Low carb or diet meal boxes/recipe kits/etc?

[PeppermintMocha]

Any recommendations?

I am getting tons of adverts for these on social media, and I'm finding the idea tempting to do as a (say) 3-month kick-starter that I could then gradually transition into cooking for myself again. I live alone, and I find it hard to control portion sizes, or to resist treats, and I think I might find it easier to have a set amount of food that I could stick to, at least to start with .

The ones I've seen are things like Result (not low carb, just low cal) which is actual meals; Green Chef and Mindful Chef, which are meal kits - green chef seems more low carb that Mindful chef, which avoids processed sugars but still has quite a few carbs; and a few other Keto specific ones (which I think is overkill for me, as I don't think I want to go all out keto as I will realisically probably end up having a few days when I eat other things, so was thinking mostly trying to go 'lower carb').

I don't know if any of them taste nice or are filling enough, and whether they are worth it. Am concerned at the packaging, too. They're expensive, though some have initial deals, so if I could actually get a few weeks at once on an initial deal, it would be better than just trying a week and deciding whether to continue.

Or I could just buy meals like Cook! ones, which actually are really nice, and not that dissimilar in terms of calories to some of the plans, but not really low carb either, and more expensive overall. I suppose the idea of having it all portioned out and just making myself stick to it for a couple of months might be the same though. (Yes I am very aware that I will eventually have to learn to do the portion control myself and change my whole way of eating, but this is for an interim kick-start to give me the motivation to continue as I see results).

So has anyone tried some of the kits like Green Chef (quite new I think) or Mindful Chef? I wasn't looking at Hello Fresh or Gusto as I've not heard as good things about them anyway - if I'm going for a meal kit, I'd try for the lower carb ones, like these, or the portioned calorie ones.

I imagine they are hugely over priced like a lot of products in the slimming industry.

Could you not look online at your preferred supermarket at their ready meals and work out a daily calorific intake from those and then only buy what you plan to eat and keep in fridge and or freezer?

I’m sure that would be cheaper wouldn’t it?

www.weightlossresources.co.uk/weight_loss/losing_weight/ready_meals.htm

www.weightlossresources.co.uk/diet/plans/supermarket-chefs/tesco-diet-plan.htm

www.google.co.uk/amp/s/www.cornwalllive.com/news/cornwall-news/woman-loses-10-stone-eating-2458981.amp

yes you're probably right, supermarket meals probably would be as good for the calorie counting version; always the temptation to add extra things to them though! That's kind of what I was envisioning with the Cook meals, as at least those are good quality. I probably just need to be stricter at only having veg with them and nothing more.

But the low carb meal kits I thought might be more effective than supermarket meals, while still being portioned out. Don't know if they really taste good or are filling enough though, for the money.

I suppose I just need to be stricter with extra little things that creep in, stop drinking milk with any meals, hardly any cappuccinos, etc. not adding any sides to meals or snacks etc.,

I am using the Diet Chef one. I put on a stone in lockdown and was headed from overweight to obese. Lack of exercise and a general slide into more picking- when I’m physically at work I can’t snack as much. I was already about a stone and a half overweight that I never managed to lose post pregnancy (13 years ago!)

So I’d tried and failed. Got pissed off and on impulse signed up as they were doing an offer. It seems expensive but when you take into account all you’re spending on food it your fruit and veg it’s not that bad.

Started the first week in july on the 3 month plan. You have breakfast, lunch, snack, and main meal. The breakfasts and snacks are great, lots of choice. Lunches fine as well, I’m on the veggie one so slightly restricted for choice- i don’t like the soups/shakes so go for the pot pasta things and the odd meal replacement bar. Dinners are curry/chilli/dhal type- again I think the veggie plan has fewer choices- i have a salad, cauliflower rice, stir fry or similar with. Plus you get an allowance for milk and fruit.

I’ve lost nearly 20lbs. That includes a week off for a holiday and a few days here and there for birthdays. I have about 5 weeks left in my box, so hopefully that will be another 10lbs, leaving about 10-15 to lose after that.

Now I’ve done it I can see where I was going wrong. I’ll try to replicate - smaller portions of cereal, a noodle pot or similar at lunch, one snack, and main meal loaded with veg/salad rather than rice or pasta. Hopefully I can keep going on my own to goal, otherwise I might get one more box to get me there before maintenance.

That sounds promising!

I think replicating portion sizes etc is a good idea, once you are used to it.

I tend not to eat enough at lunch and then end up picking at stuff later that I crave, even if I've not had any carbs all morning. But actually have a meal pot or something would end up feeling like more of a meal I think.

I like the plans where you can choose the individual meals, as another reason i've found it hard to cook low carb is that I don't like a lot of the things that are good for protein, eggs, lentils, any sort of processed meat, much fish, etc, so my meals ended up quite restrictive, plus the temptation to increase portion sizes when cooking for myself.

I started a half arsed healthier eating thing in late April. I started having a half grapefruit or strawberries/blueberries and natural yogurt for breakfast with coffee and cream. Then a mixed lead salad, coleslaw, Mario and a protein for lunch. A handful of nuts for a snack or some poor scratching and then veg soup, a small roast diver or a stir fry for my late afternoon meal. I would occasionally swap a meal for a low carb shake or a protein bar. I wasn't hungry and I've gone down from 110.4kg to 97.2kg without any other charges AND I have one day a week where I eat anything I want. I feel much better for it and I think it's sustainable which is what matters

I've had Mindful Chef meals at a friends house- if I could afford them I'd get them as they're delicious and low carb so good for dieting

Bloody hell the spelling mistakes! I'm so sorry, I'm on new pain pills and my typing Isclearly suffering

I don’t like low carb, it doesn’t work for me.

Don’t know what you’ve heard about Gousto, but I’ve been using them for the past year and still really happy with them. Good quality food and reasonable price. It’s saved me a lot of hassle (I’m crap at meal planning)

Glad to hear about the Mindful chef being nice. And I know low carb is good for me losing weight, but I did find it difficult with the things I didn't like, and I never did lose my cravings even when I did it really strictly for a few months. I lost weight and my blood sugars improved, but god it was depressing.

I have tried lots of healthy eating plans on my own, and I'm ok for a while, but the portions end up creeping up when I'm on my own, and have easy access to a shop next door. So I was thinking a plan like one of these might be a good start, then I could get back into doing it myself.

We use gusto and I don't know what you've heard but we have never had a problem with them. They do a lean section and all calories are given. Their recipes are easily adaptable to reduce calories eg not including the oil

good to know, thanks. I think I'd heard from a couple of people with Gusto that they hadn't found the meals that inspiring and ended up missing ingredients in the package, but maybe that was a blip (it was a while ago). I'd heard hello fresh was not very large portion sizes and some of the ingredients etc weren't that fresh/good quality - again could be area specific/time of delivery etc. I didn't know either of them did a diet/low carb program.

Is there a particular reason you want to do low carb?

yes my blood sugar level was getting high a couple of years ago, not quite into the pre-diabetic range, but on the border, and doing low carb for a while did help get it back in the normal range. It hasn't been measured for a while now, and I wouldn't be surprised if it was back up again as I've fallen off the wagon terribly lately.