Anyone use a meal delivery service?

[CzeCze]

Even 2 years ago when I looked, there were only a handful of such services. Now there are at least 25 nationwide and I'm guessing a lot more that just serve certain metro areas, especially diet conscious Southern CA.

I was wondering if anyone had tried such a service that specialized in diet foods or knew someone how had? Was the food fresh? Tasty?

Some of the meal delivery services don't seem to be so much about diet needs or nutrition and just about good food and/or convenience, which is nice, but I want something that will help me lose weight (my weight is creeping back up again) and ideally regulate my blood sugar.

On a side note, there are Vietnamese sammich (that's sandwich for you proper folks) shops that can deliver daily meals to you in my area. But dang, they're Vietnamese sammmiches, they only cost $1-$2 a pop to begin with and frankly a daily diet consisting solely of cold sandwiches and maybe spring rolls regardless of how tasty they are isn't what I'm looking for.

If I do a trial delivery I'll post what the food is like.

BTW, I hate pre-canned food, I don't do microwave meals and I still have a very bad taste from The Zone meals I ordered.

 

[Tigerlily]

Even 2 years ago when I looked, there were only a handful of such services. Now there are at least 25 nationwide and I'm guessing a lot more that just serve certain metro areas, especially diet conscious Southern CA.

I was wondering if anyone had tried such a service that specialized in diet foods or knew someone how had? Was the food fresh? Tasty?

Some of the meal delivery services don't seem to be so much about diet needs or nutrition and just about good food and/or convenience, which is nice, but I want something that will help me lose weight (my weight is creeping back up again) and ideally regulate my blood sugar.

On a side note, there are Vietnamese sammich (that's sandwich for you proper folks) shops that can deliver daily meals to you in my area. But dang, they're Vietnamese sammmiches, they only cost $1-$2 a pop to begin with and frankly a daily diet consisting solely of cold sandwiches and maybe spring rolls regardless of how tasty they are isn't what I'm looking for.

If I do a trial delivery I'll post what the food is like.

BTW, I hate pre-canned food, I don't do microwave meals and I still have a very bad taste from The Zone meals I ordered.

I often go to meal assembly store's where you mix your own meals at stations, but other than Medifast I haven't had food delivered to our home.

I was looking for a place like this for some local friends last week who are vegans and found this place.

I know you don't like microwave meals, but I've been eating Lean Cuisine and Weight Watchers frozen meals mostly for lunch everyday and their quite good! Some of my favorite LC's are Gourmet Mushroom Pizza, Chicken Spinach and Mushroom Pannini, Asian-Style Beef with Ginger and Soy, etc.

Good luck and let us know what you find!

 

[Atomic Fiend]

Does Pizza Hut count?

 

[CzeCze]

Does Pizza Hut count?

Only if that's your sole provider of meals for a week at a time and your goal is to gain weight and cholesterol levels.

Silently, I hope for your sake that you're not trying to pull a "Supersize Me".

 

[Atomic Fiend]

Silently, I hope for your sake that you're not trying to pull a "Supersize Me".

That's ridiculous CzeCze, I'm in the best shape of my life.

 

[scantilyclad]

I often go to meal assembly store's where you mix your own meals at stations

where do you find places like this? that sounds very interesting.

 

[Tigerlily]

where do you find places like this? that sounds very interesting.

Google "meal assembly store" in your city. Here's a good article describing what it's all about.

I like it as long as the menu for the month is decent and imo for a smallish family it's affordable and great way to serve up a nice dinner.

You can also take all the credit because technically you did make it!

 

[Dansker]

I used to use one in Sydney from time to time called Eat Fit Food.

Breakfast, lunch and dinner were delivered to me every day. It was delicious, so so so easy and not too expensive.

I only stopped when I moved offices and their delivery schedule didn't account for the new location.

ETA - I just checked out the prices on their website - it's certainly gone up since I last used it.

 

[CzeCze]

Pic that makes me go

For you Silently --

And I just ordered my first week of meals diet to go I was considering BistroMD and ediets first, but I read reviews that turned me off and this is the company that was in DC when I lived there. Funny that it's still "local" after I moved so I figured why not save money on s/h, as the other places just FedEx you the food. Supposedly this place has some of the freshest, tastiest food. And I chose the vegetarian meal plan just in case -- aside from fear of salmonella, when I think prepackaged, precooked meat I think airline food. Yuck.

We shall see!

And Dansker, that's too bad about the prices coming up. It's surprising just how many food delivery service there are (especially in metro areas, but particular in southern ca. LA and Orange County have TONS of local diet delivery companies) and I think they are competing now to make niches for themselves with diet affiliations, raw/organic foods, gourmet, cuisine type and pricing themselves accordingly. The prices can be anywhere from $9-$35 US dollars a day for the services.

