Based in 1991 by Hilton Davis, Weight loss program-To-Go was one of many first recent meal supply service corporations in america. Up till 2000, the corporate solely served the Washington, D.C., space however now delivers nationwide. Its philosophy is “wholesome consuming made straightforward,” and the corporate says its aim is to assist prospects obtain and keep a lifelong wholesome weight.
Weight loss program-To-Go is designed to help weight reduction by 4 plans. With a variety of accessible choices for meal supply providers, it’s necessary to decide on one which fits your distinctive preferences and desires, regardless of the place you might be in your well being journey. We subscribed to the service for every week to get a take a look at the way it works—and naturally, how the meals tastes.
Pricing: Sophisticated
Pricing begin as little as $130.99 per week with the most costly subscription at $212.99 per week. All plans can be found in five- or seven-day choices with two (lunch and dinner) or three (breakfast, lunch, and dinner) meals per day. Transport is $19.98 for weekly deliveries. In case you reside in an space that delivers twice weekly, every cargo is $9.99.
The value breakdown of every plan is as follows:
Stability Ladies’s, Stability-Diabetic, Keo-Carb30, and Vegetarian:
- 5-day possibility with two meals: $130.99
- 5-day possibility with three meals: $153.59
- 7-day possibility with two meals: $174.99
- 7-day possibility with three meals: $192.99
Stability Males’s:
- 5-day possibility with two meals: $138.99
- 5-day possibility with three meals: $162.99
- 7-day possibility with two meals: $187.59
- 7-day possibility with three meals: $212.99
Keto-Carb30:
- 5-day possibility with two meals: $147.99
- 5-day possibility with three meals: $175.99
- 7-day possibility with two meals: $199.99
- 7-day possibility with three meals: $219.59
How It Works: Abundance of Plan Choices
When you’re able to order, step one is to enter your zip code. In case your supply goes to an tackle close to one of many firm’s two kitchens, will probably be delivered twice weekly. If not, you’ll obtain one cargo of flash-frozen meals per week. Subsequent, you’re taken to the plan builder web page, the place you select between Stability, Stability-Diabetic, Vegetarian, and Keto-Carb30. In case you’re going for Stability or Keto-Carb30, you’ll want to pick out whether or not you need fish and seafood. If choosing the Stability program, you’ll want to decide on your gender—girls’s meals comprise 1,200 energy per day and males’s meals have 1,600.
Weekly suggestions change from week to week inside a five-week cycle plan, however substitution choices seem to stay the identical every week.
You then select the variety of days you want to obtain meals (5 or seven, as famous above) and the variety of meals per day (two or three). From there, you take a look at and are taken to your dashboard, the place you’ll be able to view your meals and select substitutes. In case you see one thing that doesn’t attraction to you, you’ll be able to omit the meal to stop it from ever being advised once more. Delicacies sorts embody American, Chinese language, Fusion, Greek, Indian, Italian, Japanese, Mexican, and Center Jap. Along with heat-and-eat meals, Weight loss program-To-Go gives choices that don’t require reheating, like Waldorf hen salad and peanut butter and jelly.
Selecting Meals: Various Selection
Menus are mechanically generated with an choice to substitute if the beneficial meal doesn’t fit your tastes. Weekly suggestions change from week to week inside a five-week cycle plan, however substitution choices seem to stay the identical every week. We discovered 20 alternates every for lunch and dinner on the Stability plan and about 25 for breakfast. Whereas we didn’t attempt any of the opposite three plans, we had been nonetheless capable of view pattern, five-week cycle menus. Stability-D provided 12 lunch and dinner substitutions and 10 breakfast substitutions; Keto-carb30 served up about 11 substitution choices for breakfast, about 16 for lunch, and 17 for dinner; and the Vegetarian plan had 25 breakfast substitutions, about 20 lunch choices, and 17 dinner choices. Add-ons are usually not provided, however we had been pleasantly shocked to search out desserts included with a number of the meals.
Weight loss program-To-Go informed us that its recipes are crafted by well being specialists: “Menus are developed by registered dietitians who work immediately with our cooks to design and create the meals.”
The deadline to make modifications is Friday at midday ET the week previous to your supply. We didn’t obtain monitoring info as a result of we reside close to one of many firm’s kitchens, however we had been knowledgeable that our two weekly deliveries would arrive in specified home windows on Tuesday and Friday. There was no possibility to decide on the supply days. Prospects who don’t reside close to a kitchen obtain monitoring info. You’ll be able to place your account on maintain for any motive by calling the corporate or by way of your dashboard. This wasn’t fully clear, so we referred to as for help.
