Prepackaged diet plan - UK

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Hi all,

I've been on the fitness road for around 2 weeks now, and although I'm maintaining the gym and healthy eating most of the time, I tend to slip when I'm not organised or can't be bothered to cook/prepare.

I was thinking of taking out one of these pre packed diet plans where all your meals are delivered and ready for you. I know these can be expensive but that isn't a problem I just wondered if anyone has tried these and if they are worth doing? I quickly found one site however it was a one plan fits all which cant be right?

I am in the UK so if you could recommend some that are available over here it would be great!

TC x

Replies

  • refuseresist
    refuseresist Posts: 934 Member
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    As you have found, I think most of them give you a standard amount, say 1200 calories, and you have to buy any additional foods like vegetables. If you need more than 1200 calories (which I am assuming you do), you would have to find a way of supplementing what they send, which kind of defeats the purpose.

    A cheaper way might be to plan meals for the week/ month, buy sufficient ready meals (there are good ones out there) and buy bag of salad on your way home. All it is is ready meals anyway, they just charge extra for telling you which ones to eat on which days.
  • TommyC1234
    TommyC1234 Posts: 24 Member
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    Yeah, to be honest its probably worth me spending a weekend cooking up a load of healthy meals (chilli etc) and freezing them in individual portion sizes!
  • refuseresist
    refuseresist Posts: 934 Member
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    If you think it will work for you then I think the convenience could be a good factor but it's very expensive for what you get. You can get things like this now (tesco link), which are convenient but not your average ready meal type thing.
  • KateTii
    KateTii Posts: 886 Member
    edited October 2015
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    I've seen both bought-in meal plans and I've done meal-prep for as long as I have been going. I personally prefer at-home meal prep. For the same price as one week on a meal plan service I can make a month's worth of food AND I can make food I like to eat, rather than hoping I like the expensive frozen dinners. I have saved a ton of money because I no longer buy breakfast and lunch every day.

    I spend one day cooking my protein/s and one day cooking my carbs/veggies. The recipe builder is great to portion food - insert all the weights of your ingredients and then put the cooked total weight as the number of servings.

    Use ziplock bags instead of takeaway containers - it's cheaper. Bag each "item" separately so when it's time to grab a meal, you can mix and match rather than making meals up and being stuck with your pre-made combinations.
  • MarietjieHoward
    MarietjieHoward Posts: 214 Member
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    TomCraven1 wrote: »
    Hi all,

    I've been on the fitness road for around 2 weeks now, and although I'm maintaining the gym and healthy eating most of the time, I tend to slip when I'm not organised or can't be bothered to cook/prepare.

    I was thinking of taking out one of these pre packed diet plans where all your meals are delivered and ready for you. I know these can be expensive but that isn't a problem I just wondered if anyone has tried these and if they are worth doing? I quickly found one site however it was a one plan fits all which cant be right?

    I am in the UK so if you could recommend some that are available over here it would be great!

    TC x
    Hi there I am currently with Diet Chef and they are fantastic, everything is prepared for you, all you need to add is your dairy, fruit and vegetables with your dinner, their meals are tasty and you do not need to refrigerate or freeze any of your meals, so space is not an option. Diet Chef has a offer running now for only £150 for a 8 week program, it will work out a current saving for me off £45. Please note that at the end of your 8 week program it will automatically roll over for another 8 week, if you don't want to continue, remember to cancel.
    I have lost 19 lbs since I started on the 23/08/2015, and still going strong. Go to their website at http://www.dietchef.co.uk/latest-offers.php?gclid=CKmIh_61zsgCFQs8GwodE7UCyg

    Best of luck
  • TommyC1234
    TommyC1234 Posts: 24 Member
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    KateTii wrote: »
    I've seen both bought-in meal plans and I've done meal-prep for as long as I have been going. I personally prefer at-home meal prep. For the same price as one week on a meal plan service I can make a month's worth of food AND I can make food I like to eat, rather than hoping I like the expensive frozen dinners. I have saved a ton of money because I no longer buy breakfast and lunch every day.

    I spend one day cooking my protein/s and one day cooking my carbs/veggies. The recipe builder is great to portion food - insert all the weights of your ingredients and then put the cooked total weight as the number of servings.

    Use ziplock bags instead of takeaway containers - it's cheaper. Bag each "item" separately so when it's time to grab a meal, you can mix and match rather than making meals up and being stuck with your pre-made combinations.

    Sounds interesting, where do I find the recipe builder?
  • PinkPixiexox
    PinkPixiexox Posts: 4,142 Member
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    Hi :]

    Whilst it's great to cut out the counting calorie's aspect and to have someone prepare balanced, healthy meals for you - Is this something you can keep up long-term? What happens when you want to eat out at a restaurant as a spur of the moment thing? Can you still do that? Are you actually aware of what the amount you are consuming? Are they preparing these meals based on your goals and calorie requirements?

    I'll be honest, I don't really know much about these delivery packages. I think they could make things easy in a sense but I also think it's a lot more cost effective and sustainable to purchase and prepare your own food. Whatever you end up doing, I wish you the best of luck!
  • RodaRose
    RodaRose Posts: 9,562 Member
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    TomCraven1 wrote: »
    Sounds interesting, where do I find the recipe builder?

    Experiment with the Tab in the food diary.

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  • kommodevaran
    kommodevaran Posts: 17,890 Member
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    This isn't really "all your meals delivered and ready for you" when you need to add fruit, vegetables and dairy yourself. I don't see the point. "Perceived convenience" is what I call this - you pay to be dependant on a quite rigid plan. The marketing works, because lots of people find this attractive, but I wouldn't do it. No way this food can be as good as food you cook yourself from fresh ingredients.
  • maca416
    maca416 Posts: 142 Member
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    I have used Diet Chef in the past & loved the food but it the cost is high for what you get I just could not keep it up.
    But it is tasty