What To Know Before You Buy Diet Delivery Services

Before you buy diet delivery services, you have many factors to consider, especially considering the expense. How much are you willing to spend for a service that fits your goals? How often do they deliver the food and how many meals are provided? Are there extra features such as cooking classes? All these and other considerations are important in deciding which plan is right for you.

Benefits

A wide variety of diet delivery services are available regionally and nationwide, with most focusing on weight loss, such as the Mediterranean Diet, the South Beach Diet and many others. There are gourmet plans, vegetarian, organic and even raw food. With diet delivery services, people can have delicious healthy meals whenever they like, involving very little shopping or cooking.

Size

The least expensive services are about $20 a day for the most part, but an even less expensive option is Medifast, at about $10 a day. The pricier services run about $40 a day, such as the ZoneChefs fresh food option, although ZoneChefs does have cheaper plans, too. It's important to check whether the company adds a shipping charge onto the plan price. Some, such as NutriSystem Advanced, offer month-long programs which must be paid for up front.

Geography

If you want food delivered to your door every morning, you'll need a local service or a nationwide one with local offices that support this type of delivery. Most deliver once a week, and nationwide ones typically send a week's worth of meals by overnight mail.

Features

Services usually offer weekly plans, but some can be tailored to specific preferences such as a five-day plan for workdays. You'll need to decide if you prefer two or three meals a day, and if you want a plan which includes beverages, snacks and desserts. Some services do not include fresh vegetables and fruit or certain other items, which means you'll still be grocery shopping and spending more money on food if you choose one of these plans.

Some diet delivery services offer extra features such as lists of ingredients, menu planners, newsletters with weight loss and diet tips, and cooking classes. These features are great for the person who wants to learn how to continue a healthy weight-maintaining diet after the weight loss is achieved.

Considerations

Before you buy diet delivery services, you'll want to know if the company has a good reputation in various categories such as quality of food, prompt and accurate delivery, accurate invoicing, and hassle-free ability to correct mistakes. Spend some time reading reviews of the plans outside of their Websites before you send $140 or more to a delivery service.

Resources

• Comprehensive Directory of Diet Delivery Services