straightforward soup maker. There is still the blend option for making smoothies and milkshakes. The price of this one and the saute and soup can vary. At the moment there is only a £2,04 between the two so it seems worth it to spend the bit extra for the saute option.

These diets are all good at one thing if you stick to them. You will lose weight.

You have lost weight – what now?

The thing about a lot of the fad diets which promise quick weight loss is that it seems to pile back on again just as quickly. Then you always seem to put a bit extra on as well. My mum had this theory that once you have put weight on and you fat cells have had their fill, they will easily fill back up again. I am sure there are scientific reasons for this, but the fact is that the majority of people who lose weight will put it back on again. Especially if the weight is lost using a fad diet which promotes rapid weight loss.

I have already written about my own long term weight issues in previous posts, the most recent being Happy New Year Equals Healthy Eating! On the whole I have managed to not let my weight get too far out of control apart from the few curve balls which have had a large impact on weight gain. Namely, giving up smoking, having babies and bereavement. In my youth I lost about 2 stones and kept this weight off pretty much for the whole of my twenties and into my thirties – until I gave up smoking.

I lost the initial weight by counting calories. I kept the weight off using common sense. I did not deny myself anything. I just tried to make amends on another day.

For example, I would be aware I was going out in town for a friends’ birthday on Friday night. I was also aware that alcohol has a lot of calories in it. Also, that I may think it’s a good idea to get a take away on the way home. Alcohol makes me hungry. So for the 2 days before Friday I would reduce my calories and eat lots of vegetables and fruit.

This worked for years. I might put on half a stone here or there but took it off again before things got out of hand.

It gets more difficult when you get older.

In my twenties there were a few things which made weight maintenance easier:

1) I did not have kids so what I bought in I ate. No cheese in the fridge to tempt me. No sneaky mouthfulls of lasagne while cooking the kids tea.
 

2) Vanity. When I was 24 it was a lot more important to me to be slim and looking good. When you have kids the vanity takes a back seat.
3) Lifestyle. In my twenties I went for long walks with my friend, played badminton, went circuit training etc. Single life means more time to yourself.

4) Energy. I definitely have less energy than I did. Whether this is because I have kids or because I am older I do not know for sure. Probably both. When some spare time does come my way I am more inclined to sit and read or jump in the bath than do anything energetic.

So which are the best diets for long term weight maintenance and weight loss?

After years of trying lots of diets I can only say that in my experience fad diets do not work in the long term. I have three favourite diets which I use and I chop and change between them. I am currently working on low calorie, when this wanes i will go onto the fast diet. I save Slimming World for school holidays when I have more time.

1) Counting Calories.

I will always resort to this diet first. All diets take will power to lose weight and counting calories is no exception. Once the weight is off however you can give yourself 2000 calories a day. Which means that if you get into the habit of choosing the healthy option and filing your plate with vegetables and salad you can easily arrange your week to have a treat at the weekend.

I have known quite a few people who have lost weight then maintained by counting calories during the week and then eating more at the weekend. As long as you are not consuming more than 14000 calories in the week you should not put weight on.

PROS

• Flexibility. I see this diet a bit like a bank account. If you spend too many calories on Wednesday then you have to tighten your belt on Thursday and/or Friday to compensate. This means you can literally eat what you want as long as you count it and compensate for it later or before.
• Easy to do if time is a luxury. There are a multitude of low calorie snacks out there that you can grab on the go. If you do not have the time to make lavish low calorie or healthy foods you can just buy them and grab them when you want.
• Loads of website with calorie information on. That’s if it is not already written on the packaging.

CONS

• By far the main issue with calorie counting particularly in the losing weight stage is hunger. When you are eating 1200 calories a day and you’ve already spent them by 4pm then you have a long evening of hunger ahead of you.

I try to combat the hunger problem by fitting the diet into my lifestyle in a way which works for me. I am never hungry when I awake. I can easily go for a few hours without eating without trying. So I have my coffee on the morning and don’t eat until break, when I have an orange. My work is very busy so I do not feel hungry until I stop at dinnertime when I have soup or a salad. I have a packet of low calorie crisps after school. In the UK we can get crisps for as little as 65 calories a bag. Lots under 90. Then tea is lean fish or chicken or a weight watchers meal with a huge mound of low calorie veg. Sprouts, cauliflower, broccoli etc. Sometimes I have jacket potato (no butter of course) with beans or tuna. Low calorie yoghurt. There is still enough calories left for a small snack at supper.
 

