Best Fully Prepared Meal Delivery Services for Your Fitness Goals
Maintaining a structured diet is an essential part of living a bodybuilding & fitness lifestyle. Whether you have specific body transformation goals, or just want to eat healthy, sticking to a structured meal plan can be challenging. With my clients, I find that sticking with a strict food plan is much harder than mustering up the discipline to work out every day. Fortunately, meal plan delivery services have become increasingly popular, making it easier for people to stay on track with their diets. Having the right food available can make it or break it when it comes getting results. Fully prepared meal delivery services are a great way to ensure that you’re eating healthy, delicious meals that fit your fitness goals, and save time and energy.
In this article, I’ll explore the convenience and benefits of using a fully prepped meal plan delivery service and take a closer look at some of the top providers in the market, including MealPro, Factor, Icon Meals, and Trifecta. Sunfare, and Zen Meals are reviewed for the Los Angeles crowd. I’ll be covering only providers that deliver fully prepared meals, not kits or ingredient boxes that deliver a recipe and ingredients ready for you to cook.
My focus for this review is highlighting feasibility of each fully prepped meal delivery service as it relates to a bodybuilding & fitness athlete’s special dietary needs. Most of the “Best Meal Delivery” articles I’ve read are only geared toward average people who want to lose weight and are often skewed toward plant-based diets.
Over the past few years, the number of companies that are offering fully prepped meal delivery has skyrocketed. Fortunately, this competition has expanded our choices and several companies now cater to the bodybuilding & fitness niche.
This “Best Fully Prepared Meal Plan Delivery Service” review is a sampling of popular services I find can be adapted for a fitness lifestyle. Some I researched were only Vegan, or too carb-based, with limited options, and are not recommended in my review. Some were not much better than a t.v. dinner from the grocery store.
Before we get to the individual reviews, I’ll talk a little about the benefits of a fully prepared meal delivery service. At first glance, they may seem expensive, but are they really when you look at the benefits?
Benefits of a Fully Prepared Meal Plan Delivery Service:
Time Saved
One of the biggest advantages of using a fully prepped meal plan delivery service is the time saved. Preparing meals can be time-consuming, especially if you are trying to follow a strict diet plan. With a meal delivery service, all the prep work is done for you. You don’t have to spend time grocery shopping, prepping ingredients, or cooking meals. Food is delivered straight to your door. This allows you to focus on your workouts and other aspects of your life without sacrificing your nutrition goals.
Saving Food Waste
Another benefit of using a fully prepped meal plan delivery service is the reduction of food waste. When you buy groceries, you often end up buying more than you need, leading to food waste. With meal delivery services, you only receive the exact amount of food you need for your meals. A reduction in food waste means you can save money and reduce your environmental impact at the same time.
Convenience of Getting Exactly What You Need
Meal plan delivery services also offer the convenience of getting exactly what you need in the quantity you need. These services offer a variety of meal plans to cater to different dietary needs, including weight loss, muscle gain, vegan, keto, and more. You can also choose the number of meals you need per week and the serving sizes, making it easy to stick to your calorie goals. This is especially important if you’re trying to stick to a specific diet plan, whether it be weight loss, muscle gain, or just healthy eating. You can customize your meal plan to meet your specific dietary requirements, and the service will deliver exactly what you need, so you don’t have to worry about calculating portion sizes or counting calories.
More Variety
Another benefit of using a fully prepped meal delivery service is the increased variety of meals you get compared to doing your own food prep. Most meal delivery services offer a rotating menu of different meals each week, which can introduce you to new flavors, ingredients, and cooking styles that you might not have tried otherwise. This variety can help prevent boredom with your diet and make it easier to stick to your nutrition goals in the long term. Plus, with a meal delivery service, you don’t have to worry about meal planning and recipe research, as the service takes care of that for you.
Top Fully Prepared Meal Plan Delivery Services:
Now, let’s take a closer look at some of the top meal plan delivery services in the market.