 

[talkabout]

Four Meal Services Compared

I just put in a personal shopping request to find the best meal delivery service at Find My Bargains and they came up with an answer. They compared 4 services - one being Diet to Go and Dine Wise is another.

I was given a free take home meal from Diet to Go at a local gym in Philadelphia and found the food to be quite good. Even items that I didn't think I would like - were surprisingly good. The veggies were crisp and fresh and not over cooked. The entree was tasty but not overly salty. They give you all of the nutrition info and keep you in a healthy calorie, fat and salt range. They also showed me a book of testimonies from people who have used the service to lose weight. I think I may sign up for a 5 night dinner plan as I have trouble making healthy meals during the week.

 

[CzeCze]

First week of Diet-To-Go

That's ridiculous CzeCze, I'm in the best shape of my life.

I'm glad that outfit comes with a mask, 'cause frankly I don't want to know who it is. (Can you imagine if that was your boss?)

--------------
So I tried my first week of Diet-To-Go meals, veggie 1200 calorie plan. I get to pick up meals locally so it's convenient. Not bad. The price is the best I could find, and the meals seem fresh and are EXTREMELY convenient which I love.

I never have to worry when I get hungry, as a preplanned meal is just a trip to the fridge away. Psychologically this is quite comforting knowledge. Meals take 0-40 seconds to prep, because many can be eaten cold with your hands. Perfect for this lazy dish washing adverse bastard!

The quality reminds me a little of better tasting cafeteria or hospitable food except with fresher veggies. It sounds negative, but it's not really. I think actual hospitable food pretty good for what it is. I'm just used to a lot of ethnic food, spicy and even pungent dishes, and eating out a lot. I have no complaints about the food, I'm just not raving about it either. Meals come with nutritional info.

If I needed to for health reasons, i could definitely stick to this.

If I don't lose weight in another week, I'll probably try another company or else just go back to my habits. In the meanwhile, I'm learning a lot about portion control. 1200 calories is REALLY LITTLE! I eat WAY more than 1200 calories normally I think and I don't even drink a lot of coffee drinks or junk food. I also don't think I eat an inordinate amount of food for my age and gender either -- just the 'average' portion size. If you go out and eat, you'll probably get 3x the portions of any meals I'm getting.

 

[Wolf]

How long have you been on it? It can take a while to lose weight. 1200 calories a day is a total starvation diet... 2000 is a starvation diet, too, for anyone over ~5' tall and weighing more than 95lbs.

That said, I don't know what my daily intake is. Over the last couple weeks my primary source of food has been the deli across from my office, which is like 7-something a day (food plus vitamin water), a bottle of orange juice, a couple of water, and some other random snacks. I've sort-of given up on cooking...

On the weekend, though, I eat stuff that'll kill me. #1, animal style, no tomatoes or lettuce, fries well done... KFC for lunch today. Those alone should make up for the lack of weekly intake, except that I actually exercised a bit both days.

 

[CzeCze]

I've been on it for just a week so far. I think I'm actually eating more on the plan than on my own. Well, I certainly eat more often which is supposedly what you're supposed to do. Some of the meals are not filling so I bought 100 calorie snack packs, which are so handy. All about portion control! So I'm pretty sure I'm getting at least 1500 calories a day.

And animal style! In-N-Out Burgers make me feel guiltless, they are so light and natural tasting. But yeah, that extra sauce might get to you. That's funny -- I also ate KFC the other day. I blame it on my brother who has a horrible 4000+ calories a day diet consisting of beer, take out, fast food, soda, and what he refers to as 'good hooch' (he's kinda an alkie)

Deli food has lots of hidden calories especially with the big overfilled sammiches. You wouldn't think so, but with a long-hour office lifestyle and minimal exercise -- man, I gained at least 2 dress sizes under 6 months just from eating at the delis and coffee shops around work.

My bro, btw is going to try the low-carb -- meaning high meat -- plan from the same company. It'll save on eating out on the long run. I'll post what those meals are like.

Personally, I'm a little suspect about mass prepared meat dishes and putting 3days worth of cooked meat dishes in the fridge. But, we'll see!

 

[Wolf]

I generally avoid the things with bread. A BLT wrap with no dressing or mayo is my usual standby, and I often eat the special (like a barbecue meat sandwich). Again, this is my only meal of the day with yogurt and drinks as the remainder of my diet.

I love In-N-Out, but I try to only indulge in it every couple weeks or less. It's not like the usual burger, but it still is if you eat a lot of them. Everything in moderation.

 

[CzeCze]

^^ It's offiicial, I have officially gained weight on this meal delivery Now I'm having second thoughts about this whole 'low carb' thing. The veggie diet is very high carb, lots of grains and even white bread. It's also partially my fault as I'm eating more often and more regularly thanks to the plan (which I guess is a good thing).

Wolf, have you tried breaking food up into smaller meals throughout the day? That's supposed to help speed up metabolism. It will also keep you full.