Can weight loss meal delivery service help you lose weight?
Weight loss meal delivery service is not something super new in Australia, but it has gained a lot of popularity in the last few years especially with many gaining unwanted weight during the pandemic.
There are many to choose from and it seems like more and more popping up on the market for weight loss, muscle building or both with high protein and low-calorie options available right to your door.
Some of the most popular ones are Youfoodz, My Muscle Chef and Macros among many others, but can these meal delivery services help you lose weight the way you hope they would?
Let’s go over some important things you need to understand when it comes to relying on a meal delivery service to help you lose weight, and perhaps even do so while building some nice lean toned muscles in the process.
YOUR WEIGHT LOSS DIET.
Firstly, let’s look at your overall diet.
The most important thing to consider is your overall daily calories if you are serious about weight loss.
There is no point subscribing to a meal delivery service if you are going to eat a bunch of random snacks throughout the day, that would add up to more calories than you can burn.
If you want to get the most out of a meal delivery service to help you lose weight then you need to make sure that you are not picking on chips, sugary muffins, unmeasured cheese and crackers in between your meals.
The easiest and most economical way I found my weight loss clients were able to actually benefit from a weight loss meal delivery service, whether it would be Youfoodz, My Muscle Chef or Macros is by following a structure similar to this one;
High protein breakfast on repeat.
Figure out what is the easiest healthy high protein breakfast option you can stick to most mornings and have it on repeat. A good option would be a protein smoothie with a little bit of fruit, chia seeds and plant milk or eggs on wholegrain toast or even some turkey or ham slices on avocado toast.
Pick the right meals.
Pick some low calorie and high protein meals from one of the weight loss menus from your chosen meal delivery service for your lunches. You can alternate it with an occasional tuna or chicken salad made at home or a healthy wrap if you don’t want to spend too much on eating a prepared meal every single day.
Decide if you need lunches, dinners or both.
Choose a few meals to back you up at dinner time in case family decides to opt for pizza or take away meal, so you can stay on track with your diet. On some days you can meal prep for the whole family and eat the same food with them if you can adjust it to your calories easily like reducing serving of carbohydrates and loading up on protein and veggies.
Snack on protein if you do.
If you need a snack throughout the day, make it a lean protein based snack like yoghurt, cottage cheese, lean ham, turkey or tuna on rice thins, or a protein bar and make sure to track it or limit it to one snack a day. You can accompany those with a piece of fruit.
Don’t snack mindlessly on the go.
Avoid snacking in the kitchen or out of a cupboard or fridge directly out of a packet. Those untracked calories can add up pretty quickly.
What do you need to look for in a ready meal delivery service if the goal is weight loss.
Protein, how much do you need as a minimum for health?
When I talk about weight loss, I am mainly referring to fat loss specifically, because sometimes weight loss can occur from muscle loss as well, and of course we don’t want that.
So how do we preserve muscle mass while trying to shed bodyfat or shred?
This is where protein intake becomes super important.
How much protein does an adult man or a woman need in order to maintain or even build muscles while trying to lose body fat?
According to many studies including one Harvard Health Publishing (Harvard Medical School), a healthy sedentary or minimally active person who isn’t overweight needs to consume around 0.8g of protein per kilogram of body weight for overall health. So a woman who weighs around 70kgs would need 56g of protein per day for everything to function properly.
This is the absolute bare minimum for a body to be healthy.
What could this look like; 2 eggs is around 12g of protein, 1 x 170g tub of Chobani high protein yogurt 15g of protein, 100 of the chicken breast is around 30g of protein when weighed raw, or 150g of salmon. That would be adequate for someone who is not lifting weights or trying to build muscles.
How much protein do you really need to get lean while building muscle tone?
However, if you are also trying to build muscle you will need more protein for recovery because it is during proper recovery is when you build muscles, and Protein is one of the most important parts of recovery aside from hydration, good sleep, and carbohydrates.
Dietitians recommend consuming between 1.5-2g of protein per kilogram of body weight. So a 70kg woman who has a healthy BMI and does weight training at least 3 times per week can go up to 2g of protein per day.
Someone who is considered overweight, wants to lose bodyfat and is in high BMI bracket, but still trying to tone up with weight training at the same time, then should go for the lower end of that around 1.5g of protein coming from lean sources and of course watch their calorie intake consistently until they get to their healthy goal weight.
So you would need to add at least one extra high protein meal per day to the minimum required that I recommended earlier. You would need to look at trying to get at least another 40g of protein to get you closer to muscle building zone, while still maintaining calorie deficit.
What can help to get more protein?
I know for many of my clients who are busy working mums especially, it can be a real struggle to get that 100-120g of protein per day unless they meal prep their food, which in itself can be very challenging at times.
Many of my clients turn to the help of ready-made healthy meal delivery services like Youfoodz, Macros or My Muscle Chef.
I recently did a comparison review of the 3 services by trying various meals and asking my clients to share their feedback, in the review article I focus on getting the most protein for the least amount of calories to target muscle tone and fat loss at the same time.
You can read my recent blog article about these services right here.
3. Can weight loss meal delivery service help you get enough protein while losing fat?
Convenience.
One of the main reasons why Australians opt for a healthy meal delivery service is of course convenience, most of us juggle work, kids, and cooking for the family while trying to get some fitness in and meal prep for ourselves to stay on track with our weight loss goals.
Balance and right macros.
But the other important benefit of a healthy meal delivery service is that you can have peace of mind that your meal will be well balanced with a good amount of protein, so you don’t have to worry about your protein intake.
Just be mindful that one high-protein meal won’t account for your daily protein intake, but it definitely can help a lot. That is one meal at least a day or maybe two that can contribute to up to 70% of your daily protein intake for your goal.
You will still need to consider how you would get extra protein from breakfast or other meals to hit that protein goal for the day.
How to choose what works for you.
Some people chose a 7 meal per week plan so they are provided with lunches for work or when it’s their busiest time of the day or occasional dinners when there is no time to cook. While others may rely a bit more if they can afford the meals from such a service for lunches and most dinners throughout the week, depending on their lifestyle, family needs, and budget.
My advice is, if you have very little knowledge about macros, and calories and have very limited time or hate cooking and have the budget to opt for 2 meals a day (14 meals per week) supplied by a meal delivery service, then definitely go for that option.
However, if you feel like you only struggle sometimes and have a good understanding of your nutritional needs and just need to have a few meals in the fridge or freezer to back you up when you just don’t have time or energy then a 7-meal plan weekly might be enough for you to help you reach that fat loss goal while maintaining and building a lean toned physique.
BOTTOMLINE.
Weight loss meal delivery service can help you lose weight if;
- You are mindful of the total daily caloric intake and stay within your calorie deficit range consistently for at least 4-6 weeks to see progress.
- If you a too busy or tired to cook and need something fast that is healthy, high in protein and taste good.
- If you maintain your diet throughout the weekend and not blow your calories out over Saturday and Sunday.
- Not great at staying consistent with meal prep for the week ahead, every week until you lose weight.
If you want some snack and simple food ideas that are high in protein and low in calories to help you on your weight loss journey, you might need my
