Nutrition
My job as a personal trainer is to help people with their fitness. At the same time I try to help with nutrition to maximise results and it's something I know so many people struggle with.
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A common theme I've noticed with my clients is very late evenings at work and/or after work drinks. By the time they get home they're too tired or feel it's too late to cook so they end up eating unhealthy takeaways or fast food.
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I found a similar problem with a lot of the new mum's I train who struggle with the demands of a newborn and finding time to cook healthily.
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With this in mind I have been researching companies that make eating homemade meals quicker and easier. Here are three companies that I have trialed and recommend. 1 supplies prepared meals and 2 supply all the ingredients to cook your own meal.
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Chilled meals is a company that cooks meals that are delivered to your door. They are cooked by a chef using fresh ingredients so they don't have all the preservatives that you would find in a normal ready meal.
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Here's the benefits I've found:
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They are tasty (tastier than they looked when delivered)
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It is really easy - just pop in microwave for 2 - 5 minutes (or option to put in oven).
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No time spent cooking or washing up
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Lower or higher calorie meal options
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Pots were all recyclable
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There is a mix of meat, fish, veggie and vegan meals to choose from
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The menu has meals I would pick myself - I often find things like this I wouldn't enjoy eating (I don't want to live off a diet of rice, chicken and broccoli thank you very much)
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You can even create your own meals, I've not tried that yet though
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All the nutrition info is there to see and calories so you know exactly what you're eating
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The meals can be frozen so even if you don't eat it straight away it's there for a later date
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At the moment there are 35 meals but they're looking to expand the menu to over 100
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You can order just a weeks worth or you can enter into a plan for more savings
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The meals come in at £6 or £7 each depending on the size you go for. Given that this is for the ingredients, the cooking time and no washing up I think this is very reasonable.
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I already know they're planning on getting a few more features as well in the next version and they seem to really want to keep being better and welcome feedback. So if you do think this is any interest at all then you can try it out. They partner with PT's so there's a link below to reach the site.
Intro offer: If you'd like to try it, use code HGFIT15 for 15% off your first order, and I believe I get something like a percentage of the profits.
Chilled Meals
Hello Fresh & Gousto
These companies you pick your meals online and they send you the exact fresh ingredients that you need for the meal with an easy to follow recipe.
I never understood the concept because I thought you could find recipes for free online and order your food online for less money. While that might be true, I have to say I've found these to be so much tastier than normal and for the time being at least I'm sticking to it for my dinners.
I used to buy packet rice and now it's often cooked from scratch, adding various things to it like Lemongrass or Star Anise to make it taste better, which I wouldn't have done before. It also means I'm now often cooking with fresh herbs, rather than dried herbs and the taste difference is noticeable.
The instructions are so easy to follow that I'm actually following them rather than just reading the ingredients and doing it my own way and that's made a huge difference to the taste too.
Another great thing I've found is I'm experimenting with a few meals I probably wouldn't have picked otherwise. And if you ever forget to pick your meals, they choose for you - definitely risky but again I've found meals I wouldn't have picked and they've been great.
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So I've got from a sceptic to really loving them. People keep asking me which one is better and which I prefer, and honestly they're so close but I've put together a list for them both so you can see which you might like better.
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I tend look at my week to see if I want 4 or 5 meals, and then also compare menus to see which I would prefer, but that's just me!
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Hello Fresh
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Gives you the odd freebie
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Can have 2-5 meals a week
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Available for 2, 3 or 4 people
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You can pick how often you want to receive delivery's and skip a week at any time
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You can pick the day it arrives (I recommend the day before bin day!)
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Less options for quick meals 15 minutes or under
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20 meals to choose from each week
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Quite a lot of packaging, not all recyclable (but feels like less?)
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No food waste
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£4.20 per meal per person
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I've had one meal that I thought was slightly bland but the rest have been great
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I had one meal where one ingredient had been substituted and I hadn't realised. Contacted them, fast and good customer service and got money off.
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Intro offer: If you use promo code HS-NA03NTFGM you get £20 off your first box and I get £20 off one too.
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Gives you the odd freebie
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Can have 2-4 meals a week
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Available for 2 or 4 people
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You can pick how often you want to receive delivery's and skip a week at any time
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You can pick the day it arrives (I recommend the day before bin day!)
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Lots of 10 minute meals
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40+ meals to choose from each week - Every day favourites there each week
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Quite a lot of packaging, not all recyclable - they have said working to reduce by 50%
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£4.38 per meal per person
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I've had two meals that I thought were slightly bland but the rest have been great
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Intro offer: If you use promo code HELEN34034387 you get 60% off your first box and 30% off your first month, and I get £15 off a box too.