- MealPro
MealPro is a company I had never heard of before I started my quest to find the best fully prepared meal delivery service. Many other services routinely pop up in ads on Facebook and Instagram; maybe they are so successful they don’t need to advertise. I am quite impressed with the clarity of their website, and the ease to which you can order exactly what you want.
MealPro offers natural ingredients, no antibiotics, hormones, artificial ingredients or flavors, and all ingredients are Non-GMO. All seafood is seasonal and sustainable. All veggies are prepared within 3 days of harvesting and are steamed to maintain nutrients. Protein is marinated in lemon, lime, and fresh herbs to tenderize, then pressure cooked or cooked with dry heat cooking methods that bring out the flavors through caramelization and browning.
They also only use olive oil. This was great news for me. Often companies use canola oil, or soybean oil and are not transparent about their cooking methods.
MealPro prides itself in its training of staff to ensure the utmost in sanitary practices to avoid any cross-contamination of food. They even follow special procedures to prevent contamination that might cause allergies. For instance, since gluten spores remain in the air for hours, all the gluten free menu items are prepared early in the day.
MealPro sources directly from growers; the origin depending on harvest and time of year.
The MealPro website gives you the option of an 18 meal or 20 meal box. You can order one box or set up recurring shipments. Meals come vacuum sealed in a thermal box on dry ice. Meal boxes are delivered once a week, your choice of day. They will keep several days in the fridge, or longer in the freezer. All containers are recyclable, and microwave or oven safe at 300 degrees.
What I liked the most about MealPro is the transparency of what you are getting. You also are not locked into a “plan” like Keto, or Weight Loss, or Vegan. Often companies lock you into a plan and their system is not set up for much in the way of modification.
Each menu item is clearly displayed not only with all ingredients, but with macros, calories, and a full nutritional breakdown. Most items offer extra protein, sub veggie for starch, or extra starch. You get to see the price immediately upon your selection.
I found plenty of meals that would accommodate my higher protein intake even without asking for extra protein. There is also plenty of variety to keep your tastebuds happy. Meals start under $10 and can go over $20 if you add extra quantities of protein and starch.
MealPro delivers throughout the US and British Columbia.
Mealpro.net
- Icon Meals
Icon Meals is a fully prepared meal delivery service that offers a range of meals and snacks that are designed to support weight loss, muscle gain, and overall health. They offer a variety of meal plans, including keto, paleo, and low carb. They use grass-fed beef, organic vegetables, and hormone-free chicken to create high-quality, delicious & nutritious meals.
Icon gives you the option of selecting a one-click box: Lean Box, Chef Box, Bulk Box, or Keto Box with either 12 or 24 meals. A subscription will give you 5% off. You can also Build a Box and mix or match between 12-24 chef-curated meals, same 5% off if you subscribe.
What I liked most is the ability to create custom meals. You can pick the protein, 10 different choices, and the number of ounces, 3 to 8 oz. Next you can pick two sides from a long list of starches and veggies, the quantity desired, and even get to select a special seasoning if you want.
Icon also offers the same selection process for custom breakfast meals, getting to select 2 proteins and a side, and the quantities of each.
The macronutrients are printed on each meal label. This makes it easy to find the right meal for the right time of day.
Another perk of Icon Meals is that you can order individual foods in bulk. They also offer snacks like protein popcorn, wagyu beef strips, and protein butters. They even have their own protein coffee and a variety of sauces.
Icon is inspected daily by the USDA, and is a licensed food manufacturing, and meat and poultry facility. Nutrition labels are FDA compliant and tested for accuracy. They are one of the few companies that can sell wholesale legally since they are USDA certified.
All meals come vacuum packed for freshness and come in 100% recyclable microwave-safe food containers.
Icon will ship throughout the U.S.
Iconmeals.com
- Factor
Factor offers a flexible subscription service that allows you to choose from a rotating menu of chef-prepared meals that cater to different dietary requirements. The meals are made with high-quality ingredients and are designed to support weight loss and overall health.
