Amy's Kitchen and Anchor Bay Entertainment have teamed up to create a diet and exercise plan called the New Year's Resolution Solution. Its purpose is to provide yummy, wholesome prepackaged foods for busy families while helping those who need to lose weight. At their website, www.Amys.com, you can find various details about the diet plan, the foods available for purchase, healthy menu ideas and recipes, as well as diet and exercise tips.

If you're trying to lose weight, the plan calls for you to eat Amy's meals two to three times a day along with lots of other fruits and vegetables. There are two diet options based on a 1,500 or 1,800-calorie daily menu, and you can expect to lose about two pounds a week. There are special options for those with dietary restrictions due to allergies or illnesses. In fact, each item on the website is marked with symbols to help you choose safe foods. If the food is dairy-free, for instance, you will clearly see a dairy-free symbol.

Whether you're trying to lose weight or not, Amy's food is better than the typical canned food you might find at the supermarket. My family and I taste tested the Medium Organic Chili and the Organic Chunky Tomato Soup. Both were excellent! Here are my husband's exact words about the chili: "Your homemade chili is better, but this is the best canned chili I've tasted." (Thank you, honey.)

All of Amy's food is made from organic ingredients with no additives, preservatives or GMO's. They say, "If you can't pronounce it, you won't find it on Amy's label." All Amy's products are vegetarian as well. Food choices include everything from burritos and pot pies to salsas and desserts. They even offer a line of kid-friendly meals, such as mac n' cheese, broccoli, bread and honey-sweetened apples.

The other half of the New Year's Resolution Solution is a Rapid Results Pilates - 10 Minute Solution DVD. This happens to be a very unique exercise DVD. You can choose to play the entire DVD for a full 50-minute workout, or you can choose the 10-minute segments that you'd prefer to do. You can even customize each day's workout to go through any or all of the segments in the order of your choice without having to stop and start your workout between segments.

Led by Pilates instructor Lara Hudson, the five 10-minute workouts include super toned buns and thighs, arm and shoulder shaper, waist slimmer, total body blast, and slim and sleek stretch. The instructor is motivating but doesn't go overboard trying to get you excited about the exercises. The segments offer challenging routines but nothing that is too difficult to learn or complete. Of course, I had to work my way up to doing all the segments in one exercise session!

Whether you're interested in the diet plan or not, the DVD can make a nice addition to your exercise lineup. As for the food, Amy's is a good option for those days when you need to use something prepackaged. It's definitely a better choice than similar items filled with unhealthy ingredients! And, I suppose it would make for a healthier choice as opposed to other prepackaged diet plans. If you'd like to give some of their foods a try, there's a store locator on their website. Just type in your zip code, and all of the stores in your area that sell Amy's foods will come on the screen.

Happy eating and exercising!

Product review by Cindy West, The Old Schoolhouse® Magazine, LLC, November 2007