So during the week I eat less and have an extra couple of hundred calories at the weekend. This also works when maintaining. You can just eat more.

2) The Fast Diet

The fast diet or 5:2 diet is also something I can stick to long term, particularly when working. It is also pretty easy at home too. I lost all the weight after my second pregnancy by following this plan and I was at home with my new baby throughout.

The idea is pretty easy really. Two days a week eat a quarter of your calorie intake (for me that’s 500 calories). The other five days eat normally.

PROS

• Easy to follow.
• Flexible. You have days when you can treat yourself.
• a website where you can find out lots of information
• a book to follow and explain the plan. (That’s how I started it, I bought the book) When you’ve bought the book no more payments.

CONS

• The fast days. They take a bit of getting used to
• It is tempting to take the 5 eating normally days too literally and eat exactly what you want. On none fast days you still want to stick to your 2000 calories is possible.

I lost weight slowly but consistently on this diet over 5 months or so. Once I got used to the fast days I found it pretty easy.
 

3) Slimming World (food optimising)

I have included this one as it is a pretty good one for losing weight long term. I am not too sure on the maintaining though but the principles behind it have certainly helped me during maintaining phases. They promote foods which are low in calories but also fill you up for longer.

PROS

• You can eat a lot. Certainly more than on lots of other diets. This is the main positive.
• you do not get hungry.

CONS

• You get bored. You can eat a lot of certain foods. However, I got bored with eating the same stuff. you can eat loads of meat but as soon as you start adding any sauce the sins creep up. A ready meal can cost loads of sins.
• If you are very busy you’ll get bored quicker. To really enjoy the diet you need time to make and enjoy the lovely free recipes.
• To learn about the diet you need to join a club or know someone else who has and is prepared to give you their books about red days, green days and extra easy.

The main reason for following this diet for me is the lack of hunger. I personally got bored because I enjoy crisps and such things. A bag of cheese and onion is about 10 sins which is your days’ sins gone, but on calorie diets it is only 150 calories so it is not the end of the world.

In conclusion

It is entirely up to you of course which diet you use but in my experience these diets are the best for keeping the weight off as well.

I am also interested in some detox plans to kick start your diet or to get ready for a wedding or family gathering. These are short term health kicks though so will leave that for another post.

As always any comments are welcome

Some things never change.

I have to be honest though. Every year starts with a healthy eating plan and diet. That is because every year the middle of December arrives and an invisible switch happens somewhere in my brain. I go from someone who loves food but can generally maintain my weight and eat healthily to someone who eats everything I see no matter how many calories and how unhealthy it is. This lasts until the end of New Years day.

That is why I am writing my post on second of January and not the first. The first is family meal time with roast and gravy and sponge and custard! The second is when my healthy eating plan always starts.

I have quite a bit of work to do.

I have mentioned in previous posts that I have been settled in the overweight section of the height weight chart since I first gave up smoking 9 years ago. When I have gone on my new year diet after my December splurge I have always lost a bit and gone back to my previous comfortable and familiar state of being in the mid overweight section. I am tall you see. So I can get away with carrying a bit more weight. That’s what I’ve always told myself anyway.

This year I had my usual splurge. However, I also ate not very sensibly for quite a large chunk of 2017 because my grief and upset took over and it did not seem as important to maintain my weight.

I do not get on the scales as I spent too much of my life being obsessed with them. The drama and upset after a week of dieting an only half a pound came off! However, I have been aware for a while that I have been slowly expanding. A trip to the doctors before Christmas confirmed I was nearly as heavy as I was after the birth of my first child. That was BEFORE Christmas so I have to face the fact that I am now considerably overweight.

So I am going to do something about it. I have not got weighed again but I have measured the width of certain parts of my anatomy. I am going to measure the same areas every 2 weeks and use these as a gauge for my weight loss.