Factor partners with organic farms that use sustainable farming practices. Every meal is free of hormones, GMOs, antibiotics, artificial preservatives, and even gluten. They use a blast chilling method to help retain maximum nutrition, then deliver their meals fresh, never frozen. All meals can be microwaved and ready to eat in 2 minutes.
You can select Chef’s Choice, Keto, Carb Smart, Vegan/Veggie, or Protein Plus before placing your order. The selection allows Factor to display your preference meals first, even though you still have access to the other meals on the rotating menu. The order form allows you to select either 6, 8, 10, 12, 14 or 18 meals per week in your delivery box.
Factor also offers the option of desserts, shakes, and extra portions of protein. Since it appears many of their meals only contain about 30 grams of protein, the extra protein is a good idea.
Factor meals are delivered once per week and last 7 days in the fridge.
In exploring what Factor would cost me per week, I was required to register. I then selected 18 meals per week, and the Protein Plus plan. The price quoted came to $208.81. That’s as far as I got. Unfortunately, you can’t pick the meals until you pay.
I went to the Weekly Menu tab on the Home Page where Factor displays many of the ready-made meal offerings. The meals marked with the combination of Keto and Protein Plus for the most part gave me the macros I was looking for, without having to purchase the extra protein. That was great news for the budget. I hate having to order double portions, which usually means double the price.
Factor’s ordering flexibility and wide variety of options makes it a top choice in my opinion.
Factor delivers everywhere in the US except for Alaska and Hawaii.
Factor75.com
- Trifecta
Trifecta is a fully prepared meal delivery service popular with bodybuilders that offers organic, fully cooked meals that are delivered straight to your door. They offer a variety of customizable meal plans, including Keto, Clean Meal Plan, Paleo, Whole30, High Protein vegan, and High Protein vegetarian. The meals are made with high-quality ingredients and are designed to support weight loss, muscle gain, and overall health. They source their ingredients from organic, non-GMO farms, and deliver fresh, never frozen meals straight to your doorstep. Proteins are grass fed, pasture raised, sustainably caught, and antibiotic free.
I was happy to hear that Trifecta tries to eliminate food waste by only ordering the exact amount of ingredients they need each week. If they by chance do have leftover meals, they are delivered to Feeding America to support hunger relief.
Their eco-friendly packaging is currently 98% biodegradable, with a goal of reaching 100% in the next year.
I researched each food plan. The Whole30 and Paleo supply about 30 grams of protein, 35 grams of carbs, and 20 grams of fat. The Clean Meal Plan ups the carbs by about 10 grams. The Keto takes carbs down to 10 grams, and fat up to 28. Both the High Protein Vegan and Vegetarian plans only show about 21 grams of protein and supply higher carbs of 55 grams. Some of these plans, except the Vegan and Vegetarian, could work for a female or overweight man trying to lose weight. However, I don’t find 30 grams of protein sufficient for most muscular athletic men.
Trifecta meals are also Chef’s choice, and you can only choose up to two preferences. The meals are delivered once per week on Friday and last 6-10 days in the fridge, 3 months in the freezer.
Trifecta offers the added services of planning your macros for you based on your goals, and an app you can download to help you track your progress. They also have a community support system.
Trifecta delivers throughout the US.
Trifectanutrition.com
Best Fully Prepared Meal Delivery Services Local to Los Angeles:
I’ve added two extra fully prepared meal delivery services that are local to Los Angeles for those that live in my area. Both services deliver a day’s supply of fresh meals to your doorstep.
Sunfare
Sunfare is a fully prepared meal delivery service that offers a range of meal plans, including fat burn, signature, intermittent fasting, fit fuel, and family dinners. They use fresh, locally sourced ingredients and offer meals that are free from preservatives, hormones, and antibiotics. Sunfare also offers a custom meal plan service where you can create a meal plan tailored to your specific dietary needs and preferences.
Sunfare meals are delivered daily, early morning, to your home in a cooler. At the end of the day, the cooler is placed outside, and with the next day’s delivery, the cooler is swapped out. This makes the food seem freshly prepared.
