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Dieting With Prepared Meals

Tuesday, March 19th

Dieting with Prepared Meals

Whether a person is dieting to lose weight, detox their body, or keep a specific health concern in check, mindful eating is becoming more common. Those looking for convenient, time-saving meal options have begun exploring prepared meals, and vendors selling these are gaining serious traction. Prepared meal delivery boxes allow a person to stick to diet regulations while still cooking from the comfort of home.

If you're committed to sticking to a diet and are new to the idea of prepared meals, you likely have some questions: Is there a prepared meal provider that can suit your specific needs? Do they make dieting easier? Let's discuss meal delivery kits for diets:

What Are Common Reasons for Dieting?

There's no doubt that your diet dramatically impacts your health. According to the University of Minnesota, "the standard American diet is heavy in saturated fats, partially-hydrogenated oils, refined carbohydrates, and highly processed foods... (t)his diet, in combination with a sedentary lifestyle, large portion sizes, and high stress, is blamed for the increase in obesity and associated diseases in the U.S." Naturally, consumers today are looking to break away from this disturbing trend by dieting.

Switching diet plans is a big commitment, and people do so to achieve a variety of personal goals. There is a wide range of reasons why an individual might choose to order diet prepared meals. They may do so for ethical reasons, in order to achieve greater health and physical fitness, and or for therapeutic reasons.

Moral Dieting

Intensive farming methods as a result of meat and dairy production can result in both ecological and animal rights issues. The morality of perpetuating these practices by continuing to consume animal-derived products can become overwhelming to ethically conscious consumers. As a result, many have adopted a vegan or vegetarian diet. Consumers looking for vegan prepared meals can rely on vendors like Veestro.

Some consumers may opt for less restrictive diets, focusing on specific ethical concerns. For example, if a specific food producer has engaged in morally questionable behavior, some people may leave products from that brand off their plates. Another common reason for moral dieting is to avoid goods that are too resource intensive or damaging to local ecologies, such as palm oil.

Best Prepared Meal Companies

Getting Physically Fit

People may also choose to modify their diet in order to reach fitness goals, whether that be losing weight or gaining muscle mass. Shedding extra weight can decrease your risk of developing serious health complications. Vendors specializing in prepared meals for fitness are a good match to help users shed those extra pounds. A person on a diet to lose weight should opt for nutrient-rich, low-calorie foods like:

  • Leafy greens
  • Fish
  • Beans/legumes
  • Whole grains
  • Fruit
  • Nuts

Additionally, a diet can help individuals build muscle, which can be self-affirming and beneficial for work or competitive sports. As noted by Bodybuilding.com, a diet designed to build muscle should consist of high-protein foods. Prepared meals for athletes commonly include ingredients like:

  • Chicken/turkey
  • Fish
  • Beans/legumes
  • Lean red meat
  • Slow-burning carbs
  • Whey protein

Highly related to getting physically fit, consumers may choose to go on a diet to build their self-esteem. What you eat can affect your mental health in many ways, and your body image directly influences your self-esteem. The happier you are with your body, the happier you will be overall. While developing a strong sense of self-worth demands making some time for yourself, dieting can be an effective way of bolstering your self-esteem.

Can Prepared Meals Be Used for Prescribed Medical Diets?

Certain genetic predispositions or chronic conditions may cause your physician or dietician to prescribe a diet. When undergoing such a diet, it's essential for people to follow strict guidelines in order to protect their health. For instance:

  • If someone suffers from cardiovascular disease, they may be prescribed a heart-healthy diet consisting of low-fat protein sources, many fruits/vegetables, restricted unhealthy fats, and reduced sodium.
  • A person with diabetes may be prescribed a low-inflammation diet full of fiber-rich foods, healthy carbohydrates, and reduced carbohydrates. Prepared meals for diabetes keep consumers healthy by following these guidelines.
  • Some conditions, like being susceptible to epilepsy, can be treated by dieting - in this case, the ketogenic diet.
  • On the advice of a dietician, some consumers may go on a detox diet to remove harmful toxins from their body. This could be a short-term commitment, like a seven-day detox plan, or a long-term diet change. Consumers looking to detox usually seek out locally-grown, organic produce and avoid processed foods. Foods with dairy, wheat, added sugar, or caffeine are often verboten.