The Plan for January

I do have more work than usual to do this year and I am entertaining the idea of continuing my healthy eating and going past my 9 year comfort zone and maybe heading into the OK section.

One month at a time though. I have managed to maintain my weight and not let things get too out of hand by doing the following:

1) When the weight does start to really creep on do something about it before losing weight gets to be too daunting a prospect.

2) Follow different diets.

3) Not get stressed about it.

That’s it really. At the beginning of a diet I find my willpower is at its strongest so I will spend the next few weeks watching my calorie intake and I will aim to consume an average of 1200 per day. Initially I am going to detox a bit and only eat unprocessed food. Fruit, vegetables, homemade soup, fresh chicken and fish. Just for a few days to kick start the year. This gives me energy as I am eating all things good.

I cannot maintain that for long however so I will continue with the 1200 calorie thing until my willpower starts to wain. I cannot plan too far ahead as I do not know when this will happen. When I am work I can calorie count more successfully. I am so busy at work I can go all day on fruit at break and homemade soup or small salad at dinner. Topped up with fruity tea in between.

When I say an average 1200 a day that means I try to consume 1000 when I am at work Monday to Thursday. This leaves an extra 800 for Friday Saturday and Sunday. So I plan to have approximately 1500 calories on these days.

There are loads of low fat products out there. I have discovered over the years that you can eat some foods on a calorie diet which you may not realise you can. Realistically you can eat anything if you count the calories but some things are not really worth it. They can be saved for the treating yourself when maintaining.

You can Treat yourself – Just remember to count everything.

For instance 100g of puff pastry is 558 calories. Much as I love puff pastry I think it is not really worth it looking at calories alone. So a cheese and onion pasty will have quite a few calories in it. I think it is not very filling to spend nearly half your daily calories on.

There are lots of healthy foods like soup which you can eat plenty of. Also, potatoes are pretty good and also quite filling. Dried pasta has fewer calories than fresh pasta. A tin of tuna does not have lots of calories (varies slightly depending on whether in brine or sunflower oil etc). A tin of tuna mixed with vinegar and seasoning on a medium jacket potato will be around 300 calories.

This may not be exciting for some, so add 164 calories and you can have a chili chicken wrap from Macdonalds!

There are 260 calories in a mars bar. (58g bar)

There are 84 calories in a packet of Quavers crisps. There will be other versions of similar corn snacks which have a surprisingly low calorie content.

Salted popcorn is also pretty good. I love salted popcorn! There are 286 calories in a small portion of popcorn at my local cinema.

Onward and Upward

I am at the very beginning of my weight loss journey and I am full of enthusiasm after eating unhealthy stuff for so long. I pray it continues. I will write my measurements in 2 weeks when hopeful they have reduced. I am still a bit shocked at some of them so will be able to write about them much more enthusiastically when they are reducing!

I will keep you posted.

Any comments are welcome as always

I spent a lot of time in my youth resenting the fact that I could not eat what I wanted. I would get very stressed as I put on half a stone after a weeks holiday abroad while my slim friend did not put on an ounce. “But I did not eat that much” I would tell myself, ” not enough to put half a stone on anyway.”

I realised one day in the distant past that it did not matter how badly done to I felt. It did not matter how much I ranted about my slow metabolism. It did not matter how much my friend could get away with eating. The fact was, I could not. If I did not watch my food intake my weight would increase. If my body did not need it, it was stored as fat. That is the hard truth.

Acceptance is the First Step.

Once I accepted this hard truth I realised the only person who could do anything about it was me. I realised that if I ate too much I would put weight on. Simple equation really.

If I did not put it in my mouth then I would not put weight on. Simple.

If it was that simple, there would not be a global obesity crisis. The fact is, as well as having a rather slow metabolism I was also born with a genuine love of all things food. I like pretty much ALL food. Until a year or two ago I could boast that there was no food I had tried and not liked.

Then one day I went for afternoon tea with a friend. One of the things on offer was smoked salmon and cream cheese sandwiches. The bread – fine. Cream cheese – lovely. Smoked salmon – not so much. For the first time I found myself unable to finish something because I did not like it.

I am sure there are other foods which I have not tried which I would not like but you get the picture. I love food. Particularly savoury pastries such as pies and anything with cheese on it. Note these are not at the bottom end of the calorie spectrum.