I’ve had many of my clients use Sunfare. I’ve sampled several of the meals and what I’ve tried is delicious. The only problem I’ve had is getting the correct amount of macronutrients consistently. I did a custom food plan with 8 oz. of protein, 2/3-1 cup of starch, veggie, and fat for a client trying to gain weight. At first, the food was adequate, then it gradually slipped away. When I called trying to rectify the situation, I was gaslighted. I know what 8 oz. of chicken looks like, and what we were receiving at best was 5 oz. if I’m being generous. I compare it to going to Chipotle and asking for double meat. They invariably give you 2 half-scoops and tell you it’s double.
I also had a client do Sunfare’s weight loss diet plan. He ordered the plan before talking to me. Later I was told it was only 800 calories, way too low, especially for a man. The salesperson also told my client they shouldn’t work out on this diet plan because it would prevent weight loss.
This is reminiscent of the old Lindora programs years ago. Lindora put clients on extremely low-calorie diets, shot them full of B vitamins, and told them not to work out. This plan led to massive muscle loss and a slow metabolic rate. Any weight loss was quickly gained back. Of course, it wasn’t lost muscle that returned but even more body fat. Lindora relied on this yo-yo syndrome for repeat business. People didn’t understand the process of extremely low-calorie diets combined with no weight training, and the yo-yo diet phenomenon.
Despite the difficulties I’ve experienced, I still like Sunfare because the food is delicious. You need to be diligent though and personally select the meals you want, to eliminate inappropriate meals for your food plan. For instance, if you aren’t specific, for your 50 grams of protein for a meal, they may send you 2 fake meat Boca patties, or a slice of pizza with chicken sprinkled on top. But if you choose, wisely, you can get some really tasty meals.
Sunfare delivers throughout Los Angeles and Phoenix.
Sunfare.com
Zen Meals
Zen Meals offers organic, gluten-free, and vegan meal plans that cater to different dietary requirements. They use locally sourced ingredients to create healthy, delicious meals that are delivered straight to your doorstep. The meals are made with organic, non-GMO ingredients and are designed to support overall health and wellness.
Zen is heavily endorsed by the celebrity crowd in Los Angeles. They offer a variety of programs including Weight Loss, Healthy Lifestyle, and Vegetarian Select, plus a Spa Cleanse and Juice Cleanse program. Like Sunfare, since they are a local Los Angeles company, food is delivered to your LA location every morning.
I think Zen is more geared toward weight loss for the average person, not really the fitness athlete who normally has a fine-tuned diet regimen. The food plans are calorie-restricted based, and don’t offer much information on macros or other nutrients.
I’ve included this meal delivery service because the food is delicious. For the average person, who is just trying to drop a few pounds, the Weight Loss and Healthy Lifestyle plans would probably suffice. Average people have limited discipline to go on a highly restricted contest prep diet. Zen offers a delicious solution for maintaining a limited calorie level. Combined with a great training program, this plan can certainly assist the average person in losing weight.
I have clients that will stick with this food plan, all because they get a delicious dessert included in their plan. However, for most men, I think the food quantity is too low.
Zenfoods.com
Summary:
In conclusion, using fully prepared meal plan delivery services can be a convenient and important tool for staying on a structured diet and achieving your fitness and body transformation goals. With time-saving benefits, reduced food waste, and a wide variety of options, services like MealPro, Icon Meals, and Factor can help you reach your goals while enjoying delicious, healthy meals.
My tip:
Most programs will offer a discounted first purchase. Try a week or box with each service available in your area and see what works best for you.
Some fitness athletes only care about getting their macros correct and prefer blander, utilitarian, or “clean” food. While other athletes feel suffering if they have to choke down the same meals. Pick what works for your palate and goals,
If you’d like to share your experience with any of these programs or have any other “favorite” meal delivery services I haven’t reviewed, drop me a line. I would love to hear from you.