Prepared meals can seem like a tempting method of achieving you personal goals, but if you have a prescribed medical diet, the idea of switching to a prepared meal diet may seem unviable. Fortunately, there are many prepared meal providers that design their meals for people with gluten or dairy intolerances, allergies, or medical conditions. Some examples of prepared meal providers that offer goods for people with dietary restrictions are Home Chef, Blue Apron and Plated. Regardless of your needs, there is a vendor that can suit your restrictions and tastes. But one question remains: Is the convenience of prepared meals worth the cost?

Do Prepared Meals Make Dieting Easier?

Despite what your assumptions may be regarding the costs of prepared meals, they can actually help you save some money. Don't forget that these meals eliminate some of the most pricey household expenses: your grocery bills. With so many available options, meal delivery companies ensure you'll never get bored and that you'll never have to go to the grocery store. The nature of meal kits - of buying pre-portioned servings for your meals - means you'll waste less money throwing out food (and you'll generate less waste too!).

Prepared meal delivery boxes allow a person to stick to diet regulations while still cooking from the comfort of home. You don't need to drive out to the grocery store, stand in the aisles, and squint at nutritional facts any longer; with prepared meals, your portions are already determined. Overeating, or being tempted to "accidentally" consume something outside the restrictions of your diet, become much easier to avoid when you don't need to go to the store each week.

Time-saving meal kits not only help to ease the prep work often associated with dieting, but they also allow for more personalized meal options. Most vendors offer a great deal of choice when it comes to selecting your meals. This versatility extends to how you'd like to prepare your food. Are you an aspiring chef, or are you more of a "heat it and eat it" kind of person? Regardless of your cooking preferences, you're sure to find a vendor that's right for you.

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Prepared Meal FAQ

Prepared meal subscriptions are popular for the same reason your favorite fast food joint has a long line at the drive-through at dinnertime: they're convenient! Imagine never having to go grocery shopping again! However, most people who subscribe to a prepared meals plan use it to supplement their regular cooking rather than replacing every single meal (e.g. just for a few dinners a week, for all weekend meals, etc.).
That depends on the service you select. Some specialize in reheat-and-eat meals similar to a traditional TV dinner, while others deliver all of the ingredients you need to prepare the recipes they provide. There are also options for holiday meals, special occasion dinners, plus sides and desserts if you want to impress the crowd at your next office potluck - without having to do the work yourself!
Two words: convenience and taste. Would you rather come home to another dinner of ramen or PB&J, or to a box of fresh ingredients that you can pull together into a restaurant-quality meal in just a few minutes? Subscribing to a prepared meals service can help you get out of your fast food rut, spare you the agony of yet another week of meal planning and grocery shopping, or just add some welcome variety to your eating habits.
You might be surprised. Most prepared meal services let you see customer comments on each dish - while some might not have been a huge favorite, most have hundreds (if not thousands) of rave reviews. And, if you're not known for being terribly creative or skilled in the kitchen, prepared meals can help you get out of your comfort zone and expand your taste horizons.
It will definitely cost more than if you bought all of the ingredients and prepared them yourself. But, the per-meal cost is typically less than what you'd spend in a restaurant. Expect a cost-per-serving somewhere between $8 and $12, depending on the plan you select.
Most services offering prepared meals have several options to choose from, either as an overall plan (like vegan or gluten-free) or on a meal-by-meal basis where you choose from a menu of meals for the month and can avoid any ingredients that you prefer not to have.
Unfortunately, most prepared meal plans aren't going to be affordable if you're feeding a crowd every night. There are a few that cater to larger families (or that have more portions per delivery so that you can have leftovers, feed houseguests, etc.). These services even have some menus that are designed to be more kid-friendly.
That depends on the service. If your meals arrive in bad condition - rotten ingredients, thawed meals that were supposed to be frozen at the time of delivery, and so forth - you'll usually get a refund or a replacement. A few providers of prepared meals offer a 100% satisfaction guarantee with a refund or store credit, regardless of the reason.
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