Our healthy tips for ordering from meal subscription service

Meal subscription services are pop-u-lar right now. So whether you’re short on time or not that savvy in the kitchen you’ve probably pondered whether you should sign up and have the thinking (and sometimes cooking) done for you. To help you keep your goals on track and get the healthiest grub in your gob, we’ve asked Aquanation and Aquahub personal trainer and Dietitian Byron Manning for his tips.

Let’s start with the pros 

Meal prep subscriptions services are having a real moment right now (seriously who hasn’t had a friend hasn’t offer a free box or discount code in the last 12 months?) and it’s understandable. We are time pore people and sometimes having the thinking done for you is just all you need at dinner time.

“For busy people it’s nice to have something waiting for you or ready to cook straight away, rather than having to prepare or source ingredients yourself,” says Manning. He adds these companies have also come a long way in recent years with their quality and variety of food.

But it’s not all about convenience, these subscription services can also help you keep your health goals on track. “The calorie control is another benefit, it’s common for people when they’re cooking that they’re not necessarily weighing or know the calories of their meal once it’s all mixed together,” the dietitian explains.

And if you’re not all that great in serving sizes, these brands might be handy for you “because it can come in one container to serve just one person it can be good for portion control too,” Manning says.

What to be weary of

Yes, there are pros but there are also other aspects to consider when signing up to a meal subscription service.

“Budgeting is not necessarily a benefit, it might appear so from the beginning with introductory offers for some brands but if you compare that to cooking yourself you’ll save a lot more in the long run,” warns Manning.

And if you really want to keep your health and fitness goals on track take a second to consider what’s being served up on your plate. “In some cases, because what they serve you is one standard size, that doesn’t suit everyone - different nationalities, genders, body types - what they’re providing you may not match the energy required, it could be too much or too little,” says the dietitian.

As a big advocate for learning basic cooking skills to help you achieve your health goals, the dietitian also points out that “because in a lot of instances someone else is preparing the meal for you, or at least the bulk of it, you don’t gain those basic skills in food preparation.”

So if you’re going to outsource your meal prep, here’s how

Manning’s first tip is to do your homework. “I’d recommend going through the reviews, not the testimonials on their website, look at a variety of reviews online to see what other people are saying.”

Not one for some light reading? Don’t worry, Manning has another great suggestion. “Remember you can go on YouTube and watch these boxes being unboxed to get an idea of what you’d actually be getting after ordering from these services.”

Now if you’ve done your homework and you’re still keen to subscribe but you also want to keep your health and fitness goals on track, Manning’s biggest tip is pretty logical.

“If you’re going to use a meal prep service try to use it sparingly, use it when you really need to so perhaps just dinner or lunch meals so the time of your day where you’re most vulnerable to having time to prepare food is covered,” Manning recommends. He reckons this way, it prompts you to still prepare other meals like breakfast or snacks and it allows you to be more flexible in your social life too.

Happy unboxing fitness friends!