It is all about Balance.

There are times in life when a switch clicks in the brain and you get that determination to lose weight. I have experienced this a few times and I grab onto this mindset for as long as it stays with me. Unfortunately it tends not to last too long and the long term prospect of weight maintenance needs tackling.

This is something I have been pretty good at. At a normal time, where there is no extra stresses on top of normal stresses I can maintain my weight by finding a good balance. I will go into the extra stresses in a while, especially as I am coping with such a situation right now.

For now, I will talk about balance. Common sense weight management.

To me this is much easier if you look at things week on week. Realistically a woman of my age will expect to use approximately 2000 calories a day without putting weight on. If you are a seasoned dieter like me you will probably be able to have a good guess at the calorie content in most things. Luckily calories are written on most packaging these days.

I will use my typical week as an example.

I know I will eat more at the weekend. To me it much easier to eat healthy when I am at work. So I eat less Monday to Thursday (I do not work Friday).

This will typically be fruit or something at breakfast. (luckily I am not hungry on a morning so I use this to my advantage)

I then get a salad at dinner from the canteen or take in some home made soup.

At tea, I have something like fish in breadcrumb or chicken with salad or vegetables. Followed by a low fat yogurt.

Maybe a packet of Quavers or low calorie crisps at supper.

I also drink a lot during the day. Coffee in the mornings, tea in the afternoon and water or low calorie drink in the evening.

This means I am eating somewhere between 1200 and 1500 calories a day without really trying too hard. I stick to 2000 on Friday and then I have between 2000 and 3200 extra calories to spend at the weekend. Glass or two of wine, pie, whatever I fancy.

If I have a bad day on Monday I try to have a fast day on Tuesday (500 calories).

The main thing is that if you do have a splurge and eat too much, nip it in the bud the next day instead of using this as an excuse to splurge for the rest of the week and then say I will start again Monday. Common sense.

The Extra Stresses

As I mentioned earlier in the page there are times in life when the common sense just does not cut it. For the last 6 years my weight has stayed pretty constant. A couple of ups and downs but pretty constant. I am overweight and have been for all this time. I was overweight a couple of times before this as well and lost the weight.

The main thing is I have maintained between times and managed to not let the weight get the better of me. I have managed to not creep over the obese bracket.

My initial weight gain happened because I gave up smoking. (the first time). I put on about 2 stone. So I started smoking again. I maintained. After a couple of years I decided to give up smoking again. This time I did not put weight on because I followed the Slimming World diet for 3 months afterwards. You can eat a lot on the slimming world diet. I did not lose weight at all. Whether this was because my metabolism slowed because of the lack of smoking or because I was eating SO much I am not sure. I am inclined to think the latter.

Then came baby number one. I put weight on then lost again but only back to my previous weight (the overweight after giving up smoking). I maintained.

Then baby number two came. Same thing happened. I went back to previous state but stuck there. I maintained.

Earlier this year I started my own long term healthy eating regime as I have written in other posts and pages. Juicing for a week or two, intermittent fasting for a week or two, calories for a week or two. Basically using all the things I had learnt from my years of dieting. The weight started to come off. How much, I do not know because I do not weigh myself but my trousers got looser, my coats and shirts were looser.

As the year went on however I lost a lot of my resolve as it became clear that someone dear to me was losing their battle with cancer. She lost her battle in September and I have been spending the last few months trying to come to terms with the loss. As you can imagine the last thing on my mind has been my weight management.

I know I have put weight on again as I have not cared what I have eaten for a while. A trip to the doctors gave me the welcome news that I am not quite as large as when I had baby number one, but I am definitely well into the overweight section on the height/weight chart.

I will start my plan again in the New Year. I am continuing to try maintain over Christmas. I am not going to get stressed about it. What is the point? I am going to do something about it.

I will let you know how I get on.

I have to confess that in the past I was very much a ready meal type of cook. It isn’t that I cannot cook from scratch, more that I was always too busy doing something else. On the few occasions I have attempted cooking things from scratch the result has been edible at least. Time always got away from me though, particularly in term time when marking and planning took up a lot of evenings.