What We Made
We selected the five-day lunch and dinner plan, which included 5 lunches and 5 dinners for a complete of 10 meals. We reviewed these 5 meals for the needs of this assessment:
- Herb crusted tilapia
- Vegetable ravioli
- Porcini mushroom hen
- Greek pasta salad with tuna
- Barbecue hen
Packaging: Barely Overwhelming
5 individually sealed meal trays had been packaged inside an outsized thermal cooler bag that lined one giant cardboard field. The meal trays included different packing parts inside similar to plastic wrap and condiment cups. There have been additionally 5 medium gel ice packs, two cardboard dividers, and 4 sheets of bubble wrap. The overall for one cargo was 26 items of packaging. The cardboard, plastic bubble wrap, and meal trays are recyclable. In choose areas of the nation, so is the styrofoam that’s utilized in some deliveries. In case your space doesn’t recycle that substance, you’ll should put it within the trash or reuse it. The cooler bag we obtained in our cargo might be reused.
Buyer Assist: Mother and Pop Really feel
Whereas some meal supply providers embody an inventory of meals and a meal information in every supply, Weight loss program-To-Go sends the fundamentals—a label taped to the entrance of every meal with a vitamin information label, an elements listing, and a packing slip with directions for reheating meals. Extra supporting materials arrived by way of e-mail after we positioned our order: a reheating information and a plan-specific snacking information. Well being teaching with a registered dietitian is advertised, and the corporate informed us immediately that they supply free well being teaching over the cellphone and e-mail. Prospects are requested to contact the corporate for extra info and to arrange a session.
Normal buyer help is obtainable over the cellphone and by way of e-mail by a contact kind. We obtained immediate and heat service with each strategies. Once we referred to as for clarification on the holiday maintain, the consultant defined the method and provided to position the maintain.
Vitamin: Low-Calorie Prioritized
Weight loss program-To-Go gives 4 plans with three distinct macro-nutrient profiles. The Stability and Vegetarian plans provide ranges of protein, fats, and carbohydrates which are inside every day dietary aim ranges beneficial by the Dietary Guidelines for Americans (DGA). Just like different low-carbohydrate/high-fat diets, Keto-Carb30 delivers increased than beneficial p.c values for fats and far decrease carbohydrate percentages than what’s beneficial by the DGA. Stability-D gives a barely decrease than beneficial carbohydrate share however protein and fats percentages are inside beneficial tips by the DGA. Vitamin labels are usually not updated with new labeling standards set forth by the Meals and Drug Administration for added sugars. Moreover, meals labels are usually not full for allergens. Word that Weight loss program-To-Go doesn’t provide vegan, kosher, or gluten-free choices.
We didn’t discover overtly dangerous weight-reduction plan tradition language however there’s a important quantity of messaging round weight reduction, calorie funds, and portion management all through the web site.
The Cooking Course of: Easy and Accessible
Weight loss program-To-Go supplies heat-and-eat meals and chilly choices that don’t require heating. In accordance with the corporate’s reheating information, meals might be reheated within the microwave, toaster oven, and traditional oven. The toaster oven is beneficial for sandwiches, wraps, and dishes with cheese. The standard oven requires 20-Half-hour of cooking time vs. 2-3 minutes of microwaving time. The method was simple and required few to no cooking expertise.
Taste, Freshness, and High quality: Pleasantly Stunned
We had been pleasantly shocked with the standard and freshness of the meals. The flavour and texture of most choices had been nice however we did encounter two gadgets—the porcini mushroom hen and the barbecue hen—that we didn’t like as a lot, with or with out seasoning. We loved the flaky texture of the herb crusted tilapia, the tanginess of the greek salad with tuna, and the general taste of the vegetable ravioli. We discovered the flavour choices to be fairly various with little or no repetition throughout meals.
Word that the corporate doesn’t disclose sourcing info for any of its elements.
Weight loss program-To-Go Is Good For
Weight loss program-To-Go caters to those that need to spend much less time within the kitchen whereas assembly weight reduction targets and sure dietary markers. The corporate definitely makes accessing principally tasty, low-calorie, nutrient-dense meals achievable to those that are brief on time or aren’t focused on making ready their very own meals whereas on a weight-loss journey. The service will not be ideally suited for somebody who is just not aiming to drop some pounds as a result of the calorie ranges are designed with that aim in thoughts.
We discovered the flavour choices to be fairly various with little or no repetition throughout meals.
The Competitors: Weight loss program-To-Go vs. BistroMD
Each Weight loss program-To-Go and BistroMD each ship heat-and-eat meals for individuals seeking to drop some pounds. Weight loss program-To-Go gives chilly choices, which may make meals much less hectic for many who don’t have constant entry to a kitchen. Moreover, we discovered that Weight loss program-To-Go has a greater taste profile than BistroMD, which could contribute to raised weight-reduction plan adherence. BistroMD has fewer and cheaper pricing choices in comparison with Weight loss program-To-Go.
Ultimate Verdict
Weight loss program-To-Go gives meals which are barely extra satisfying than the competitors given their higher taste and texture. In case you’re seeking to shed some kilos, Weight loss program-To-Go may be possibility for you.
Methodology
We ordered, cooked, and evaluated meals from 27 meal supply providers to get a way of every one’s choices, vitamin profiles, costs, and, in fact, flavors. We contacted the customer support groups at every of the businesses, collected information, and wrote detailed evaluations about each.
Our writers are all registered dietitians and relied on their analysis and its ensuing information to tell their evaluations.