Anyone who has been on a diet knows how difficult it is to eat out – particularly for the midday meal.

Town centres are packed with fast-food and sandwich shops, but look a little closer and that pre-packaged sandwich can sometimes contain as many calories as a greasy burger.

It was this frustration which led Steve Lampard and Jason Bright to open the first LoveFit Cafe, tucked away in Brighton Square in a former Ben And Jerry’s shop, selling low-fat but tasty alternative cafe food.

And last week, five years on, the pair opened their second branch of the cafe chain, in the former Cancom Computers shop in Queen’s Road.

Both are keen gym-goers, so are happy to have opened directly between two gyms – Fitness First towards the railway station and LA Fitness in North Road.

“A lot of people go to those gyms and there is no kitchen at either,” says Lampard, who has tailored this cafe’s menu to its potential clientele.

“We do a variation on protein shakes and smoothies, adding a bit of fruit to the whey protein shakes.

“We take something fundamental and add a flavour or some twist to it.”

Looking through LoveFit’s menu, the over-riding impression is of a classic cafe selection – with smoothies, freshly squeezed juices, paninis and salads in abundance. And with Bright a vegetarian himself, there is a healthy meat-free selection alongside the tuna and chicken – as well as extensive gluten-free options.

“A lot of diets fail because who wants to keep eating bland and uninspiring food,” says Lampard. “As well as getting the nutritious benefits, you should also enjoy eating at the same time.

“We wanted to make it so we served the same food people are used to having in a cafe – paninis, salads and toasties – nothing off the wall.”

Before opening their first branch, Lampard and Bright visited different cafes and smoothie bars to explore what else was on offer – something Bright admits they still do whenever they visit a new place.

And the pair spend a lot of time testing and re-examining their menu to ensure they still get the same amount of taste from the low-fat and calorie count.

One example is their delicious Italian chicken panini, which sees the chicken accompanied by fresh basil to add extra flavour and a tasty cheese sauce which combines low-fat mozzarella with Somerset mature cheddar.

“It’s proper decent food, cutting down on the saturated fats,” says Lampard.

“We are using low-calorie and lighter ingredients,” adds Bright. “We use wholemeal flour and brown sugar so it is more wholesome, and we bake everything ourselves.”

The menu is set to rotate over time, to match the seasons and introduce new flavours, with plans to introduce rice pots for the winter.

The beauty of LoveFit, though, is anyone could come in off the street without necessarily being aware that it is a “healthy” cafe.

The bright orange colour scheme has been carried through from the first branch of the business, following a £40,000 refit, but has an added surf theme – with surfboard-shaped tables and comfy sofas and chairs.

There is also an outside space – perfect for commuters going up the road to Brighton Station or holidaymakers making the trip down to the beach.

The organic coffee comes from Redroaster, all juices are freshly squeezed and all smoothies use fresh fruit, with no syrup sachets.

Monday sees the cafe go online with free wifi and, similar to the Brighton Square branch, LoveFit will be launching its own loyalty card scheme in the next few weeks.

“We are still finding our feet,” admits Lampard, who employs six staff at the cafe, in addition to the four already in the Brighton Square branch.

“All the way along we have had good feedback from customers.”

“We’ve even had people asking if we can open branches in Crawley and Stoke,” laughs Bright.

  • LoveFit Cafe, in Queen's Road, Brighton, is open Monday to Friday 7am to 7pm, Saturday and Sunday 9am to 7pm. For more information, visit lovefit.co.uk or call 01273 720100