I wrote a page earlier this year about the joys of juicing. I still love juicing though I confess I do not get the juicer out as often as I did. This has a lot to do with the darkening nights and mornings and the cold weather. One of the things I discovered during my ‘juice yourself slim’ period was the fine art of making a home made soup. Until this year, soup for me was always from a tin.

I could not believe how easy it is to make soup!

The first soup I made was a butternut squash and carrot affair. Get pan, put a tablespoon of oil in the bottom, chop up and chuck the ingredients in. Heat it. Let the veggies ‘sweat’ for 10 mins. Add some vegetable stock. Simmer for 20 mins. Hey presto! Lovely soup. I was very impressed with my little self.

As the year has progressed so has my soup making skills. I would say I regularly make soup now and it is even easier as I have invested in a soup maker. Lots of friends recommended getting one but it was so easy using the pan I thought why bother? Eventually I did get one though. I settled on a Morphy Richards saute and soup. A friend recommended it as you can saute onions at the start or even chicken etc if you want to make a chicken soup. Just chop stuff up, chuck it in, add water, stock and seasoning and press go. Even easier than the pan!

The thing about soup is it really tasty, filling, cheap to make and most importantly making it helps you to lose and/or maintain your weight.

I am so giddy about the soup making for five reasons really

1. It is so easy to do!

2. It is healthy!

3. Its cheap! (even if you do buy a soup maker you’ll make that back in a couple of months. You can make 3 bowls of leek and potato soup for next to nothing)

4. It is filling. After a bowl or two of soup I’m OK for hours. I find blending the soup  makes it more filling for some reason.

5. It is so versatile! You can have meat soup or vegetable soup. Within these two food groups alone there is a lot of variety. You can have it smooth or chunky or slightly blended.

The soup maker makes enough for a few bowls. So I can make a soup and have a bowl for dinner, put the rest in a flask and have 2 bowls for tea! Low fat, low calorie and filling. I use the Thermos Stainless Steel food flask. I bought mine at Argos but you can get them at Amazon as well.

There are only two cons that I have found.

1. You can get sick of the soup eventually so do not overdo it. Mix it up with other healthy stuff.

2. It is very tempting to add a bit of bread to the soup. A bit is OK of course. Unfortunately my bit of bread tends to be more of a doorstop with butter thick enough for teeth marks.

Overall I think soup making is a must for anyone wanting to eat healthy long term. As with all the suggestions on the website it is to mixed up with other low fat ideas.

For a couple of recipe ideas and suggestions. Click here. I will add some more recipes soon.

Feel free to write any comments

I just love eating food!

This heading is pretty much my problem in a nutshell. Yes I do need to exercise, yes I have a pretty slow metabolism. I have been on the breadline so I know that a lot of the cheaper food is high in calorific content.

In my case I love eating. Thats it really. These days lots of foods are designed to really get your taste buds going. They may be unhealthy but they taste really good! I know that donner kebabs are unhealthy but I love a donner wrap from my local take away. I also love calzone pizza, chicken and mushroom pie, cheese toasties, pork pie, burgers, fish and chips. The reason why these foods are sold so successfully even though they have lots of calories is because they taste good! Eating food that you really like is a really pleasurable experience.

I am lucky in one way. I can turn down chocolate. I like it but I can resist it. The same cannot be said for steak and ale pie. There are times in the past when I have had a wake up call. I got on the scales or I saw a photo which did not show my best side. At these times vanity took over and I developed willpower. My determination to be slim overrode my love of cheese for a while and the weight came off.

Learning to Deal With the Ongoing Battle

So I am lovely and slim for a while and can wear the size 12 jeans again. Then what? Slowly but surely the love of cheese overpowers the determination to be slim and the weight creeps on.

This is an ongoing battle and will be a continuing battle for the rest of my life. As I get older the desire to lose weight has become much more to do with health and less about vanity (though I still have my fair share). I have accepted that this battle will continue and I have a much more common sense attitude to weight loss. More chilled out if you like.

Firstly I do not beat myself up anymore if I eat something I should not. If this is a planned splurge then I make home made soup for breakfast and lunch in preparation. Low calorie food which has what I want in it. If this is an unplanned splurge then I do that the next day. Or I have a fast day. Or a juicing day.

