If you’re someone that has a full schedule, chances are you’ve thought of signing up for a precooked meal delivery service that will allow you to save some time by delivering meals to your house. However, before signing up for such a service, you might be inclined to wonder whether there really is any difference between the meals you cook at home and the meals that will be delivered to you in a meal plan.
Here are some of the clearest differences below:
Nutritionally Balanced
The foods provided to you by meal delivery services are guaranteed to be better for your health and wellness. For example, meals cooked at home in a hurry tend to have a large number of carbohydrates and salt in them, both of which can have adverse impacts on the health of a long-term consumer. The Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada showed that 80% of premature heart issues can be prevented if the person in question makes lifestyle changes regarding healthy foods and exercise. A person that signs up for a service providing food delivery, such as Activ Eats, can get a handle on this issue without having to devote any time or mental energy to it.
Variety
People that cook in a hurry often tend to rely on the same few meals they can whip up in a hurry, which often makes eating bland and boring and creates a drive for unhealthy snacks that can add flavor in food. A food delivery service, however, ensures that you get a variety of meals, and the expert chefs often overhaul the entire menu once or twice a month. Therefore, even if you stick with the delivery service for a long time, you will not get bored with your food.
Fresh Ingredients
When cooking and shopping yourself, it can become tedious to monitor the freshness and organic background of every ingredient. Buying exclusively organic foods in small quantities can also become super expensive. A meal delivery service can get a better price by buying these ingredients in bulk, and therefore can ensure that you get nothing but fresh ingredients in every meal.
Cognizant of Dietary Restrictions
If you or your family members have certain dietary restrictions, it can become difficult to navigate meal prep and keep everyone happy and healthy. A meal delivery service will take this headache right out of your hands by providing customized services for everyone, including vegan, vegetarian, gluten-free, dairy-free, or allergen-free meals.
Can Be Easily Stored
Meal delivery services have a great advantage of coming pre-packaged in materials that preserve the taste and freshness of the food, and allow them to be stored for later consumption. This can be helpful if you are not able to fully finish a meal and do not want to waste it.
The Time Factor
The time investment is an obvious difference between meal delivery services and self-made food. With food prep, time is required for planning, shopping, and then ultimately for cooking the meals. Time is even spent cleaning up after eating. On the other hand, meal delivery services require around 5-10 minutes per week, in which you decide what you want to eat when you want it to be delivered and where you want it to be dropped off.
The food is often delivered in packaging that you can eat right out of, which means that time is saved even in the post-meal setting. A good idea if you do not want to jump in the deep end with meal delivery services is to use them for certain weeks when you know you’ll be completely preoccupied with work or other commitments.
Better Tasting
Meal delivery services like ActivEats have not only a professional nutritionist on board to help with the ingredients of certain meals, but also have licensed and trained chefs that can ensure that no matter what the ingredients or dietary restrictions, the food you eat are full of flavor and can deliver an enjoyable experience. Food cooked at home in a rush is unlikely to achieve the same results.
Easier on Your Budget
While you might balk at the upfront cost of meal plans and compare them to your own grocery shopping, meal delivery services are cheaper in the long run due to the fact that your grocery runs will stop. Everyone that has shopped in a large grocery store before, and especially those who have shopped on a hungry stomach, know that we have a tendency to end up buying a lot of unnecessary stuff. With a meal delivery system, this problem will not exist.
Hopefully, the above list has illustrated some of the most glaring differences between food cooked on a very tight schedule and food delivered to you after painstakingly detailed planning, shopping, and cooking by meal delivery services like ActivEats. Hopefully, this has helped you make a more informed decision!
Tags: Diet, food, home cooking, meal delivery, meals, nutrition. cooking