Room Service! Are healthy meal deliveries worth it?

In this day and age it’s so easy to jam pack our schedules so much so that there isn’t much time left to enjoy the simple pleasures in life… like cooking properly for ourselves. Between work, university and workouts (because how else would we stay sane?), we often reach for what is quick and easiest. Anyone else guilty of grabbing an almond milk latte on the rush to work and calling it “breakfast”?

Luckily, we have some options to combat such hectic lives! There are several healthy meal delivery services throughout London that help take the thinking off of preparing meals before leaving the house or when you get home. And if meal delivery isn’t exactly up your ally, read our top tips for staying healthy in a hurry here!

Editorial Assistant, Nadia Liu tried out Fresh Fitness Food for five days (that’s a mouthful). Here are her thoughts!

Day One

It’s sort of like Christmas (only better because they are delivering food!). Fresh Fitness Foods sent their drivers out between 12am and 6am to deliver three fresh, well-prepared meals to my doorstep. (You have the option of choosing between 3 and 6 meals per day with snacks as well!)

My first meal was egg whites with chicken, spinach, tomatoes, and asparagus. And don’t forget the small pot of fresh avocado! It was sort of like having room service without the fancy presentation… who isn’t a fan of breakfast in bed?!

Each container has the exact amount of macronutrients and calories for the meal written on the side. This is extremely beneficial if you are training for a particular type of event where one needs/wants to know details like these. I am currently training for a marathon (yikes!) and of course nutrition is a huge part of the equation.

If you’re anything like me, you drew the short string and are allergic to about everything in the book including gluten, dairy, and cashews (sad day). FFF was able to take this into consideration and carefully prepare my meals without any sort of contamination.

Day Five

On my final day, my excitement still hadn’t dwindled from day one. I had quite the variety of nibbles to keep my interest piqued and my taste buds satisfied. Lunch was chicken burgers with sweet potato, green beans and radishes, and dinner was pesto sea bass with quinoa and asparagus. I really felt like I was getting quality meals with the best of the right nutrients.

Over the course of the entire week, not once did I feel an ounce of deprivation, although I did manage to get my hands on a bit of dark chocolate Friday eve. Which reminds me! FFF is all about getting the right amount of nutrients and calories based on your frequency of activity. Do not feel like you have to stick ONLY to these meals. I always had something extra pre and post workout so that I could fuel my body efficiently and properly.

Taking the guesswork (and just plain work) out of preparing my own meals gave me more time to focus on work, university and training – add sleeping to that list as well! Through reduced stress, added free time, and proper fueling, I was also able to improve my performance on my runs, getting a little bit faster each time, and most importantly, feeling stronger. One thing I would slightly alter next time is the amount of red meat that was on the menu that I chose. I rarely eat red meat and it made an appearance definitely more than once. However, this is easily fixed if you send the company a request!

Final thoughts
To be honest, I woke up on Saturday a bit sad that I didn’t have my meals waiting for me! Although I love cooking fresh and healthy meals for myself, the reality is that at this point in my life, I rarely have time. My days start at 5 am with a run and after work I head home to study or go to the gym for weight lifting. My weekends are also full of dissertation life and I can no longer spend a few hours perusing the aisles at WholeFoods or making the perfect balanced meals for the week on Sundays. Also, there was certainly no sacrifice in the flavor, which is a trap I tend to fall into when cooking massive bowls of quinoa or 10 grilled chicken breasts for meal prep!

If you have a busy schedule like this, it might be worth looking into a meal delivery service. There are several throughout London that cater to your specific needs and I am curious to try some others. The next one to try on my list is The Detox Kitchen. Here at H&H we are huge fans of The Detox Kitchen and they even have plant based friendly options (vegans, rejoice!). If you aren’t completely sold on the idea, most companies will have shorter plans so that you don’t have to commit to something long term.

If you do have little ones or others to take care of in your family, then a good option would be prepping meals ahead of time in order to be ready for the week. I honestly love meal prepping and always found a way to make it enjoyable by doing it with a friend or flat mate. Once my next round of deliveries is up, I’m jumping right back into my own meal prep inspired by some recipes I received over the course of the last week of course, by Hip & Healthy’s recipe corner. Vegan burgers all week sounds wonderful to me!

words by Nadie liu