Secondly I do not feel badly done to that my weight piles on so easily. What’s the point? Will feeling sorry for myself help in any way? Nope. Which leads to the following.

Thirdly I accept that my eating is my responsibility. There are people making millions of pounds making food which people like me will find difficult to resist. There are also those who make millions trying to help me lose it. It is my choice what I put in my mouth and what I spend my money on.

Finally I do not do a specific ‘diet’. As I have said in the past all popular diets work if you stick to them. Long term sticking to one way of eating gets boring and therefore more difficult to stick to.

This website is all about long term health and weight loss. Maintaining weight so that the weight does not pile back on and then some. Learn about the principles of all the diets (I have written about some of these on this site).  Then choose which suits YOU. There is not a rule book somewhere which says you have to spend 6 months doing weight watchers. Basically they are all about calories and fat content. Just work in a different way.

As always feel free to write any comments

After many years and many different diets I came up with a plan which I think I can stick to for the vast majority of the time. Even Christmas should not be too difficult to get past.

I have built up quite a good understanding of which foods are best for weight loss and for filling you up from doing the slimming world diet. I have a pretty good understanding of the calorie content in most things, though this information is now given on most packaged foods these days.

The main idea for my diet comes from the ‘fast diet’ idea. So for 2 days a week I am restricting my calories to 500 calories. I find these days relatively easy if I am at work. Just have a fruity tea at hand throughout the day and then I spend all 500 calories between 5pm and 8pm. There are lots of ideas and healthy information in the fast diet book which you can buy or download at Amazon. I usually eat a tuna salad or soup for tea and then a piece of fruit or something an hour or so before bed. Early night on fast days!!

Then the other three week days I eat healthily. A home made juice for breakfast and dinner with fruit in between if needed. A healthy tea, which might be a homemade soup a some meat dish with lots of veggies. I also see nothing wrong with the odd bag of quavers (low calorie) or another low calorie snack.

When I say the other 3 days i eat healthily this is not strictly true on Friday. Once the kids have gone to bed around 8pm I think i have earned the right to indulge in a cheeky glass of white wine.

On Saturday and Sunday I eat what I like.

I am finding this quite easy to stick to so far. This week is not so easy as the kids and myself are on half term holiday. The fast days are not so easy when there is a packed fridge within reach all day. But I keep myself going with the thought that its only for today. I can eat more stuff tomorrow. At the weekend I can really enjoy myself.

Thats why I like this way of eating. Yes a certain amount of restriction is still needed but its not permanent! I have only been doing this a couple of weeks but i remember the best thing about the fast diet.  If I have a bad day during the week I just have a fast day the day after and then get back on track.

I have purchased 3 things this year in an effort to improve my eating habits and also to try get as many health benefits as possible. A juicer, a soup maker and a blender.

My juicer gets used a lot. When i have juices I feel better and have more energy. They are also very nice. And you can hide all sorts of unpalatable stuff in between the fruit. One of my favourite juices has spinach in it! Yes spinach! But it also has lime which overrules the spinach. It tastes fruity and zesty!

The blender comes in useful for making breakfast smoothies. Together with the juicer, some bio yoghurt and some muesli you can create some lovely concoctions. I also love pouring juices with blended avocado. It makes them really creamy.

Also my new soup maker is getting a lot of use. Chop up some veg of your choice. Throw them in with some water and vegetable stock. Turn it on and return 20 minutes later and hey presto! Gorgeous, filling, low calorie and healthy soup.

I researched quite a bit for my juicer as they can be massively expensive. After looking at different reviews on which? and other sites I bough a Braun J300 juicer from argos. You can get these a bit cheaper at Amazon as well and also second hand and new on ebay. I have had not problems so far with mine.

The soup maker I bought is absolutely fabulous! Morphy Richards Saute and Soup. I read lots of reviews and they all seemed positive. My friend also bought a refurbished model from ebay and thought it was fantastic so I thought I’d give it a go. I am well impressed so far.

I will keep you posted on my progress on my new healthy eating regime. In the meantime I am always on the lookout for new healthy ways to eat so contact me if you have any healthy eating ideas.