Having spent over $500 on a five-day meal programme, local personality Rosalyn Lee, better known as Rozz, was surely not expecting to be complaining about the experience on social media.
The former radio presenter shared in a series of Instagram Stories posted on Thursday (Oct 19) that she was looking for a quick fix after developing a toxic relationship with food since her return from overseas.
The 43-year-old said she would binge eat "four to five local meals a day" and feel lousy about herself thereafter.
So, when she came across Reculture and its food programmes, it seemed like the perfect solution.
Rozz says she "caved in" and signed up for the programme, which promises "dense in nutrition" meals that will jolt one's metabolism into "high gear".
Based on the menu Rozz reviewed, she appeared to have sprung for the 5 Days Reset programme, which is priced at $518 before taxes.
The programme includes 10 meals delivered to your doorstep, two days' worth of homeopathic drops and a guidebook on how and when to consume the drops.
The guidebook also includes a list of foods that are "permissible for breakfasts and snacks".
Rozz knew something wasn't right early on.
"I was properly raging back then and felt nothing conducive could come out of a rant. So, I waited till the emotions subsided," she shared.
You eat with your eyes first, right?
Unfortunately for Rozz, Reculture's Tom Yam Chicken Soup was anything but inviting. And it tasted like how it looks, she added — tough chicken and mushy vegetables with no flavour.
Rozz then shared clips of other Reculture meals and asked her followers if they see anything nourishing about them.
"This definitely ain't tomyum. This was tom-so f***ing not-yum," she wrote.
Rozz mentioned that she loves light flavours and eating clean but she simply can't tolerate food that is "devoid of its natural flavours and textures".
By the first few meals, she was over it, writing, "I f***ing hated myself."
This trend of drab meals would hit a new low with the Italian Baked Fish.
"This is the meal you wouldn't even wanna serve your worst enemies," she said, before channeling her inner Gordon Ramsay and dumping the fish in the bin.
That was the final straw for Rozz as she sprinted to the supermarket to buy fresh ingredients to cook for dinner.
The steamed fish and vegetables she prepared were much more to her liking than the last couple of Reculture meals.
"Natural goodness. No more falling for unhealthy-as-f*** quick fixes."
Rozz was not the only unhappy Reculture client. Replying to Rozz, one of her Instagram followers also admitted to buying into the food programme but claimed they'd been "fooled".
"The diet was engineered to put me in [a] severe calorie deficit. The calorie deficit would result in weight loss but it's no better than a crash diet, and definitely no healthier," they added.
Responding to AsiaOne's queries on the matter, a Reculture spokesperson said the company takes all constructive feedback seriously and has reached out to the Rozz to understand her situation.
The spokesperson added: "We recognise that the meals designed for our programme, which are free of oils, preservatives, sugars, carbohydrates, and artificial colour and flavouring, would not appeal to most people, and the programme does demand some level of sacrifice in order to achieve its objectives."
Nevertheless, the company expressed its thanks to Rozz for her input, and promised to study how it can "make such sacrifice more palatable".
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