Diet… oh how I HATE that word. It shouldn’t even be a part of our language. Just the mere thought of the word makes me feel dread.
When I think of the word diet I think of depriving myself of good foods. There is only so much salad I can eat. I need REAL food.
I have done every thing imaginable to lose weight – weight loss surgery, starvation, binge & purge, diet pills, cabbage soup diet, exercising like a crazy person, as well as popular diet programs (Jenny Craig, Weight Watchers and Nutrisystem). I’ve done it all.
Some of the popular diet programs are not that bad, but I’m not a fan of food that has been frozen for who knows how long, or food that is packed with preservatives to give it a long shelf life. I want REAL food. I’m sure many people who have followed these popular plans can relate to that.
I know how to cook, and I can recreate many of the low calorie foods that come with some of these weight loss programs. It’s just that I often don’t have time to cook what I want to make. By the time I get home from work it’s already after 7:00 PM (the rest of my family has already eaten by that time). I end up eating leftovers of whatever my husband made for dinner. As much as I love spaghetti tacos (yes, we really eat that), I don’t think it’s necessarily something you should eat if you are trying to what you eat and count calories.
A few weeks ago I was contacted by the brand Diet to Go. Diet to Go is a subscription based food delivery service that delivers chef prepared healthy meals. They offered to send me a week’s worth of food to try them out.
When you subscribe to Diet to Go you are given the option of what type of food plan you are most interested in, as well as what will suit your needs the best. They offer the following options.
Balanced
#1-Rated Balance Menu has been helping dieters reach their weight-loss goals for 25 years. This menu combines mouth-watering, restaurant-quality flavors with dietitian-approved, balanced portions of the foods you love.
- Calorie-controlled and nutritionally balanced
- Heart-healthy — controlled for sodium,carbs, fat and cholesterol
- Vegetarian & no seafood options
Diabetes
Diabetes-friendly menu designed to help you lose weight, manage pre-diabetes, and prevent type-2 diabetes.
- Perfect choice for pre-diabetes or diabetes — controls blood sugar naturally
- Heart-healthy — controlled for sodium, carbs, fat and cholesterol
- Even if you’re not diabetic, can help you lose those last few pounds
Keto-Carb 30
For those who understand and prefer a classic, Atkins-style, carb-restricted diet, this menu is perfect for you. The Keto-Carb30 menu offers a variety of delicious meals – including meat, cheese and eggs – that can help you lose weight quickly and effectively.
- Carb-restricted plan; replaces carbs with fat
- Only 30 net carbs per day, on average. Keto friendly!
- Adding fruit, bread, sugar or other carbohydrates is not recommended
Vegetarian
A Vegetarian version of our #1-Rated Balance Menu, this plan has been helping dieters reach their weight-loss goals for 25 years. This menu combines mouth-watering, restaurant-quality flavors with dietitian-approved, balanced portions of the foods you love.
- Calorie-controlled and nutritionally balanced
- Heart-healthy — controlled for sodium, carbs, fat and cholesterol
- Protein sources include dairy, eggs, beans and some soy.
The menu changes each week, which offers subscribers a nice variety of foods to try.
The first thing that impressed me, before the food even arrived, is that I was able to swap out meals that I didn’t want to have (for whatever reason) for meals that I would like more. Not all subscription based food services gives you that option. Sometimes you are at the mercy of whatever THEY want to send you.
I did swap out a few meals. It was easy enough to do.
I was excited when the box showed up at my door. I wanted to dive right in and prepare one for lunch (it was late morning when it arrived). I opted to hold off so I could start fresh in the morning and eat all three meals each day.
The food was very well packaged with ample ice packs (the large ones).
The meals are all prepared fresh, and therefore need to be put in the refrigerator as soon as you open the box.
Each meal is individually packed. They also come with all the condiments you will need, as well as “sides” such as nuts, fruit and veggies.
Directions for how to heat up each meal is right on the package. Information about ingredients and nutritional information is also found right on the package.
Most meals only took a minute or two in the microwave.
Here are a few examples of the meals I received.
Please excuse the photos. Not all of them are that good.
As you can see, Diet to Go offers a nice variety of food.
Their meal plans are available for 5 or 7 days, as well as 2 meals or 3 meals.
The first thing that stood out to me the most was that all of the food was fresh. It honestly tasted like I had made it myself. You can clearly tell that none of this food has been sitting on a shelf, or in a freezer, for the past few months. All of the food tastes like it was made the same day.
I liked the variety of meals that are available. I liked having meals that I might not otherwise make for myself. I’m a “grab and go” kind of eater for the most part (which is not a good thing all the time). I love that these meals were ready to eat either right out of the package, or after a quick minute or two in the microwave.
I truly enjoyed all of the meals that I received. I could easily see myself eating these meals for weeks to come. I don’t think I would get bored of the great variety that is available to Diet to Go customers.
You don’t need to add anything, or supplement the meals. Each meal is prepared and packaged to be complete. Of course you are welcome to add a side salad, more fruit, salt or pepper… what ever you want. It’s your meal. Just know that whatever you add to it will also add to the calories.
One of the hardest things for me to get used to was the portion sizes. Diet to Go meals are prepared and presented to be one serving size. As you probably know, most people don’t stick to serving sizes. We tend to eat more than the recommended amount. These meals are portioned to what you SHOULD be eating, not what you WANT to eat. For me, that was hard to get used to. I have a hard time with portion sizes. I always feel like I’m going to be hungry.
There were times I was hungry. It’s not Diet to Go’s fault. It’s my fault. When that happened I looked for something to hold me over until my next meal (healthy snacks like baby carrots, cucumbers, yogurt…).
Honestly, the only “downside” is the cost. If you have the funds to afford a subscription meal service, that is awesome, and you should really look into Diet to Go. Personally, I can’t afford it, but if I could – YES!!! I would most definitely use Diet to Go for a few more weeks or longer.
Did I lose weight? YES! According to our scale (digital) I lose 3.4 pounds the week I was on Diet to Go. Please note that I am 100+ pounds overweight for my height, and I made a point of doing at least 10,000 steps each day (well, most so Monday through Friday). Others might have different results. As with any diet, your age, height/build, and physical activity have to all be taken into consideration.
For me, I am thrilled that I lose weight without having to agonize over what to eat at each meal, weighing things, checking portion sizes and more. It was really a hassle free, worry free, super easy way to lose weight – and it was all delicious too!
Diet to Go offers clients MORE than just food delivery. They also have an online support, a free Health Coaching session, blog, success stories, Facebook group and more!
If you are interested in learning more about Diet to Go, visit DiettoGo.com. The brand can also be found on social media. Their links are found on the bottom of their website.
What do you think of Diet to Go? Does it sound like something you would be interested in trying? Feel free to share your thoughts, as well as any health/weight loss tips or advice you’d like to share with others.
Kimberly
*I received free samples in order to do this review. There was no compensation. The opinions expressed are my own and not influenced in any way.